Fabio Golfetti (born, 10 April 1960 in São Paulo, Brazil) started out in music playing classical guitar, then during the mid 70s he switched to the electric guitar. At age 18 he formed his first jazz-rock-progressive group LUX, playing in the local college circuit. A few years later, he started band Zero in 1983, through which he recorded the single ‘Heróis’. His influences include names as Syd Barrett, Terje Rypdal, Steve Hillage and Manuel Göttsching. Fabio’s style of playing also includes Glissando Guitar, a technique invented by the Australian poet-musician Daevid Allen (former Soft Machine/Gong leader).
In 1985 after leaving Zero, he formed the psychedelic rock band Violeta de Outono. With them, he has recorded several works, highlighting Violeta de Outono (1987), a classic album of the Brazilian rock discography and Volume 7 (2007) as a psychedelic progresive quartet. Violeta de Outono toured extensively in Brazil in the 80’s, and is still active, maintaining its distinctive sound that makes them a cult band up to the present day.
By 1988 he’d started developing the side project Invisible Opera – a code name created by Daevid Allen – which, in the man’s words, is best described as “an international ideological/spiritual/aesthetic communications network for artists of all kinds… who share the common vision of warm hearted, pan-stylistic, inclusive art forms which serve the drive towards conscious evolution”. Invisible Opera’s first appearance was in 1968 in a Parisian cafe, with Daevid Allen & Gilli Smyth. In the late 80’s, Invisible Opera reappeared in Australia with Russell Hibbs, in England with Brian Zero, and in Brazil with Fabio Golfetti. Fabio released the album Glissando Spirit (1993). Over the years the idea developed into Lux Æterna, an electronic space ambient duo with his son Gabriel Golfetti that started in early 2018.
Keeping in touch with Allen during the eighties and nineties, in 2006 he was invited to play at the Gong Unconvention at Melkweg, Amsterdam. The show, titled The Glissando Orchestra performing The Seven Drones, included Fabio and other 9 guitarists of the psychedelic universe. A year later, Fabio joined Daevid Allen’s Gong Global Family for a series of concerts in Brazil. This originated a new psychedelic space-jazz trio called Band of Pixies, with his mates, Gabriel Costa and Fred Barley that in 2010 recorded the UFO Planante album.
In the year 2012, Fabio joined the legendary psychedelic rock band Gong for the UK/Europe/Japan tour, along with Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Orlando Allen, Ian East and Dave Sturt. In late 2014, the band released the first album in this new incarnation: “I See You”. It featured the guitarist Kavus Torabi, which has been part of the band ever since.
Over the last six years with Gong, Fabio and the rest of the band, with the addition of Cheb Nettles on drums, have been reshaping this new embodiment of their sound. In 2016 they recorded their album, Rejoice! I’m Dead! honouring the influence and legacy of the late Daevid Allen and Gilli Smith. The band have continued to tour internationally since that time including visits to China, Scandinavia, Brasil, Japan. Gong released the new album The Universe Also Collapses, on Kscope music in May 2019.
Also in 2019 Gong was recruited by their original guitarist Steve Hillage to perform a series of concerts in the UK and Europe under the name Steve Hillage Band.
Today, Fabio is an active member of Gong, continues with Violeta de Outono, and released in 2021 the albums Lux Æterna : Dream, an electronic ambient project with his son Gabriel of the progressive band Stratus Luna, and The Frame Of Life with his old fellow Renato Mello. Also in 2022 he released a new solo album, Song & Visions, an instrumental ambient jazz journey with the collaborations of Gong & Stratus Luna musicians, and Violeta de Outono released the album Outro Lado.
July 2023
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Official Discography Information
Solo / w Invisible Opera
1989: Ópera Invisível – Numa Pessoa Só – Single (Wop Bop)
1993: Glissando Spirit (Low Life / Voiceprint)
1994: Glissando Spirit Live / Live at Brittania Cafe (Voiceprint)
1996: Cosmic Dance Co. (Nova Sampa)
2010: UFO Planante (w/ Invisible Opera Company of Tibet) (Voiceprint)
2022: Songs & Visions (Music Magick)
w/ Violeta de Outono
1986: Violeta de Outono – EP (Wop Bop)
1987: Violeta de Outono – LP (RCA)
1988: The Early Years – EP (Wop Bop)
1989: Em Toda Parte (BMG)
1995: Eclipse (Record Runner)
1999: Mulher Na Montanha (Voiceprint)
2001: Live at Rio ArtRock Festival ‘97 – CD/DVD (Rock Symphony)
2005: Ilhas (Voiceprint)
2006: Violeta de Outono & Orquestra – DVD (Voiceprint)
2007: Volume 7 (Voiceprint)
2009: Seventh Brings Return – A Tribute to Syd Barrett – DVD (Voiceprint)
2011: Theatro Municipal, São Paulo, 03.05.2009 – DVD (Voiceprint)
2012: Espectro (Voiceprint)
2016: Spaces (Voiceprint)
2020: Dia Eterno (Music Magick)
2022: Outro Lado – CD (Music Magick / Voice Music)
w/ GONG
2009: Gong Global Family – Live in Brazil 2007(Voiceprint)
2014: I See You (Snapper / Madfish)
2016: Rejoice! I’m Dead! (Snapper / Madfish)
2019: The Universe Also Collapses (Snapper / KScope)
w/ Lux Æterna – Gabriel Golfetti
2021: Lux Æterna : Dream (Music Magick)
w/ Other artists
1983: Zero – Heróis/100% Paixão – Single (CBS)
1984: May East – Caim e Abel – Remota Batucada (EMI)
1986: Kafka – Tribos da Noite – Musikanervosa (Baratos Afins)
1990: Dialeto – Vermelha – Will Exist Forever (Faunus)
1992: IRA! – Um Dia Como Hoje – Meninos da Rua Paulo (Warner)
1994: Angel’s Breath (w/ Suba – Mitar Subotic) (Imago Records)
1994: Taciana – Janela dos Sonhos (Natasha Japan)
1995: Concreteness – Squinting Look – Pircórócócó (Banguela)
1996: Barella & Frippi – Danza – Alvos Móveis (Suck my Disc)
2000: IRA! – Ao Vivo MTV (Abril Music)
2001: Pacto Social – Final do Mês – Cantar /Protestar (CD You)
2002: Momento 68 – On/Off – Tecnologia (Voiceprint)
2002: Jupiter Apple – … So You Leave the Hall – Hisscivilization (Voiceprint)
2007: Torture Squad – Hellbound – Hellbound (Wacken)
2008: Daevid Allen And The Glissando Guitar Orchestrae – The Seven Drones (Dakini Records)
2008: Arco Duo – In Space Rock (Voiceprint)
2010: 48 Horas – Cidades – Cidades (48 Horas)
2013: Spirits Burning & Clearlight – Healthy Music In Large Doses (Gonzo)
2014: Kaiambá – Made in Brazil (New Music / Green Tree)
2015: Dr Fantástico – Sweet Opium Music (Voiceprint)
2015: Spirits Burning – Tripping With The Royal Family – Starhawk (Gonzo)
2015: Dave Sturt – Unique & Irreplaceable – Dreams and Absurdities (Esoteric Antenna)
2017: Vespas Mandarinas – Carranca e Expresso (Deck)
2021: The Frame Of Life – with Renato Mello (Music Magick)
2021: Alex Antunes & Death Disco Machine – Acaba Lá Com Isso (Ultra Gash)