Luca Aquino (born June 1, 1974) is an Italian jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist.

Life and career

Born in the town of

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

, in southern Italy, he was mainly self-taught when he began to play the trumpet at the age of nineteen. For two years he abandoned the practice of the instrument to pursue a master's degree in economics. His love for the sound of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

and

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

brought him back to the study of trumpet. In 2007

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

released ''Sopra Le Nuvole'', his first album as leader. A year later he recorded ''Lunaria'' with guests

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

and

Maria Pia De Vito Maria Pia De Vito is an Italian jazz singer, composer, and arranger. Career A native of Naples, Italy, she studied classical music, opera, and Italian folk music. In 1976 she performed folk songs as a singer, guitarist, and pianist. In 1980 she ...

. The album won the Top Jazz award by the Italian magazine ''Musica Jazz''. In 2009, he recorded ''Amam'', then ''TSC'' in a church in the Netherlands. In 2010, he recorded ''Icaro Solo'' for solo trumpet and electronics in a church in Benevento. After creating the festival Riverberi, a collaboration with

Mimmo Paladino Mimmo Paladino (born in Paduli on 18 December 1948) is an Italian sculptor, painter and printmaker. He is a leading name in the Transvanguardia artistic movement and one of the many European artists to revive Expressionism in the 1980s. Biograp ...

led to ''Chiaro'' an album in trio with a Norwegian rhythm section and special guest

Lucio Dalla Lucio Dalla (; 4 March 1943 – 1 March 2012) was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards. Dalla was the composer of "Caruso (song), Caruso" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian opera tenor Enri ...

. In 2012, after a live album with American trumpeter

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various w ...

for the Church of Saint Augustine in Benevento, he joined the quartet of the percussionist

Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusio ...

and recorded two albums. In 2013 with the accordionist Carmine Ioanna he recorded ''aQustico'' for Tuk Music and embarked on a world tour. In 2015 ''OverDOORS'' was a tribute to his favorite rock band,

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

. In December 2015 he worked with the Jordanian National Association Orchestra on an album in the archaeological site of

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

. The album was made possible by the support of UNESCO Amman Office, the Petra Development and Tourism Authority, and the

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization The Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAG-Org), is an international holding company that operates out of more than 100 offices worldwide in the Arab region, Africa Europe, Asia and North America. The organisation is a leading provider of professi ...

(TAG-Org). He participated in an initiative promoted within the framework of the global campaign #UNITE4HERITAGE, started by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in defense of the artistic and cultural heritage. After directing the Pozzuoli Jazz Festival and the Bari Jazz on April 7, 2016 he participated in Manu & Friends, sharing the stage of the Olympia in Paris with

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

Richard Bona Richard Bona (born 28 October 1967) is a Cameroon-born American multi-instrumentalist and singer. Early life Bona Penda Nya Yuma Elolo was born in Minta, Cameroon, into a family of musicians, which enabled him to start learning music from a ...

, Noa,

Stephan Eicher Stephan Eicher (born 17 August 1960) is a Swiss singer. He sings in a variety of languages, including French, German, English, Italian, Swiss German and Romansh, sometimes using different languages in the same song. Eicher's success started ...

, Raul Midon, and

Tore Brunborg Tore Brunborg (born 20 May 1960) is a Norwegians, Norwegian jazz musician and composer who plays saxophone. He was born in Trondheim but grew up in Voss where a jazz environment was flowering. Known from numerous appearances with international g ...

. In 2017 a signature trumpet model "Aquino" was handcrafted by the Dutch artisan Hub Van Laar. In 2017 Aquino developed Bell's palsy, an injury to the seventh nerve in his face, forcing him to cancel the Jazz Bike Tour which included fifty concerts to be traveled by bike from Benevento to Oslo.

Style

He was influenced by the early playing of Chet Baker and Miles Davis, for which he was given the nickname "Apostle of Miles", and by the rock bands

and

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

. He is known for research on natural sound, the use of electronics, and his passion for musical experimentation in unusual places.

Discography

As leader

* ''Sopra Le Nuvole'' (Emarcy, 2008) * ''Lunaria'' (Universal Classics & Jazz, 2009) * ''Icaro Solo'' (Emarcy, 2010) * ''Chiaro'' (Tuk, 2011) * ''Did You Hear Something?'' (Leo, 2013) * ''aQustico'' (Tuk/Bonsai, 2013) * ''Live in Concert'' (ACT, 2014) * ''Rock 4.0'' (Musica Jazz, 2014) * ''OverDOORS'' (Tuk, 2015) * ''Petra'' (TAGI, 2016) * ''Aqustico Vol. 2'' (Losen, 2017) * ''Italian Songbook'' (ACT, 2019)

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aquino, Luca 1974 births Living people Italian male trumpeters People from Benevento 21st-century Italian trumpeters 21st-century Italian male musicians ACT Music artists EmArcy Records artists Leo Records artists Losen Records artists