Luca Flores (October 20, 1956 - March 29, 1995) was an Italian pianist and composer. He is considered one of the most interesting exponents of the Italian jazz scene.

Biography

Born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, the youngest of four siblings, he moved with his family to

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

in 1959. There he began playing piano at the age of 5. When he returned to Italy in 1966, he spent some time in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and then in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, before arriving in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1972. He studied at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory where he graduated in piano with honours in 1981. Later on he studied jazz with Roberto Pichini, Marco Vavolo,

Enrico Pieranunzi Enrico Pieranunzi (born 5 December 1949) is an Italian jazz pianist. He combines classical technique with jazz. Biography The son of Renata Brillantini and Alvaro Pieranunzi, Enrico Pieranunzi was encouraged to study music at a young age. Hi ...

and

Franco D'Andrea Francesco "Franco" D'Andrea (born 8 March 1941 in Merano, Italy) is an Italian jazz pianist and composer. Life D'Andrea is considered one of the most famous jazz musicians from Italy and has recorded some 200 albums. He developed his style in ...

. His encounter with

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

took place in the early 1970s: he frequented Florentine clubs such as the Andrea del Sarto, where he met the nascent community of Italian jazz musicians. He made his national debut in the "Tiziana Ghiglioni Sextet" (with Tiziana Ghiglioni, Maurizio Caldura Nuñez, Luca Bonvini, Franco Nesti, Alessandro Fabbri) with which he recorded his first LP, Streams (1984). Together with Gianni Cazzola he formed the "Matt Jazz Quintet" (with Maurizio Caldura Nuñez, Alessandro Di Puccio, Marco Vaggi). With these groups he took part in major Italian festivals. Later he formed the "Luca Flores Trio" (with Lello Pareti and Piero Borri). He collaborated with artists such as

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 ...

, Massimo Urbani,

Bruno Tommaso Bruno Tommaso (born 1946) is an Italian jazz double-bass player and composer, the cousin of fellow double-bass player Giovanni Tommaso. The first president of the Italian Association of Jazz Musicians and a founding member of the Italian Instab ...

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Gianni Basso Gianni Basso, (24 May 1931 – 17 August 2009), was an Italian jazz tenor saxophonist, who was influenced by Stan Getz. He was born in Asti, Italy. He started his career shortly after World War II, at first as a clarinetist, then switching to the ...

Paolo Damiani Paolo Damiani (born 1952) is an Italian jazz cellist and double-bassist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz band Italian Instabile Orchestra. He has worked with Gianluigi Trovesi, Kenny Wheeler, Tony Oxley, Paolo Fresu, and John Taylor. He h ...

Claudio Fasoli Claudio Fasoli (born 29 November 1939) is an Italian jazz - saxophonist (tenor and soprano saxophone) and composer of modern jazz. Music career In 2017, Claudio Fasoli's book "Inner sounds. In the orbit of jazz and free music", published by Ag ...

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, Steve Grossman,

Al Grey Al Grey (June 6, 1925 – March 24, 2000) was an American jazz trombonist who was a member of the Count Basie orchestra. He was known for his plunger mute technique and wrote an instructional book in 1987 called ''Plunger Techniques''. Car ...

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Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

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, David Murray, Nicola Stilo,

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's ...

Muhal Richard Abrams Muhal Richard Abrams (born Richard Lewis Abrams; September 19, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was an American educator, administrator, composer, arranger, clarinetist, cellist, and jazz pianist in the free jazz medium. He recorded and toured the Uni ...

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Tullio De Piscopo Tullio De Piscopo (born 24 February 1946 in Naples, Italy) is an Italian drummer, percussionist and singer-songwriter. De Piscopo was born in Naples. His father was an orchestra percussionist. In 1969 he moved to Turin and two years later he moved ...

Pietro Tonolo Pietro Tonolo (born 30 May 1959) is an Italian jazz saxophone player and composer. Biography He was born in Mirano, Italy. Pietro Tonolo gave up a career as a classical violinist to become a jazz sax player. Around that time, he moved to Milan, ...

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. From 1979 to 1987 he taught at the Andrea del Sarto Institute in Florence, resuming his teaching activity in 1993, and participated in workshops in

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

as a piano teacher from 1985 to 1987, where he had numerous pupils; among them the renowned pianist

Stefano Bollani Stefano Bollani (born 5 December 1972) is an Italian composer, pianist and singer, also active as a writer and a television presenter. He has worked with such musicians as Gato Barbieri, Chick Corea, Bill Frisell, Sol Gabetta, Richard Gallia ...

