Simone Gubbiotti, international jazz guitarist
Beyond Jazz Guitar
A workshop focusing on Gubbiotti’s journey from professional sports to creative music

"Simone doesn't play and compose like an artist that needs to makehis way in the world but like one
that has made it reflecting on theworld through his music."   All About Jazz
Interview with the artist
Simone Gubbiotti is an international Jazz musician from Umbria, Italy with a unique story. He has worked with some of the finest musicians in the Jazz environment (Peter Erskine, Ari Hoenig, Jay Anderson, Paul Wertico Quartet to name a few). As a teenager, Simone showed promise as a professional football player. At the age of 16 he was selected by the A.C. Milan as a central midfielder to pursue a career in professional sports. Unfortunately his career ended with a serious knee injury which prevented him from becoming a first team player. While he continued to play football as an amateur, he had to refocus his career goals. Back in his native Umbria, Simone started to work at different jobs in the tourist field. At the age of 21 he made ends meet by working in a frame factory. After few months he had fallen into a deep depression which led to extreme weight loss and eventually he was unable to walk. Simone’s depression continued for another three years. At one point he remembered he had a guitar that his father gave him as a gift when he was 12 years old. He never used the instrument being involved in football but decided at the age of 25 to pick it up and try using it as therapy, teaching himself the basics of the instrument. After a few months, Simone made the decision register and attend the Berklee College of Music Clinics at the Umbria Jazz Festival. As a rank beginner he felt out of place with the other students in the clinics and did not understand a single word that was being taught at the workshops. Rather than give up, he moved forward using his discipline as a professional sports figure to develop a serious practice routine. This was the beginning of Simone’s jazz journey. Several years later Simone visited Boston to reestablish his connection with Berklee and later visited Los Angeles where he had the chance learn from and to challenge himself with important West Coast musicians such as Joe La Barbera, Joe Diorio, Sid Jacobs, Al Jarreau, Darek Oles and Peter Erskine.

During this period, living between Italy and USA, Simone recorded several albums as a leader. But his challenges were not finished. In 2010 Simone lost his best friend Paolo to cancer. Paolo was influential in providing life saving help to Simone throughout his years of depression. Paolo’s death was a major setback for Simone and while he was not having a great success despite all the collaborations in the U.S. he was contemplating quitting music. Before Paolo died he made Simone promise to continue his career in music. This inspired Simone to record the album “Promise to my Friend” which featured Peter Erskine and Darek Oles. The following years Simone lost his family and house and ended up living in his car with his dog Wayne where he wrote his most successful album “Resilience” which featured Adam Nussbaum and Jay Anderson. He never gave up his passion for music and continued to perform in a variety of projects and toured with his Trio “Underdogs” in the UK, Holland, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Mexico and of course Italy. He created an educational workshop “Developing the Mindset” which has been presented in the EU and Mexico. Simone is also a Journalist for the international Magazine Jazz in Europe, a publicist and a writer. His book “The Art to be an Underdog” was published in 2018 by Art in Life Company. He’s cofounder of the international label Double Dimension.
 
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​Guitarist Simone Gubbiotti is a musician with a strong presence in both the USA and Europe where he has performed with musicians such as Peter Erskine,
Darek Oles, Ari Hoenig, Joe La Barbera, Arthur Blythe, Adam Nussbaum and Jay Anderson to name a few.

Music was not Simone’s first passion. He began
his career in the world of sports playing professionally for AC Milan. After sustaining a serious knee injury, Simone made a decision to refocus his life options and pursue a career in music.

Simone now performs in a number of important global projects with the Paul Wertico Quartet and his trio Underdogs. He has performed at international Jazz Festivals in Poland, Holland, Croatia,
Italy, Mexico and the UK.
Developing the Mindset
The integration of Music, Sports, Meditation and Neuroscience

During my musical training and activity I developed a series of concepts to help students find their own
direction. As a musician or a student you have to deal with many aspects that are not always related to your
instrument or music itself.  The mental aspect and how your brain works is vital to achieve the results you are expecting. Motivation, concentration, having a plan or simply establishing a method to practice is crucial.

My priority is to offer the tools to create a fresh and personal vision through a variety of musical and life
elements in order to achieve success.  The workshop is designed to achieve the best version of
ourselves as musicians and human beings.
  
​Workshop topics will include:
• My first four steps: how I developed my craft as a self-taught musician. Four “simple”
steps to develop your Mindset.

• Developing the right mindset and the power of a positive approach;

• Self critical practice and awareness;
• Techniques to be more proficient on your instrument;

· learning to identify musical problems and solve them;

· Work ethic: improving concentration through Meditation concepts and Neuroscience;

· Parallels between music and Sports training;
 
Additional Concepts may include:

• Polyrhythms: how to take a look of the modern tempos, Odd meters, time
superimposition and polyrhythmic cycles;

• Intervallic harmony: creating chords based on intervals using the diatonic scales ;
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• Symmetrical harmony: creating chords using symmetrical scales;