Antonio Esposito, known as Tony Esposito, and born 15 July 1950 in Naples, Italy, is a singer-songwriter, musician, and percussionist blending world rhythms with Neapolitan traditional sounds. He issued his debut album Toni Esposito in 1974 on Numero Uno, followed by Processione sul mare in 1976. His 1977 album Gente distratta earned the Italian Music Critics Award, and the 1978 release La banda del sole on Philips led to appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1978 and 1980 with the Tony Esposito Group. In 1982, he composed the theme for the television show Domenica in, marking a turn toward more commercially oriented work, and in 1984 the single "Kalimba de Luna" from the album Il grande esploratore sold over 200,000 copies in Italy and five million worldwide, earning a gold disc and a critics’ prize. He received the Nastro d’Argento in 1986 for the soundtrack of Lina Wertmüller’s film A Complicated Intrigue of Women, Alleys and Crimes. Esposito also collaborated with Pino Daniele, Edoardo Bennato, and Gilberto Gil. Later albums include Viaggio Tribale (2004), Kalimba De Luna (2008), and Kostabeat! (2014).
