Forcione is a multi-award-winning guitarist, composer and also a highly charismatic stage artist, who is often referred to as "the Hendrix of the acoustic guitar". At the Rīgas Ritmi Festival, the world-renowned guitar master will offer a dynamic program of original jazz, whose stylistic influences can be found in Latin American, African and flamenco music. Antonio takes guitar playing to a new level of artistic expression, and the many awards he has won in various parts of the world prove his geniusness.

Coming from the colorful folk scene of southern Italy, Forcione gained international attention after moving to London in the mid-eighties. He cites Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, John McLaughlin and Dave Gilmour from Pink Floyd as his guitar playing heroes. He tends to use both six-string and twelve-string guitars, which allows him to vary in a wide musical amplitude depending on the artist's creative mood.

Forcione is rightly considered a guitar genius, one of those musicians who seems to be completely and instinctively at one with his instrument. "His influences ranging from flamenco to Balkan and from Arabic to American acoustic guitar styles, but he is thoroughly conversant with the jazz language," emphasized the British jazz magazine Jazzwise.

In Riga, Antonio will perform together with great Brazilian musicians - bassist Matheus Nova and percussionist Jansen Santana - who will give the music performed by Forcione an even deeper groove. As newspaper The Scotsman wrote of the trio's performance, "all good fun, and very much in keeping with the party mood".

The 24th international improvisation, jazz and global music festival Rīgas Ritmi will take place from July 3 to 6 this year. The main concert venue will be Riga Cathedral Garden, where the biggest concerts will be held on July 4 and 5. The stages of the festival will also be located in the Riga Jazz Lounge at the hotel Radisson Blu Latvija, the Fenikss Lounge at the hotel Aston Hotel Riga and the Jersika Stage at the arts center Noass, while the open master classes of the artists of the festival will take place in the Latvian Radio Studio 1.

Italian composer, arranger, pianist and bandoneonist Daniele di Bonaventura will also perform in the Riga Cathedral Garden on July 4, after Antonio Forcione's trio, conducting Latvian chamber orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga and performing the program Tango suite, while on July 5 will perform one of the leading Cuban jazz pianists of the new generation Jorge Luis Pacheco with his quartet and the American soul, funk and hip-hop artist José James with his new quartet of jazz stars and Grammy Award nominees.

"Biļešu paradīze" service has already started selling tickets for the Rīgas Ritmi Festival 2024 concerts in the Riga Cathedral Garden on July 4 and 5.