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Enrico Pieranunzi

Enrico Pieranunzi was born in Rome in 1949 and has for many years been among the most significant and well-known protagonists of the international jazz scene. A pianist, composer, and arranger, he has recorded more than 70 albums under his own name, ranging from piano solo to trio, from duo to quintet.

He has collaborated, either live or in the studio, with Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, Paul Motian, Charlie Haden, Chris Potter, Marc Johnson, and Joey Baron. Pieranunzi has been named Artist of the Year three times by the Musica Jazz magazine critics’ poll (in 1989, 2003, 2008). He also won the French Django d’Or prize as “Best European Musician” in 1997 and the German Echo Jazz Award in 2014 as “Best International Keyboard Artist”.

Pieranunzi has performed his music all over the world in the most prestigious international festivals, from Montréal to Copenhagen and Buenos Aires, from Berlin and Madrid to Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing. For the past ten years, he has been playing more and more in the USA, and has taken part in the San Francisco and Spoleto (Charleston, South Carolina) festivals. He has also been regularly featured in the most important New York clubs, especially the Village Vanguard, where in July 2010 he recorded the album Live at the Village Vanguard with Marc Johnson and Paul Motian. This is the first album ever recorded by an Italian musician (and one of the very few by European musicians) in the legendary diamond shaped 7th Avenue venue. A second Live at the Village Vanguard, recorded in 2015 with Donny McCaslin, Scott Colley and Clarence Penn, will be released at the end of 2016.

Enrico Pieranunzi has composed over 300 pieces, many of which have become standards performed and recorded by musicians all over the world (Night Bird, Don’t Forget the Poet, Fellini’s Waltz).

Enrico Pieranunzi & Bert Joris: Chet Remembered

Read "Chet Remembered" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
June 23, 2023

Chet Remembered is the second disc the pianist Enrico Pieranunzi has recorded with a big band in as many years. Both are what used to be called “concept albums." 2022's offering, Blues & Bach (Challenge), was made with the Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana, and celebrated the compositions of John Lewis, mainly those Lewis recorded with the Modern Jazz Quartet. It is a lovely disc. Lovely, too, is Chet Remembered, made with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, conducted by ...

Album Review

Enrico Pieranunzi Trio & Orchestra: Blues & Bach: The Music Of John Lewis

Read "Blues & Bach: The Music Of John Lewis" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
January 6, 2023

If the work of any jazz composer lends itself to elegant reframing, as opposed to crass sweetening, by a chamber orchestra, it is that of John Lewis, co-founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Lewis' ambition, most often metaphorically realised but sometimes literally so, was to achieve a synthesis of blues and Bach. His blends were mostly successful and only occasionally, in self-conscious forays into “third stream" music, did his innate vibrancy become subsumed in arid academia. Lewis ...

In Pictures

Enrico Pieranunzi Trio at Politeama Theatre Manerbio Jazz Fest 2022

by Danilo Codazzi
November 11, 2022

A collection of photos from the Enrico Pieranunzi Trio concert at Politeama Theatre in Manerbio on November 3, 2022 featuring Enrico Pieranunzi, Luca Bulgarelli and Mauro Beggio. ...

Radio & Podcasts

Harry James, Quentin Baxter & Enrico Pieranunzi

by Joe Dimino
August 28, 2022

Italian pianist Enrico Pieranunzi kicks off the 766th Episode of Neon Jazz with music from is release New Visions (2019). We follow that up with music from Pieranunzi's early collaborator, trumpeter Chet Baker. As 2022 marches on, many artists are releasing albums and touring post-COVID restrictions. We profile new music from Quentin E. Baxter, John Lee, Mark Filsinger and Dave Slonaker. In between, we visit the 1940s with classics from Miff Ferrie and Harry James. Dig the jazz, my friends.

Interview

Maurizio Franco - Direttore artistico di Iseo Jazz

by Paolo Peviani
June 27, 2022

Da venerdì 1 Luglio a Sabato 9 luglio si svolgerà la trentesima edizione di Iseo Jazz. Protagonisti del festival saranno Joyce Yuille, Enrico Pieranunzi, la Lydian Sound Orchestra, Carlo Morena, Enrico Intra, la Monday Orchestra feat. Fabio Morgera, la Milano C-Jazz Band e Fabrizio Bai. In attesa dei concerti, abbiamo intervistato Maurizio Franco, direttore artistico della manifestazione. All About Jazz: Come è nato Iseo Jazz? Maurizio Franco: Iseo Jazz è nato nel ...

Album Review

Enrico Pieranunzi Jazz Ensemble: Time's Passage

Read "Time's Passage" reviewed by Neri Pollastri

by Neri Pollastri
August 9, 2021

Quattro anni dopo My Songbook, l'album che ne aveva rivelato l'aspetto di songwriter, Enrico Pieranunzi torna a pubblicare un album di canzoni, ancora una volta interpretate dalla voce duttile ed elegante di Simona Severini. La formazione è diversa dalla precedente: conserva Luca Bulgarelli a contrabbasso e basso elettrico, gli affianca il fido André Ceccarelli alla batteria e l'ospite Andrea Dulbecco al vibrafono, escludendo del tutto i fiati. Ne scaturisce un organico estremamente equilibrato, dai suoni netti e brillanti, ...

Album Review

Enrico Pieranunzi & Bert Joris: Afterglow

by Chris May
December 29, 2020

Enrico Pieranunzi is a multidimensional pianist and composer, but when he is in mellow mood he can remind one of the late, great Henry Mancini—and it is not just his Italian heritage. Pieranunzi is a classically trained jazz musician, whereas Mancini was a jazz trained soundtrack composer with a heaven-sent gift for writing great tunes, “Moon River" and “Baby Elephant Walk" among them. Pieranunzi, too, can write melodies which are lovely and catchy. Like Mancini, he also brings a cinematic ...

Recording

Chet Remembered: Enrico Pieranunzi, Bert Joris and the Frankfurt Radio Big Band - A Tribute To Chet Baker

Source: Vivo Musique Internationale
June 9, 2023

Enrico Pieranunzi is continuing the collaboration with Bert Joris for their second album together on Challenge. All tracks composed by Enrico Pieranunzi, arrangements by Bert Joris. This CD has a very special meaning for me. Remembering Chet takes me back to 1979 when I first met him. That meeting would soon prove to be a turning point in my musical life. Playing together, sharing concerts or recording sessions with him allowed me to be in close contact with an artist ...
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