Bob Curiano is an American musician, songwriter and producer, who performs primarily on guitar, bass and vocals. Since 2015 he performs with Rainbow using the name Bob Nouveau. [1] During 2000 to 2006 he performed and recorded with Blackmore's Night with the stage name Sir Robert of Normandie. [2] [3]
He began touring during the late 1970s as the bass player with the Manhattan-based band Mink De Ville. Curiano was with Mink De Ville for a decade before moving on to pursue his own musical interests of writing and producing. [4]
In 1993, he was the first producer and writer for the Backstreet Boys. “A friend of mine (Lou Pearlman) called and said, ‘I found these kids. Can you come down to Florida?’ They were these nice little kids, but they couldn’t really sing harmonies very well,” recalls Curiano of that initial meeting with the teen band calling themselves “the Backstreet Boys”. In the beginning, the Backstreet Boys were actually performing Curiano’s work: “When Jive Records entered the picture, they cleaned house, brought in their own people, and I sort of got lost in the shuffle”, recalls Curiano. [4]
Curiano first met Ritchie Blackmore at the Normandy Inn, a Long Island tavern. They talked music over a few pints and subsequently played music there, earning Curiano the stage name "Sir Robert of Normandie". In October 2000, Curiano joined Blackmore's Night [5] for the last few shows of the Under a Violet Moon tour. [6] Curiano announced his departure on September 22, 2006 at the end of the second European tour of that year. [5] He returned to his passion of writing music. He and Blackmore parted on good terms and remain friends. [4]
In 2015, when Ritchie Blackmore decided to recommence Rainbow he invited Curiano as the bass player; the new lineup was announced on November 6, 2015. [7] [8] Curiano was listed under the stage name Bob Nouveau. Nouveau means new in French. [2] [9] "That’s a Blackmore prank at its best. He said, “You need a stage name.” I’m thinking to myself, “I have to be a ‘new’ Bob?” So I went with the French. When they announced the band, the reaction was, “Who the hell is Bob Nouveau?” So I started the Facebook page to clarify what happened". [10]
Bob lives in Ridgefield, Connecticut, where he is writing, producing, and freelancing as a guitarist and bass player. [11]
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1967. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, but their musical approach has changed over the years. Originally formed as a psychedelic rock and progressive rock band, they shifted to a heavier sound with their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock. Deep Purple have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies". They were listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre and have sold over 100 million albums worldwide.
Blackmore's Night is a British-American neo-medieval folk rock band formed in 1997, consisting mainly of Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night. Their lineup has seen many changes over the years; Blackmore and Night have been the only two constant members. They have released eleven studio albums. Their early releases were mostly acoustic and imitated early music, but eventually Blackmore's Night started using more electric guitars and other modern instruments, as well as performing folk-rearranged cover versions of pop and rock songs.
Rainbow are a British-American rock band formed in London and Los Angeles in 1975 by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. Established in the aftermath of Blackmore's first departure from Deep Purple, they originally featured four members of the band Elf, including their singer Ronnie James Dio, but after their self-titled debut album, Blackmore fired these members, except Dio, recruiting drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Jimmy Bain and keyboardist Tony Carey. This line-up recorded the band's second album Rising (1976), while Long Live Rock 'n' Roll (1978) saw Bob Daisley and David Stone replace Bain and Carey, respectively. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll was also the last album with Dio before he left the band to join Black Sabbath in 1979.
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow is the debut studio album by American/British rock band Rainbow, released in 1975.
Long Live Rock 'n' Roll is the third studio album by the British heavy metal band Rainbow, released on 14 April 1978 and the last to feature original lead vocalist Ronnie James Dio.
Down to Earth is the fourth studio album by the British hard rock band Rainbow. It is their last album to feature drummer Cozy Powell and their only album with vocalist Graham Bonnet. Released in 1979, it contains Rainbow's first hit single "Since You Been Gone", marking a more commercial direction of the band's sound.
Candice Night is an American singer and musician. She has been the vocalist/lyricist and multi-instrumentalist for the traditional folk rock project Blackmore's Night since its origins in 1997 with her husband, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. She is also the backing vocalist for Rainbow from 1994 to 1997 and 2015–present, again with Blackmore. Her first solo album, Reflections, was released in 2011.
Joe Lynn Turner is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen and Deep Purple.
Ghost of a Rose is the fourth studio album by the folk rock group Blackmore's Night, released June 30, 2003. It features covers of Joan Baez's "Diamonds and Rust", and Jethro Tull's "Rainbow Blues".
Stranger in Us All is the eighth and most recent studio album by the British hard rock band Rainbow, released in 1995. This was the band's first studio album in twelve years, and originally intended to be a solo album by Blackmore, but due to pressures from BMG, it was billed as Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, which saw him putting together a new line-up featuring himself and four then-unknown musicians: vocalist Doogie White, bassist Greg Smith, keyboardist Paul Morris and drummer John O'Reilly.
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary music, including Jack Nitzsche, Doc Pomus, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, Allen Toussaint, and Eddie Bo. Latin rhythms, blues riffs, doo-wop, Cajun music, strains of French cabaret, and echoes of early-1960s uptown soul can be heard in DeVille's work.
Fires at Midnight is the third studio album by British-American neo-medieval folk rock band Blackmore's Night, released on July 10, 2001, through SPV/Steamhammer Records. In comparison to their previous two releases, there are more electric guitar parts on this album, whilst maintaining a folk rock direction. The album was a Top Ten record in Germany.
The Village Lanterne is the fifth studio album by the group Blackmore's Night, released on Steamhammer US on 4 April 2006. It featured the single "Just Call My Name ".
For the English folk song written by King Henry VIII, see Pastime with Good Company.
Richard Hugh Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter. He was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968, playing jam-style hard rock music that mixed guitar riffs and organ sounds. He is prolific in creating guitar riffs and has been known for playing both classically influenced and blues-based solos.
Steven Douglas Kreisman was an American saxophonist and flautist. He was a member of the famed Los Angeles session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. As a Los Angeles session musician, he worked with Phil Spector, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and Ry Cooder.
Winter Carols is the sixth studio album by the group Blackmore's Night, released in the United Kingdom on October, 2006, and in the United States on November 7, 2006. It is a Christmas themed album. The cover artwork for this album, painted by Karsten Topelmann, is an adaptation of a street in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, in line with the band's heavy Renaissance influence. The same street is portrayed in the cover of Blackmore's Night's second studio album, Under a Violet Moon. In the cover of "Winter Carols" the street is painted as winter time, whereas Under a Violet Moon's cover takes place on apparently a summer night. While the selection "Winter " is credited to Ritchie Blackmore as composer, the first phrase comes from Gaspar Sanz's "Espanoleta" though Blackmore quickly goes off on his own from there. The songs no longer under copyright are credited only as "trad.[itional]" even when the authors are known.
"Mistreated" is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple taken from their 1974 album Burn. The song was written by the band's guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and new vocalist David Coverdale, who, along with new bassist Glenn Hughes, brought new blues and funk elements to the band.
David Keith is an American drummer, composer, and producer living in Hartford, Connecticut. He currently plays with Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow and Blackmore's Night.