Improvised quartet music by visiting Italian stars Piero Bittolo Bon (alto saxophone) and Marta Raviglia (voice), with local Italian-Americans
Gino Robair (percussion, electroncis) and
Lisa Mezzacappa (acoustic bass).
Piero Bittolo Bon is one of Italian jazz’ most acclaimed rising stars. He mainly plays alto saxophone but is also at ease on baritone, clarinets. Piero has also had a longstanding affair going with the electric bass, which he played at the beginning of his musical journey in funk, reggae, and rock bands, before committing himself to wind instruments and improvised music. Passionate and vibrant, his music, densely composed or totally improvised, reverberates with echoes of the best of free jazz, fire music, torrid improvisations, sharp attacks and continuous inventions bar after bar. A member of the fresh and much regarded italian collective/record label El Gallo Rojo Records, he's currently leading his own sextet "Jümp The Shark", an ironic blend of composition, freeform and hard groove, and coleads "Rollerball", a rockoriented jazz quintet. In 2010 he was called to be
part of a new Uri Caine project, "Pulse".
He has performed and recorded with italian artists such as Danilo Gallo, Zeno de Rossi, Beppe Scardino, Enrico Terragnoli, Stefano Senni, Francesco Bigoni, Massimiliano Sorrentini, Achille Succi,Tiziana Ghiglioni, Tiziano Tononi, Daniele Cavallanti, Francesco Cusa, Domenico Caliri, Giovanni Maier, U.T. Gandhi, Simone Massaron, Silvia Bolognesi, and with musicians like Anthony Braxton, Uri Caine, Peter Evans, John Tchicai, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Lukas Ligeti, Jessica Lurie, Andrew Drury, Neil Leonard, Ernest Dawkins, Vincent Davis, Craig J. Green, Tristan Honsinger, Gerhard Gschloessl, Christian Lillinger, Tobias Delius, Mark Solborg, Marc Lohr,
Lisa Mezzacappa, Jason Levis and many others. In 2011 Piero founded his own netlabel, R'Ufo Records.
He recorded for labels such as El Gallo Rojo Records, Clean Feed Records, Long Song Records, Splasch Records, Improvvisatore Involontario, NuBop Records, Materiali Sonori, Psychonavigation Records, and Caligola Records.
Singer, composer and performer Marta Raviglia has sung as a soloist with Orchestra Jazz della Sardegna, Bulgarian State Radio Big Band, Coro del Friuli Venezia Giulia, Corale Polifonica Santa Cecilia of Sassari, percussion ensemble Odwalla, Franco Ferguson Orchestra and La Stanza del Tè and with, among others, David Linx, Hamid Drake, Paolo Fresu, Gabriele Mirabassi, Roberto and Eduardo Taufic, Tino Tracanna, Ettore Fioravanti, Angelo ‘Lillo’ Quaratino, Simone ‘Momo’ Riva and Cristina Biagini. She has worked with conductors John Tchicai, Bruno Tommaso, Paolo Silvestri, Giovanni, Agostino Frassetto, Paolo Paroni, Eugenio Colombo, Gabriele Verdinelli and Pino Iodice.
Raviglia’s longtime musical parterships include 'Vocione' with trombonist Tony Cattano, 'What About Dust with guitarist Simone Massaron and 'Lost Songs' with pianist Simone Sassu. Her multidisciplinary partenerships include performances with musician/visual artist Manuel Attanasio, choreographer Alessandra Mura and writer Claudio Morandini. She has performed at many important festivals and recorded as a leader, co-leader and guest. She graduated in jazz music and, also, in American literature and currently teaches jazz singing in state music conservatories (Cesena, Trieste, Adria). She often holds workshops about improvisation and the interaction between voice and movement.
Cost: Free. Donations accepted.