Description
Cat#:
LABEL: AUAND, Italy
FORMAT: CD / AU9072
ARTIST: Francesco Fiorenzani
TITLE: Silent Water
EAN: 8031697907220
LINEUP:
Francesco Fiorenzani (guitar)
Achille Succi (alto sax, bass clarinet)
Luca Sguera (piano, keyboards)
Francesco Ponticelli (duoble bass)
Bernardo Guerra (drums)
Camilla Battaglia (voice on #6)
REC DATA:
Produced by Francesco Fiorenzani
Executive Producer: Marco Valente
Recorded at Entropya Studio, Perugia – Italy on May 22-24, 2017
Engineer: Gabriele Ballabio and Stefano Bechini
Cover Photo: Ester Scapini
Notes
Guitarist and composer Francesco Fiorenzani will release his debut album Silent Water on January 12th for Auand Records. Fiorenzani is leading a quintet composed by Achille Succi (alto sax / bass clarinet), Luca Sguera (piano), Francesco Ponticelli (double bass) and Bernardo Guerra (drums).
The choice of the members was motivated by their experience and musical affinities in common with Fiorenzani. Achille Succi boasts a long career of collaborations and brilliant works, but it has been his unparalleled “voice” to make himself a constant source of inspiration, indispensable for the plot set by Fiorenzani. The meeting with Luca Sguera took place as students of Siena Jazz University. He is a very promising young pianist, endowed with a rare sensitivity that made him skilled in his dialogue with the guitar. Francesco Ponticelli on double bass, represents the ideal bassist: musical background wide open, extremely gifted with instrumental solidity. Bernardo Guerra on drums is young and launched in the Italian jazz scene, a musician of substance that always puts his ideas at the service of music.
The project was born in 2016 and the competition for young composers sponsored by U.N.C.L.A. and the Italian Ministry of Culture contributed to this record release.
The repertoire is composed exclusively of original pieces composed by Fiorenzani, where the influences that marked his personality emerge through this first step in his musical career. Jazz is certainly the language to which the compositions refer, above all in the rhythmic intention and in the formal development of the repertoire. The influences from the New York scene from the 1990s to nowadays are also clear, where inspiration comes from the works of artists such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, David Binney and Ambrose Akinmusire. The result is a music that finds a balanced synthesis between catchy but refined melodies and a skillful construction of harmonies linked symmetrically to them.
Bio
Born in Siena on 12/24/1989 he began studying guitar at the age of 18 at the Diapason school in Siena with Paolo Loppi. During this period he had the opportunity to know and deepen styles like blues and rock.
In 2010 he successfully obtained the diploma at the “Modern Guitar Academy” with the evaluation of 30/30 cum laude.
He also attended some master classes held by Robben Ford, Scott Henderson, Guthrie Govan. Right after he enrolled at Siena Jazz studying with Giulio Stracciati and later with Roberto Nannetti.
At Siena Jazz Fiorenzani studied and deepened the knowledge of music in general, following courses in theory, harmony, ear training, piano, arrangement, easter rhythmic techniques and composition. Thanks to Roberto Nannetti he also deepened the study of classical guitar.
During these years he began to play live with bands ranging from trio to quintet, with some school teachers as Franco Fabbrini, Mirco Mariottini and Alessandro Giachero.
In 2012/2013 he enrolled in the jazz bachelor degree program at Siena Jazz where he studied with Roberto Cecchetto, the Italian reference for jazz guitar.
During the first year he was selected to take part in an exchange with the “Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris”, where he attended courses of ensemble music with Riccardo Del Fra and Glenn Ferris concluding this experience with a concert at the “Italian Institute of Culture” with Achille Succi as coaching teacher.
In the meantime he started working permanently in various bands with which he performed in numerous clubs in Tuscany, including UNTUBO in Siena, NOF and Citè in Florence, Sottobosco in Pisa, Isola del Giglio for a festival organized by Flavio Boltro, JazzIt Fest in Collescipoli, and many others.
In 2013 and 2015 he attended the prestigious summer campus at Siena Jazz, where he had the opportunity to study and play with some of the most influent international musicians, including Lionel Loueke, Steve Cardenas, Ambrose Akinmusire, Avishai Cohen, Aaron Goldberg, Ruben Rogers, Nir Felder, Mark Turner, Eric Harland, John Taylor, Matt Penman, David Binney, Franco D’Andrea, Claudio Fasoli, Miguel Zenon, Ettore Fioravanti, Roberto Gatto, Michael Blake, Joel Frahm, Tomaso Lama, Mauro Negri, Stefano Battaglia.
He was selected to be part of the Siena Jazz Orchestra conducted by Roberto Spadoni, opening the Siena jazz summer workshop at Piazza Duomo in Siena.
In the semester February-July 2015, he attended the Codarts Institute in Rotterdam right before the bachelor degree.
There he studied guitar with Ed Vheroeff and Reineer Baas and he has been asked to perform for JazzDag International during a meeting between European schools lead by saxophonist Ben Van Den Dungen with drummer Mark Schilders, Italian vocalist Camilla Battaglia and English bass player Loz Garratt.
In the following years he performed with artists like David Binney, Simone Graziano, Andrea Lombardini, Phil Mer, Andrea Grillini, Silvia Bolognesi, Alfonso Santimone, Maurizio Giammarco, Bernardo Guerra, Paolo Porta, Camilla Battaglia in various Italian clubs and festivals as ParmaJazz Frontiere, il Torrione di Ferrara, Lume in Milan, Trento, Bologna and many others.
In 2016 he obtained the Bachelor’s degree in jazz guitar with 110/110 cum laude with a thesis on the piano / guitar duets from classical music to jazz, accompanied on piano by Francesco Orio. Roberto Cecchetto and Stefano Battaglia coached the performance and research.
He also often collaborates with the singer Camilla Battaglia, considered a leading voice of contemporary jazz and she is also singing a tune (track n. 6) in the album.
In 2015 he joined the BlueRing Improvisers, a collective of improvised music, with which he also recorded an album that will be released in 2018 for a German label.
Over the last two years he also accumulates teaching experience, giving private lessons and then collaborating with Enea Silvio Piccolomini High School in Siena where he held workshops on the art of improvisation
In April 2017 he was invited for a week-long artistic residence in Bisceglie (BT), organized by “Auand” record label, along with some of the most active musicians of the Italian jazz scene including Giancarlo Tossani, Gaetano Partipilo, Alfonso Santimone, Piero Bittolo Bon, Francesco Diodati, Simone Graziano, Enrico Morello, Stefano Risso, Marcello Giannini, Mirko Signorile, Camilla Battaglia, Filippo Vignato, Francesco Ponticelli, Matteo Bortone.
In January 2017 he began working with the quartet led by Francesco Orio on piano (winner of the “Gaslini” prize and of the “Bettinardi” award) with Andrea Grossi on double bass and Andrea Beninati on drums, in order to record an album for NAU Records.
