About
Music as a true passion
Christian La Cava was born into a family of musicians and grew up in wonderful Locarno, in the south of Switzerland (the Italian part, called “Ticino”). His father, Cosimo (1928-2010), had a life-long career in music as an internationally well-known harmonica player who also played the guitar and the drums. His brother Sergio is an outstanding musician and since 2008 founder and director of the music school “Scuola SAM” with its seat in Minusio (Ticino).
Chris started playing at a very early age and began his musical career at the age of 14. By age 16, Chris was already playing at many different venues and in different formations, often with his father, later on also with his brother, and with other professional musicians. During this time he gained valuable experience playing in two and three man bands, but also performing alone.
A vocal and musical chameleon
Chris
lives for music. And, as we all know, music consists of three main
elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Therefore, he has always been
dedicated to these three elements. Over the years, Chris has focused
on developing his voice skills (melody), playing piano (harmony) and
playing the guitar (rhythm), with passion and dedication. Chris also
has years of experience playing the chromatic harmonica, occasionally
the bass guitar, and recently started to play the so called Hawaiian
Guitar, or ukulele.
For
over 30 years, Chris has performed in a wide variety of musical
performance roles such as:
-
Singer (bass-baritone)
-
Guitarist
-
Harmonica player
-
Pianist
-
Entertainer / Show-master
-
Elvis Presley Impersonator (repeatedly finalist at the Swiss-Elvis
Impersonator contest)
A
distinctive voice
Chris's
warm and passionate timbre and his smooth but at the same time
powerful voice are very distinctive. Thanks to his vocal range of
over two and half octaves (~ D2 - G4, chest voice, up to C5 with the
head voice), he can perform a great variety of music styles.
Particularly impressive and moving are his deep tones and his natural
and well balanced vibrato. His voice has been compared with the voice
of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, and Tom Jones. His style and his
musicality are strongly influenced by the musical personality of
icons like Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Al Jarreau, and Freddy
Mercury.
A
multifaceted stage experience
Chris has performed in a great variety of gigs, and over the years he has not only developed his stage experience and his musical know-how, but also his natural talent as a successful entertainer. Below, just a few examples of the events at which he has cheered up his always heterogeneous audience:
-
Singing and music contests
-
Open air concerts and festivals
-
Piano bars
-
Wedding parties
-
Gala evenings
-
Company events
-
Private parties
-
Street music
Music
formations
During his long
musical career, Chris has sung and played in many different
types of music formation:
- Solo entertainer
(guitar/piano/harmonica)
- Duos, trios
- Big Bands
- Rock, Swing, and
Soul bands
- Dance music groups
- Jazz ensembles &
combo
- Musical performer in the tribute show "Jesus Christ Superstar"
- In the a
capella choir “Voicemale”, Winterthur, Switzerland
Since May 2013 he has been the singer and front man in the 9-piece-group «The Big Beat» www.thebigbeat.ch – which has performed mainly in the area of Zurich canton during which, as their slogan says, they have been Swingin', Singin' & Jumpin' for Joy. Their repertoire ranges from Rhythm and Blues to Swing, Soul, and Rock-n-Roll.
Music style
Chris loves all kinds of music, as
long it is played with heart and soul. Here are some of his favorite
music styles:
- Jazz Standards
- Swing, Big Band
- Musical, Broadway
- Soul, Gospel &
Spirituals
- Blues, Rhythm &
Blues
- Rock'n'Roll
- Classic Rock
- Country
- Italian & French
Music.
All
over the world
According
to the saying “Music knows no barriers”, Chris has not only
performed all over Switzerland (in
the German, French, and Italian parts), he has also done so in many
other countries:
- Germany
- Italy
- France
- England
- Spain
- USA
- Mexico
- Dominican
Republic
- Cuba
- Thailand
- On international
cruises
Musical highligts
Here are just a few of his major musical experiences and accomplishments during his career:
2007: 2nd place at the Elvis contest «Wen schicken wir nach Memphis?» (organized by the Swiss German daily newspaper «Blick»)
1993: Special guest with his father Cosimo at the First Harmonica World Championship, Trossingen, Germany
1993: 1st position at the singing contest held in the theater Teatro Varieté in Ascona (TI)
1985: Special Guest with his father Cosimo at the 1st International Harmonika Festival
'85 & '86: Special Guest with his father Cosimo at the Swiss Harmonica Festival in Liestal (BL) & Rheinfelden (AG)
'98 – '03: several times a finalist at the Swiss Elvis Impersonator Contest
Not only a
music entertainer
Chris not only
performs in the music business, he also performs in other
show-business fields, particularly as an actor and model. He has also
already participated in different productions of the Swiss German
TV-Broadcaster SRF (e.g. in the well-known TV-series «Der Bestatter»
(“The mortician”) as well as been the main character in the short
movie «Faceless». Moreover, he has also been the testimonial for
important national advertising campaigns broadcast all over
Switzerland and has entertained an international audience as the
master of ceremonies (e.g. at the JazzAscona Festival 2011). For any
further details about Chris' other engagements, just click on Media Center:
Other communication Skills and
Trivia
Chris is a
professional translator and interpreter with a university degree and
speaks four languages fluently (Italian, German, English, and French)
and is conversational in Spanish, as well as being fluent in
the Swiss-German dialec. He grew up in a bilingual home with a German
mother and a Swiss Italian father. He has studied translation and
interpretation in Zurich and Milan as well as English, Music and
Acting at the University of Houston Downtown (UHD) in Houston, Texas (USA). He
loves pets, kids, and good conversations. He has practiced martial
arts for 15 years and, when he has the time, he likes to go jogging,
swimming or going for a nice walk.
For any further details to his education, please request his full artistic CV selecting Contact.
This website is dedicated to the loving memory of my dear dad, Cosimo La Cava (1928-2010).
He was a great guitarist, a true virtuoso of the chromatic harmonica, and my
first true inspiration to play and sing. May he always rest in peace.
With a special thanks to my brother Sergio for his personal and technical support with this site.