Ezio

An English band that formed in Cambridge in 1990, Ezio were -- at first -- Ezio Lunedei and Mark "Booga" Fowell. Lunedei and Fowell honed their chops by playing all over the country and released their first album, The Angel Song, on independent Salami Records. The release and the duo's live shows were enough to attract major-label interest, and in 1994 Ezio signed with heavy-hitters BMG. They then recorded and released their Rupert Hine-produced debut -- Black Boots on Latin Feet -- in 1995. After a 1997 follow-up (Diesel Vanilla), Ezio expanded their roster to include Lidia Cascarino on bass and producer Peter Van Hooke on drums to augment their live and studio work. Eventually the lineup would settle on Ezio, Fowell, Cascarino, Lee Russell on percussion and other instruments, and Alex Reeves taking over drumming duties from Van Hooke. The band continued to tour and record, and over the next decade released a trio of quality albums in Higher (2000), The Making of Mr. Spoons (2003), and Ten Thousand Bars (2006). Over the years, Ezio also released a number of live albums, DVDs, and compilations, maintaining a cult-like status in the U.K. and Europe. Ringing in the new decade with the hard-driving folk-rock of This Is the Day (2010), they followed up in 2014 with Adam & the Snake, both on longtime label Tapete. They switched to the Jazzhaus label for 2016's Daylight Moon.