Raphael Gualazzi was born on November 11th 1981 in Urbino. Raphael’s music is a blend of early 20th Century Ragtime technique with the yearning lyricism of traditional blues, soul and jazz. Inspiration comes to Raphael not only from the pre-jazz and stride piano styles as embodied by Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Art Tatum and Mary Lou Williams’ music, it is also bred in the more typical blues styles of Ray Charles and Roosevelt Sykes.