Paolo Fresu ( sc, Pàulu; born 10 February 1961) is an Italian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trumpet and flugelhorn player, as well as a composer and arranger of music.

Career

Born in

Berchidda Berchidda (; src, Belchidda ; sdn, Bilchidda) is an Italian commune in the province of Sassari, region and island of Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southwest of Olbia. It is located near Lake Coghinas in a hilly area bor ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, he picked up the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

at the age of 11, and played in the band

Bernardo de Muro Bernardo De Muro (November 3, 1881 – 27 October 1955) was a Sardinian operatic tenor. Biography Bernardino de Muro was born on November 3, 1881, in Tempio Pausania, Sardinia, to Antonio Maria and Jeanne-Marie Demuro. His father was a smal ...

in his home town Berchidda. Fresu graduated from the Conservatory of Cagliari in 1984, in trumpet studies under Enzo Morandini, and attended the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...

School of music and performing arts in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. He made his debut in 1985, with the release of his first album ''Ostinato.'' He has taught at the

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

Jazz National

Seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

s, as well as jazz university courses in

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...

, and is the director of Nuoro Jazz Seminars in

Nuoro Nuoro ( or less correctly ; sc, Nùgoro ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte Ortobene. It is the capital of the province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,347 (2011), ...

, Italy. Fresu composes music for theatre, poem, dance, radio, television, and film. In 2007, he recorded and toured with Carla Bley's quartet, the Lost Chords. In 2011, he released ''Mistico Mediterraneo'', which featured him, Daniele di Bonaventura and five other members playing

bandoneon The bandoneon (or bandonion, es, bandoneón) is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, the bandoneon is held be ...

s in A Filetta style. In 2012, his quintet performed at the Sirifort Auditorium, New Delhi, India, to celebrate 10 years of the Italian culture center there. In 2015, Fresu was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.

Partial discography

The complete official discography of Paolo Fresu can be found on his official website (more than 600 tracks).Discografia completa
on the official website. Carla-Bley-crop

* 1987 ''Mamut: Music for a Mime'' (Splasc(H), 1987) * 1989 ''Opale'' with Francesco Tattara, Furio Di Castri (Clac, 1989) * 1991 ''Umiliani Jazz Family'' with

Piero Umiliani Piero Umiliani (17 July 1926 – 14 February 2001) was an Italian composer of film scores. Biography Umiliani was born in Florence, Tuscany. Like many of his Italian colleagues at that time, he composed the scores for many exploitation f ...

(Liuto Edizioni Musicali, 1991) * 1993 ''Contos'' with Furio Di Castri, John Taylor (EGEA, 1993) * 1995 ''Palatino'' with Aldo Romano, Michel Benita,

Glenn Ferris Glenn Arthur Ferris (born June 27, 1950) is an American jazz trombonist who has also worked in other fields. Outside of jazz he has played for Frank Zappa, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, and Duran Duran. He studied classical music from 1958 to 196 ...

(

Label Bleu Label Bleu is a French jazz record label founded by Michel Orier. Orier established the label in the mid-1980s in Amiens and soon after took over directorship of Amiens's cultural center, where he was able to build a recording studio. Label Bleu ...

, 1995) * 1995 ''Mythscapes'' with Furio Di Castri,

Jon Balke Jon Georg Balke (born 7 June 1955) is a Norwegian jazz pianist who leads the Magnetic North Orchestra. He is the younger brother of saxophonist Erik Balke. Career Balke started playing classical piano but switched to blues at 12, though he pe ...

, Pierre Favre ( Soul Note, 1995) * 1996 ''The Hands'' with Flavio Piras, Furio Di Castri, Antonello Salis (Amiata, 1996) * 1997 ''Wanderlust'' ( RCA Victor, 1997) * 1998 ''Palatino Tempo'' with Aldo Romano, Michel Benita, Glenn Ferris (Label Bleu, 1998) * 1998 ''Condaghes'' with Jacques Pellen, Erik Marchand (Silex) * 1998 ''Things Left Behind'' with Iridescente Ensemble (Symphonia) * 1999 ''Metamorfosi'' (RCA Victor) * 1999 ''Shades of Chet'' with

Enrico Rava Enrico Rava (born 20 August 1939), is an Italian jazz trumpeter. He started on trombone, then changed to the trumpet after hearing Miles Davis. Career He was born in Trieste, Italy. His first commercial work was as a member of Gato Barbieri' ...

(Via Veneto Jazz) * 2001 ''Porgy and Bess'' with Orchestra Jazz Della Sardegna (Il Manifesto) * 2001 ''Heartland'' with

David Linx David Linx (born 22 March 1965) is a Belgian jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. ...

