I am Cortez, an Italian artist from Rome, known by my real name Alessandro Bagagli for my English production of 7 rock albums: Under the Gun and Magic in the Air (2013), Shouted Songs (2014), Primal Life (2015), Live & Die (2016), Out in the Nowhere (2017) and Highways & Cigars (2018).
I was born as a guitarist and now I am a multi-instrumentalist and an independent composer.
I started in 1994 with PolyGram / Mercury under the stage name Alex Baggi and an Italian rock album called Un Po’ di Sentimento.
After my experience as Alessandro Bagagli, I started a collaboration with artists from all over the world and in 2019 I released The Eve, Entropy and a single, I’ll Make it Up for You with The Eve brand. At the end of this experience, I wanted to start a new musical journey.
I changed my name to a new stage name, Cortez and in 2020 I released two brand new works in Italian, two rock albums Poeta di Strada and Nel Colore della Notte.
My musical journey has no rules or a specific musical style. I write and do what I like. So, again in 2020, I released a new funk and soul disco album Come to Poppa, a tribute to the Seventies' disco funk music of Studio 54.
In February 2021 it came out Souled, an album with strong soul funk tints.
Then I went back to where it all began. I played in hard rock and heavy bands. I was a singer. That’s how I started. I was young and my room was full of vinyls and posters of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, UFO, Free... and on June 4th, 2021 I paid tribute to my old passion for hard rock with the release of my new album Through Death Valley & Nowhere.
My journey also pushed me to the coast of California, on a psychedelic trip that draws inspiration from groups and artists such as The Byrds, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and George Harrison.
A rebirth that led me to new destinations full of creativity and peace, con Rise Again, released on October 7th 2021.
For Christmas 2021 I decided to go back to rock in Italian with the album Domani Cambio Nome.
As I promised to my Italian friends, after two years I went back to writing and realizing an album in Italian. It is a rock album, with dark hues, a little reflective.
In March 2022 I went country with Train a Coming, my album released on March 4th.
June 21 marked another step in my discography, with the release of Modern Blues.
Now I just packed some old-fashioned rock 'n' roll for you. The album is titled Rock 'n' Roll Packed.
I grew up with classic rock bands. The Humble Pie, The Faces, The Black Crowes gave me the strength to struggle in my rebel youth. Those bands kept me alive, while I was listening to their vinyls the way I loved: LOUD!