. In October 1987, the mental illness that would accompany him for the rest of his life exploded, leading him to episodes of self-harm, including the injury of a hand and an ear and the consequent loss of hearing from this. His mental discomfort led him to the extreme choice: on 29 March 1995, 10 days after a last recording session in piano solo at Planet Sound Studios in Florence, he committed suicide in his house in

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. A biographical film called '' Piano, Solo'', starring

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as Flores and directed by

Riccardo Milani Riccardo Milani (born 15 April 1958) is an Italian film and television director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Rome, Milani began his career in 1985, as assistant director of Mario Monicelli in ''Let's Hope It's a Girl''. After bei ...

, was released in 2007.

Discography

As leader

* 1986 - ''Sharp Blues'' - Matt Jazz Quintet - Splasc(h) Records – LP H 109.1 • 2003 - CD ''Version'' H 109.2 * 1986 - ''Riddles -'' Bruno Marini - Luca Flores - LMJ 3334; Splasc(h) Records – CD H 0533.2 (2003) Historical Performances (postumo) * 1987 - ''Where Extremes Meet'' - Matt Jazz Quintet & Guests - Splasc(h) Records – LP H 123.1 • 1989 - CD ''Version'' H 123.2 * 1990 - ''Sounds And Shades Of Sound'' - Luca Flores Trio - Splasc(h) Records – CD H 320.2 * 1993 - ''Love For Sale'' - Luca Alex Flores - Splasc(h) Records – CD H 396.2 * 1995 - ''For Those I Never Knew'' (piano solo) - Splasc(h) Records (posthumous) – CD H 439.2 * 2003 - ''Matt Jazz Quintet Live : Trescore Cremasco (1984) & Siena (1985)'' ''-'' Splasc(h) Records – CD HP 517.2/518.2 Historical Performances (posthumous) * 2005 - ''Luca Flores suona la musica di Fabio Turchetti'' (registrato 1985) - Incontronotte Records (posthumous) * 2007 - ''Concerto registrato a Firenze, 4/11/1994'' - combined with the soundtrack CD of the film ''Piano, Solo'' - Sony-BMG (posthumous) * 2019 - ''INNOCENCE -'' Luca Flores: 16 tracce inedite registrate tra Giugno 1994 e Marzo 1995 - AUAND piano series AU3019-20 doppio CD (posthumous)

As sideman

* 1985 - ''Streams -'' Tiziana Ghiglioni sextet - Splasc(h) Records – LP H 104.1 • 1989 - CD ''Version'' H 104.2 * 1986 - ''Barga Jazz Live'', Barga Jazz Festival - PIRAS Edizioni Musicali * 1987 - ''Easy To Love'', Massimo Urbani quartet - Red Records * 1987 - ''Dreams -'' Giko Pavan Group - Splasc(h) Records - LP H 128.1 • 2003 - CD ''Version'' H 128.2 * 1987 - ''A Night At The Sha-li-mar'', Chet Baker quartet - PHILOLOGY * 1987 - ''Barga Jazz 1987, Live -'' Barga Jazz Festival - Splasc(h) Records – LP HP 006.1 Historical Performances * 1988 - ''Chet Baker's Last Recording as Quartet'', Chet Baker quartet - Timeless * 1989 - ''Coriandoli -'' Tiziana Simona e Riccardo Bianchi with Luca Flores, Tino Tracanna, Ettore Fioravanti - Guest: Jean Jacques Avenel - Splasc(h) Records – LP H 167.1 * 1995 - ''Body And Not Soul,'' Roberta Pierazzini quartet - SAM jazz * 1995 - ''Errata Corrige'', Nicola Stilo - Including 2 tracks recorded with Chet Baker, Aprile 1987 - Splasc(h) Records – CD H 440.2 (posthumous) * 2002 - ''LIVE at the SUPINO JAZZ FESTIVAL 1987,'' Massimo Urbani Quartet - PHILOLOGY (posthumous)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Luca Italian jazz pianists 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century male composers Musicians from Palermo 1956 births 1995 deaths Suicides in Italy