, Diederik Wissels ( EmArcy) * 2002 ''Kind of Porgy & Bess'' (RCA Victor) * 2003 ''Scores'' ( CAM Jazz) * 2006 ''Homescape'' with Nguyen Le, Dhafer Youssef ( ACT) * 2007 ''Mare Nostrum'' with Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren (ACT) * 2008 ''Le Fresiadi'' (Time in Jazz) * 2009 ''Jazzitaliano Live 2009'' (Casa del Jazz) * 2010 ''Chiaoscuro'' with

Ralph Towner Ralph Towner (born March 1, 1940) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion, trumpet and French horn. Biography Towner was born i ...

(ECM) * 2011 ''Alma'' with Omar Sosa (Tuk) * 2012 ''Birth of the Cool'' (Musica Jazz) * 2013 ''Vinodentro'' (Tuk) * 2014 ''Brass Bang!'' with Steven Bernstein,

Gianluca Petrella Gianluca Petrella is an Italian jazz trombonist. In 2001 he won Italy's Django d'Or Award as well as Musica Jazz's annual critics poll as Best Young Talent. In 2006 and 2007 he was featured in ''Down Beat'' magazine, winning their award for "Bes ...

, Marcus Rojas (Tuk) * 2015 ''The Whistleblowers'' with David Linx, Diederik Wissels (Tuk) * 2016 ''Mare Nostrum II'' with Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren (ACT) * 2016 ''Eros'' with Omar Sosa,

Jaques Morelenbaum Jaques Morelenbaum (() born 18 May 1954) is a Brazilian instrumentalist, arranger, conductor, composer and music producer. Morelenbaum was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of conductor Henrique Morelenbaum and piano teacher Sarah Morelenbaum. Hi ...

Natacha Atlas Natacha Atlas ( ar, نتاشا أطلس}; born 20 March 1964) is an Egyptian-Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "'' cha'abi moderne''" (modern popular music). Her mu ...

(Tuk) * 2016 ''Around Tuk'' (Casa del Jazz) * 2017 ''Danse Memoire, Danse'' (Tuk) * 2018 ''Tempo di Chet '', with Dino Rubino and Marco Bardoscia (Tuk) * 2019 ''Mare Nostrum III'' with Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren (ACT)

As leader

Paolo Fresu 5et * ''P.A.R.T.E.'', (EMI, 2005) * ''Incantamento'', (EMI, 2006) * ''Thinking'', (EMI, 2006) * ''Kosmopolites'', (EMI, 2005) * ''Rosso, Verde, Giallo E Blu'', (EMI, 2007) Paolo Fresu Devil Quartet * ''Stanley Music'', (EMI, 2007) * ''Desertico'', (Tuk Music, 2013) * ''Carpe Diem'', (Tuk Music, 2018) Paolo Fresu * ''P60LO FR3SU'' (Tuk Music, 2021)

As sideman

With Joe Barbieri * ''Origami'', (Microcosmo Dischi, 2017) With Carla Bley * '' The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu'' ( ECM/Watt, 2007) With Daniele di Bonaventura * ''Mistico Mediterraneo'', ( ECM, 2011) * '' In maggiore'', ( ECM, 2015) With

Uri Caine Uri Caine (born June 8, 1956, Philadelphia, United States) is an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. Biography Early years The son of Burton Caine, a professor at Temple Law School, and poet Shulamith Wechter Caine, Caine began ...

* '' Things'' (Blue Note, 2006) * ''think.'' (Blue Note, 2009) * ''Two Minuettos'' (Tǔk Music, 2016) With

Lars Danielsson Lars Danielsson (born 5 September 1958) is a Swedish jazz bassist, composer, and record producer. Biography Danielsson was born in Smålandsstenar, and was educated at the music conservatory in Gothenburg. He plays double bass, electric bass ...

* ''Summerwind'' (ACT, 2018) With Aldo Romano * ''Ritual'' (Owl, 1988) With

* ''

Chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

'' (ECM, 2008)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fresu, Paolo 1961 births Living people People from the Province of Sassari Flugelhorn players Italian jazz trumpeters Male trumpeters Italian composers Music in Sardinia RCA Records artists Columbia Records artists Blue Note Records artists Nastro d'Argento winners Italian jazz musicians 20th-century Italian musicians 21st-century Italian musicians 20th-century trumpeters 21st-century trumpeters 20th-century Italian male musicians 21st-century Italian male musicians Male jazz musicians ACT Music artists Label Bleu artists Paolo Fresu. "Tempo e relazione" in Brooklyn Rail (September 2021), as part of section "How Long Is Now?" guest edited by Francesca Pietropaolo: https://brooklynrail.org/2021/09/criticspage