Life and Career

gazebo biography

Gazebo whose real name is Paul Mazzolini was born in Beirut on February 18th 1960.
He was brought up traveling around the world with his parents, gathering from different cultures.
His father, Francesco, was an Italian diplomat and taught Paul five of the eight languages he knew.
His mother, Sonia, was a singer and besides sponsoring his first velleities gave him her inner talent for music.

Paul settled down in Italy in 1974, got his graduation three years later and went off to London where he put up various bands and decided to make music for a living. Back in Rome in 1981 he released his first single “Masterpiece”, the 12″ version rapidly became a big hit in the European and Asian dance scenes.

In 1983 Paul signed with Baby Records and released his first eponymous album, “Gazebo”. 

The next single “I like Chopin”, reached n°1 in the charts of many countries including: Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Spain, Belgium, Canada, Japan, Portugal, Hong-Kong, Korea, Singapore, Turkey and topped ten in many other countries including U.K. Get’s the “Top European Chart Act Award” from “Music Week” and the “Vela d’Oro” in Riva del Garda for the sales in Europe and Italy.

The second album “Telephone Mama” was released in 1984 and though the style of the songs and the general concept were dramatically different from the first album it became a best seller in most of the territories where it was released.

Gazebo - I like Chopin cover
Gazebo - Masterpiece cover
Gazebo - Telephone Mama cover

In 1985 Paul had to join the army and this pause forced him to rebuild his career on a different and stronger basis willing to develop and improve his musical skills in song writing, arranging and producing.

He therefore founded Lunatic S.r.l – his own production company.

The first project with the new venture was released in 1986, “Univision” was also the last cooperation with his former co song writer P.Giombini and Baby Records CEO Freddy Naggiar.

Lunatic soon became a production, publishing and recording facility and “Rainbow Tales” is the first album recorded there with Paul setting up a new musical direction towards pop and rock, a link towards his musical origins in the Prog scene of the seventies.

1989…  “Sweet Life” was the first album entirely written, produced and engineered by Paul himself, this album included a special version of a song Paul had cowrote for Ryan Paris and that became at the time a smash hit worldwide: “Dolce Vita

Gazebo - Sweet Life cover

In 1992, Lunatic signed a distribution deal with BMG Ariola and the first release on Lunatic Records was “Scenes From The News Broadcast”.  The single “Fire” was chosen for a Red Cross charity campaign for the victims of the civil war in Ex Yugoslavia. “14Th Of July” the second single hit the Latin American dance charts with it’s hypnotic downbeat tempo.

1994 Lunatic Records released “Portrait” – a compilation album with all his hits.

1997 From the merging of Lunatic S.r.l and Cresus Enterprises S.n.c (publishing) Paul founded Softworks Snc, a new company with a big catalog and a great structure. First release “Viewpoint” the sequel to “Portrait”.

Gazebo - The fourteenth of july cover
Gazebo - The fourteenth of july cover
Gazebo - Portrait cover

2000 Softworks’ SWR releases “Portrait & Viewpoint” a double CD with all the essentials.

2008 Anticipated by “Ladies !” and it’s Deejay contest on Myspace where the deejays were asked to remix or rearrange the song without even hearing the final version, “The Syndrone” the album made with the collaboration of great musicians such as drummer Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney) and bass player John Giblin (Phil Collins, Kate Bush and Simple Minds). 16 brand new songs with the new smash hit singles “Tears For Galileo” (n°1 In the Euro Dance Parade),

“Virtual Love” and a moving song dedicated to Pope John Paul II “The Man At the Window”

Finally in 2013 “I Like .. Live” The double live album from the Syndrone tour, all the best of his 30 years career.

2015 “Reset” the new 2015 album was anticipated by “Queen Of Burlesque” and it’s b/w video shot in Rome by night, dedicated to the masters of Italian cinema such as Fellini and De Sica. Three other singles were released,  “Blindness”, “The Secret” and his first time ever ballad “Wet Wings” where music and ballet flow together like veils around an ending love story.

2018 “Italo By Numbers” is Paul’s latest production, he took a certain number of Italo Disco megahits from the 80′ and rerecorded them using the same analog instruments and techniques those songs where made with at the time! Tracks that sold millions of copies worldwide, like “Self Control”, “Tarzan Boy”, “Happy Children” “Easy Lady”, “Survivor” “People From Ibiza” and some of his classics like “I Like Chopin”, “Masterpiece”, “Lunatic” and “Dolce Vita”

Gazebo - Reset cover
Gazebo -I like live cover
Gazebo - Italo by numbers cover

The single “La Divina” (for the first time in Italian) is available on YouTube and features Paul’s debut as a director in a touching auto biographical story from his youth, the story of (tenor) Alberto’s spiritual love for Maria Callas.

Paul has toured with his band throughout 2018 with this project.

In parallel with his “Gazebo” activities Paul has been working since the Covid pandemic on side projects as cooperation with a Turin based Prog band called “Banda Belzoni” and Davide Pistoni’s “Stratosferico”, a production based on works by famous PROG singer Demetrio Stratos.

He has also bought “Borgo Melograno” a small Tuscan village in Chiusi where he will soon be offering services for a residential recording studio and simple resort hosting in the marvels of the Tuscan countryside.

Gazebo oil and wine on the way?

The description says it all… Nature, Art and Wellness