Nello Toscano
Founder
THE STORY
1996, Anaglyphos Records is born
Anaglyphos Records is a record label founded in 1996 by Nello Toscano, a well-known Sicilian double bass player, with the aim of promoting non-commercial music — with particular attention to the Sicilian scene.
The initial goal was to expand the space dedicated to music that aims to deepen the sound language: from pure research to free improvisation, all the way to styles that explore less conventional forms and content: jazz, electronic music and new music rooted in the classical tradition.
The label was born out of the difficulties encountered in releasing Anaglifo, a research work created by Nello Toscano with Paolo Fresu and Rosalba Bentivoglio: a project that uses free improvisation, analog electronics and references avant-garde jazz.
THE NAME
Why Anaglyphos?
The name «anaglyphos», from ancient Greek «ἀνάγλυϕος», refers to a hard stone object chiseled or a precious gem finely carved in relief.
In modern language it also refers to a two-dimensional image which, when observed through special glasses with two colored filters (one green and one red), gives the illusion of three-dimensionality.
These two aspects of the term are the distinctive traits of the label: on one hand the preciousness of craftsmanship in musical creation, on the other the desire to discover unexplored contents and dimensions in the musical message.
A NEW CHAPTER
2022, new life for the music
Throughout the label’s years, periods of intense productivity alternated with moments of pause, caused by the difficulties of the continuous evolution of digitalization and its processes, which transformed the old record industry.
The catalog went to Mhodì Music Company — which, as it happened, had been founded by Giuseppe Strazzeri, a former student of Toscano’s from his years as a music teacher. Toscano had passed on to him a deep love for music; Strazzeri went on to become a musician and one of Sicily’s most experienced record producers.
A beautiful unexpected meeting.
Giuseppe Strazzeri decides not to let Anaglyphos die, giving it new life. Together with his collaborators he reshapes and digitalizes the whole label catalog, relaunching it with Nello Toscano’s new single Clouds, which has passed three million streams on Spotify.
Anaglyphos continues its search for talented artists, in Italy and abroad, through its A&R department under the artistic direction of Rino Cirinnà.