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Paolo Fresu

Paolo Fresu started studying his instrument at the age of 11 in the "Bernardo de Muro" music band of Berchidda, where he was born.

After experiences light music he discovered jazz in 1980 and started his professional activity in 1982 following first the and then recording for the RAI, the Italian public broadcasting corporation, (Radio 3 'Un certo discorso) under the direction of Bruno Tommaso.

In 1984 he graduated in Trumpet at the Cagliari Conservatory under Enzo Morandini and attended the music department of DAMS, the faculty of arts of the University of Bologna. Still in 1984 he won several prizes as best talent in Italian Jazz.

In 1990 he won the prize as best Italian musician, best group (the Paolo Fresu Quintet) and best record (Live in Montpellier). In 1996, in Paris he won the prestigious prizes "Bobby Jaspar" awarded by the "Académie du jazz and the "Django d'Or" (the European music Oscar) as best European jazz musician and in the year 2000 he had another nomination for the "Django d'Or" as best international musician.

He has been a music teacher in State Middle schools and, for the past twenty years he has led and intense teaching activity in many contexts.

The list of collaborations is prestigious: ranging from the leading Italian musicians like F. D'Andrea, GL. Trovesi, G. Gaslini, E. Rava, B. Tommaso, G. Tommaso, E. Pieranunzi, T. Ghiglioni and others, to Europeans and Americans like K. Wheeler, J. Taylor, D. Liebman, D. Holland, Ph. Woods, A. Romano, G. Mulligan, B. Brookmayer, J. Zorn, R. Del Frà, J. Abercrombie, H. Merril, M. Portal, R. Galliano, T. Gurtu, G. Shuller, M. Waldrom, del Fra, J. Hall, L. Soloff, J. Hassell, Uri Caine, Gil Evans Orchestra etc.

He has recorded over 220 LPs and CDs, of which over thirty under his own name and others in international collaborations. He has performed various artistic intrusions (in painting, sculpture, installations, video, etc).

He divides his time between Paris, the Apennines which bridge Tuscany and Emilia, Bologna and Sardinia and is President of the "TIME IN JAZZ" Cultural Association of Berchidda, which organizes the Jazz Festival by the same name, as well as other cultural events.

Il Volo del Jazz 2022

by Luca A. d'Agostino
January 7, 2023

A collection of photos from the Il Volo del Jazz in Sacile from October 29, 2022 to December 3, 2022 featuring Paolo Fresu, Randy Brecker, Christian Sands Some Funk Punk, Richard Bona, Alfredo Rodriguez, Vincent Peirani and Kokoroko. ...

Profile

Paolo Fresu: When Musician Turns Poet

by Nathalie Tamara Freson
October 2, 2022

Paolo Fresu—a multidimensional artist whose creative overdrive has shaped the Italian jazz scene for almost forty years. With definite hints to Chet Baker and Miles Davis, Fresu has honed a particularly mellow, velvety sound which is absolutely compelling. Even when he tackles coarser, more upbeat tempos, he captivates his listeners with his original approach, switching between trumpet, muted trumpet and flugelhorn, and sometimes employing electronic effects. Indeed, using technology in a creative process, as Paolo Fresu occasionally does in live ...

Album Review

Larry Coryell & Philip Catherine: The Last Call

Read "The Last Call" reviewed by Phillip Woolever

by Phillip Woolever
August 1, 2021

ACT Music released this exceptional concert recording four years to the day after the February 19, 2017 death of 73-year old master guitarist Larry Coryell. The album documents a sensational set Coryell played with the equally skillful Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine at the Berlin Philharmonic. The event was an unplanned but fitting conclusion to their series of collaborations that began at the same location some forty-five years before. The sound dynamics and song selections create a vivid testimonial of musical ...

