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Tiziano Tononi

Free-thinking Italian drummer

About Me

Born in Milano on November 18th 1956, starts playing in rock bands and gets closer to jazz since the mid-seventies. In 1978 meets american percussionist Andrew Cyrille with whom starts studying in New York and subsequently in Europe. In 1979 enrolls the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano, studying classical percussion under David Lee Searcy, principal tympanist at the Teatro alla Scala, Milano. In that same year returns to New York to study with Bob Moses, and founds the group Nexus with saxophonist Daniele Cavallanti. Gets known with Nexus, in Italy first and then in Europe, through concerts and festivals appearances: Milano, Cagliari, Clusone, Bolzano, Noci, Le Mans, Koln, Moers, Vienna, Vilshofen, Opeye, Mulhouse, Verona, Saarbrucken-St.Ingbert, Gent, Tampere, S.AnnaArresi, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Vancouver, Istanbul.

Founding member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, has played the major international festivals (Rive de Gier, Monaco, Moers, Parigi, Mulhouse, Zurigo, Nevers, Le Mans, Grenoble, Chambery, Vilshofen, Saalfelden, Colonia, Berlino, Lisbona, Porto, Faro, Siviglia, Salamanca, Madrid, Vigo, Bath, Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Yokohama, Istanbul, Oxford, Manchester, London) has recorded for ECM and Enja Records and has won many national and international Critics Pools. Played and/or recorded with Tiziana Ghiglioni, Gianluigi Trovesi, Roberto Ottaviano, Dino Betti Van Deer Noot, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Enrico Rava, Muhal Richard Abrams, Pierre Favre, David Friedman, Dave Liebman, Jean Jacques Avenel, Oliver Johnson, Maggie Nicols, Andrew Cyrille, Barre Phillips, Mark Dresser, Ray Anderson, Steve Lacy, Dewey Redman, Tony Scott, William Parker, Cecil Taylor, Glenn Ferris, Mark Dresser, Herb Robertson, Roswell Rudd. His CD’s “Awake Nu / A Tribute To Don Cherry” and “We Did It, We Did It / Rahsaan & The None” were voted Best Record Of The Year in the 1998 and 2001 Italian Critics Pools.

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because.I felt the freedom to express myself in this music better and more than any other context.. I was first exposed to jazz at school, by friends who tried to make me listen to records I didn't like forty five years ago.. The first jazz record I bought wasthe Miles Davis record with Monk and Milt Jackson My advice to new listeners.is listen with open ears, no prejudice... Or whatever else you have in mind.