Music

Roberto Mighty has written and produced two musical albums and written 150 original musical compositions for TV, corporate film and video.


He started playing guitar at 13 and and built the first of several professional recording studios at age 17.

Roberto writes lyrics, music and arrangements, sings and plays several instruments, although guitar is his specialty. His instrument collection includes a '57 Reissue Fender Stratocaster; a Brazilian Flamenco guitar; an acoustic/electric hollow body bass guitar; a Spanish classical guitar; an acoustic dreadnought steel-string guitar; a solid-body nylon string electric classical guitar; an upright grand piano; two electric keyboards; myriad percussion instruments and a full multitrack computer-assisted professional recording studio setup.

In 2008, after an eight year hiatus from recording and performing, Roberto released a solo album called "KiTCHEN MuSIC" to rave reviews on iTunes and Amazon:

***** "...terrific, sensitive guitar" *****"I highly recommend KiTCHEN MuSIC to listeners of all levels - jazz lovers and non-jazz lovers" *****"....the rapturous vocals and intricately woven harmonies on "Autumn Leaves" invoke a multi-colored airborne leaf ballet"...*****"brings sophisticated guitar chops and arrangements to these great American lyrical songs"...*****"...sure to enliven any room, from the kitchen to the boudoir"*****...*****"guest artist Walter Beasley's transfixing saxophone solo"..."Bravo and kudos" FULL REVIEWS

Last year he teamed up with Kathryn Howell, a remarkable vocalist. Together they formed a vocal/guitar jazz duo, "Roberto & Kathryn" that has been getting rave reviews.

REVIEWS for Roberto & Kathryn's debut CD
"If "A Foggy Day" is on Roberto & Kathryn's set list, the fog will clear for miles... The vocals and guitar duo of Kathryn Howell and Roberto Mighty recorded their debut album live in WGBH's studios. "Don't Explain" is a tribute to the Great American Songbook with heaping servings of sensuality and romance, particularly "Lover Man," a nice warm up for Valentine's Day. George Gershwin and Duke Ellington would be proud." - The Boston Globe

Roberto & Kathryn are a vocal jazz/guitar duo featuring Kathryn Howell, Vocals and Roberto Mighty, Guitar and Vocals. Their debut album, "Don't Explain," consists of covers from the Great American Songbook (Gershwin, Ellington, Mercer, Holliday, etc.) recorded live at WGBH studios in Boston.

Roberto & Kathryn are most often compared to Tuck & Patti, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Joe Pass & Ella Fitzgerald; but this duo is unique for their romantic, intimate, sensuous interpretations.

"Roberto and Kathryn are a dynamic duo that is bringing back the current trends for male/female vocal teams... They do a laudable portrayal of Jazz song classics written by such greats as Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, George Gershwin, Billy Strayhorn, Richard Rogers, George Shearing, Johnny Mercer and more. They have chosen an array of songs that span the moods of love, life, positive energy and inspiration. This CD is magnetic! Roberto & Kathryn invite you into their world, which is universal, touching and artfully presented. "Don't Explain" is perfect for Valentines Day all year!" - By Eric Frazier, Jazz Journalist

© 2010 Roberto Mighty www.robertomightyart.blogspot.com

Trees series. Stills, 2010 Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, morning. The air was cold, crisp and so dry that I felt my lens could see all the way through to the stratosphere.

At magic hour, on my way to get flowers for my sweetheart, I noticed these four amazing sights as the sun hung low in the sky, angling through the upper branches.

These mature deciduous trees are near my home. Two of these pieces form a diptych: "CoExist" illustrates a peaceful relationship of the tree to the wires -- a rapprochement of the built environment and the natural world.

"AmpuTree" shows that human/natural relationship in a different light. This tree has had a limb amputated in order to make way for our crude network in the sky.

"TriAngle" combines elements of tree, wires and jet contrail in a compositionally stark portrayal.

"GangLion" reprises a theme that fascinates me: the repetition in nature of certain physical forms. I first noticed this while looking at a common garden bush after a windstorm. Its limbs had twisted into the characteristic nautilus shape of the mathematical representation known as the fibonacci series -- much like our Milky Way galaxy. In this image, the de-leaved tree shows its underlying structure to be similar to neuronal networks. I shot it backlit in order to reduce it visually to two dimensions.

Artists' statement: Trees Series, Still Photography. Roberto Mighty, 2010.

Death. Decay. Desiccation. My thoughts these days have turned to the ends of things. Our northeastern linden, elm, maple and oak trees, previously robust and fecund, appear in February to be mort. "Los arboles mueren de pie" -- the trees die on their feet.

But they are not dead. Only dormant. In this state, their stark beauty can be appreciated by those who truly love them for what they are. Keepers of life and resurrection. Superstructures for whole communities. Architecturally perfect eco-urban monoliths.

What is a tree to a squirrel? Would we even have words for that experience? These images seek to imagine that. Among other things. ###

Current Projects

I’m currently working on four original projects –”Scars,” “Walkers,” "Trees" and “KolorGirlz.” I'm also collaborating with an artist on another project: "War Narratives."

"Scars" is about the violent marks people have on their bodies and how those scars affect their psyche.  Besides filming and editing the project, I'm designing a three-chambered multimedia (stills, projection and audio) gallery installation and a flash website.

"Walkers" utilizes HD to map immigrant and other subcultures throughout the USA. In addition to filming and editing the project, I’m designing an immersive, interactive multimedia installation for galleries and a video-embedded GPS website.

“KolorGirlz” is my feature documentary on transgressive women comedians across the country. It features transgendered, lesbian, Korean, Persian and African-American professional standup comics. I’ve been working on it for several years and am now in post-production. KolorGirlz is fiscally sponsored by IFP/NY and was workshopped at the Latino Producer’s Academy in Santa Fe.

"Trees" is a series of stills on dead, desiccated or seasonally dormant linden, elm, maple and oak trees in my neighborhood. 

"War Narratives" is a series collaboration with Performance Artist Kathryn Howell. The character portrayed in this project is dealing with the realities of war. On the home front. In a there and then when women had fewer options than they do in the here and now.




Photos copyright R. Mighty 2007 - 2010