In Pictures

Roberto Cipelli & Paolo Fresu "l'Equilibrio di Nash" at Cremona Jazz Festival 2021

by Danilo Codazzi
July 10, 2021

A collection of photos from the Roberto Cipelli & Paolo Fresu Duo l'Equilibrio di Nash," concert at Auditorium “Giovanni Arvedi" in Cremona on June, 25 2021 featuring Roberto Cipelli and Paolo Fresu. ...

Live Review

Roberto Cipelli & Paolo Fresu al Parco Ca' Nova di Medicina

by Emmanuel Di Tommaso
June 29, 2021

Roberto Cipelli e Paolo Fresu Parco Ca' Nova Crossroads Festival 2021 Medicina (BO) 26/06/2021 La prima delle tre apparizioni di Paolo Fresu alla ventiduesima edizione del Crossroads Festival, la manifestazione musicale che anche quest'anno attraversa tutta l'Emilia--Romagna con oltre 60 concerti di alto livello, va in scena al Parco Ca' Nova di Medicina, a pochi chilometri da Bologna, città in cui vive il trombettista sardo. Ad accompagnarlo (ma, come vedremo, non si tratta di accompagnamento, ...

Radio & Podcasts

A Night at the Jazz Circus! - Part 2

by Ludovico Granvassu
November 14, 2020

One thing that Jazz and Circus have in common is that—unlike way too many things that we see in our daily lives—you can't fake them. You cannot pretend you're an expert among circus or jazz artists... If you are not ... it'll show! And this authenticity may be one of the reasons why they seem so precious in this age of disposable fakeness. Here we continue our exploration of the connections between jazz and circuls with a dolly ...

Interview

Paolo Fresu: il canto dell'anima

by Paolo Marra
March 9, 2020

Pubblichiamo una versione aggiornata dell'intervista al trombettista Paolo Fresu con l'aggiunta di alcune domande riguardanti la petizione “Velesuoniamo," indirizzata al Governo Italiano e alla Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, di cui è promotore insieme a Ada Montellanico, Simone Graziano e a tutto il mondo del jazz italiano. Il suono della tromba di Paolo Fresu unisce la liricità malinconica di Miles Davis con il phatos inebriante della musica mediterranea, regalandoci momenti di pura poesia jazzistica. L'attenzione per la ...

Festival

New Concerts Added To The Program Of The 36th Edition Of The Festival

Source: Ann Braithwaite
March 1, 2015

Montreal, Wednesday, February 25, 2015 — We’re adding even more names to the incredible program of the 36th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, presented by TD in collaboration with Rio Tinto Alcan, from June 26 to July 5, 2015. Tickets for these concerts go on sale today at noon. A Filetta with Paolo Fresu and Daniele Di Bonaventura, Mistico Mediterraneo. Opening act: Paolo Fresu – Gianluca Petrella duo — June 26, 7 p.m., Maison symphonique — ...
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Recording

New Release from Paolo Fresu and a Filetta

Source: ECM Records
March 17, 2011

On February 22nd ECM released Mistico Mediterraneo, a mesmerizing collaboration between lyrical Italian jazz improvisers Paolo Fresu and Daniele di Bonaventura and the Corsican vocal ensemble A Filetta.

Paolo Fresu Mistico Mediterraneo Paolo Fresu trumpet, flugelhorn Daniele di Bonaventura bandoneon A Filetta: Jean-Claude Acquaviva: seconda Paul Giansily: terza Jean-Luc Geronimi: seconda José Filippi: bassu Jean Sicurani: bassu Maxime ...
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Recording

Time for an ECM Two-Fer: Paul Motion Trio and Ralph Towner/Paolo Fresu (2010)

Source: Something Else!
April 26, 2010

By PicoLast month ECM put on sale new offerings by two of their oldest stalwarts: drummer Paul Motian and Ralph Towner. Motian has been discussed on this site probably more than any other drummer, no doubt due to his long association with Bill Evans and his more recent contributions as both a leader and sideman. He began his association with this fabled label early on, in 1972, an association that continues today that was only interrupted from the ...
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Music Industry