Waiting for the departure of Pisa Jazz Rebirththe festival born from the project Pisa Jazz edited by Associazione ExWide with the artistic direction of Francesco Mariotti and the contribution of Pisa Foundation, Ministry of Culture, Tuscany Region and Municipality of Pisa, collateral events double.
To the list of initiatives already underway at the space Arno Vivo they go side by side four live shows all dedicated to the talent of exceptional musicians and band leadersscheduled from June 20th to 30th in the evocative setting of cloister of Palazzo Blu.
The inauguration is entrusted Thursday 20 June to Michela Lombardi with the Circles Trio of the Pisan pianist Piero Frassi, with Gabriele Evangelista on double bass and Bernardo Guerra to the battery. Michela and Piero have collaborated steadily for over twenty years, and during their partnership they have repeatedly combined the performance of the most famous jazz standards of the ’30s and ’40s with the vast repertoire of the so-called “new standards”, i.e. songs by authors of the generations following that of the myths of the Great American Songbook (such as Cole Porter or George Gershwin): composers mostly linked to pop music or soundtracks, sometimes even simple songwriters or singer-songwriters. From Sting (to whom Michela Lombardi and the Piero Frassi Circles trio dedicated two albums) to Michel Legrand (who was recently released “Believe in Spring”a tribute to the French composer which in addition to Lombardi, Evangelista and Frassi sees the presence of Andrea Beninati and Dimitri Grechi Espinoza), from Johnny Mandel to James Taylor, from Burt Bacharach to Piero Ciampi, Michela Lombardi’s versatile musicianship and Frassi’s brilliant inventiveness have given a new look to many songs.
Michela Lombardi @ Giorgio Leone
We continue Sunday 23rd with Eleonora Strino, who will take the stage in a three-way formation together with Francesco Ponticelli on double bass and Zeno de Rossi to the battery. Young artist on the crest of a wave – so much so that the American magazine Jazz Guitar Today dedicated the February 2020 cover to her, after reserving it for musicians of the caliber of Peter Bernstein, Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Scofield and other great guitarists of the current scene – after a first album as a leader with two jazz legends such as Joey Baron and Greg Cohen , Eleonora Strino travels the Peninsula at the head of her trio. The repertoire ranges from songs of the jazz tradition, virtuosic pieces typical of bebop, original compositions of clear Neapolitan inspiration, rearrangements of popular themes such as “The postman” by Luis Bacalov o “Alfonsina y el Mar”, the famous Argentine tango.
After you: Thursday 27th the Greek pianist Tania Giannouli, which he received in May 2021, together with his instrument colleagues Tigran Hamasyan and Shai Maestro, the nomination for the Deutscher Jazzpreis, an important recognition for German discography. Composer and improviser, Tania Giannouli transfers this double dimension to the keyboard which leads her to explore the world of jazz with personality, making use of both her classical training and the folkloric influences of Greece. Her solo piano concerts accompany the listener on a sonic journey in which the inventiveness of the moment is combined with different influences, which gradually intersect dynamically and with progressive intensity.
The review will end Sunday 30 June with the sparkling concert of Francesca Tandoi in trio with Matheus Nicolaiewsky on double bass and Sander Smeets on drums to present the new album “BopWeb” which has already achieved great success with the public in Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Rotterdam and recently also a sold out at the Blue Note in Milan. The album is composed almost entirely of original songs and embellished with the reinterpretation of two great classics: “Overjoyed” by Steve Wonder and “Agua de beber” by Tom Jobim. Francesca Tandoi can be defined as a true excellence of Italian jazz, who in just a few years of her career has taken her music around the globe and her performances have been welcomed with enthusiasm by the public and critics.
Eleonora Strino
