Carioca Stefano Bollani

• 1 Luz Negra 05:02
• 2 Ao Romper da Aurora 01:44
• 3 Choro Sim 02:21
• 4 Valsa Brasileira 04:44
• 5 A Voz do Morro 04:17
• 6 A Hora da Razão 03:55
• 7 Segura Ele 01:59
• 8 Doce de Coco 03:24
• 9 Folhas Secas 05:08
• 10 Il Domatore di Pulci 03:22
• 11 Samba e Amor 04:20
• 12 Tico Tico no Fubá 03:22
• 13 Caprichos do Destino 04:25
• 14 Na Báixa do Sapateiro (Live) 08:59
• 15 Apanhei-Te Cavaquinho (Live) 05:56
• 16 Trem das Onze / Figlio Unico (Live) 05:29
• Total Runtime 01:08:27

Info for Carioca

If Stefano Bollani were to speculate on being named an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro with his album "Carioca", he might just succeed. At least if Brazilian critics and jazz fans have their way. They celebrated the Italian pianist effusively for his masterful recording of Brazilian classics.

Of course, "Carioca" was not Bollani's first encounter with Brazilian music: he had already expressed his love for Jobim's compositions on his 2003 album "Falando De Amor". That's why Jobim's works were left out this time, even though Bollani would have had a good excuse to fish again in Jobim's extensive repertoire because of the 50th anniversary of Bossa Nova. In fact, however, it is a real stroke of luck that the Milanese did not do just that.

Because on "Carioca" he presents a much more complex image of the traditional music of Rio de Janeiro. With the exception of "Valsa brasileira", written by Edu Lobo and Chico Buarque, and one of Bollani's own compositions, all the pieces come from the pre-Bossa Nova era. The programme consists of various sambas, Brazilian tangos (which, by the way, are clearly different from the Argentinean ones) and, above all, fast-paced chorinhos.

The chorinho, which is usually purely instrumental, is often referred to - in a highly simplified way - as the Brazilian equivalent of New Orleans jazz. And especially with his virtuoso interpretations of pieces like "Segura ele", the world-famous classic "Tico-tico no fubá", "Doce de coco" and "Apanhei-te, Cavaquinho!", Bollani enthused the Brazilian connoisseurs of the subject. With "Il domatore di pulci", the pianist even wrote a wonderful chorinho-like number himself for "Carioca".

Bollani received excellent and expert support for his second excursion into Brazilian musical territory from some of that country's best jazz musicians: guitarist Marco Pereira, double bassist Jorge Hélder, drummer Jurim Moreira and percussionist Armando Marçal. Some solo highlights were also contributed by saxophonists Zé Nogueira and Mirko Guerrini and clarinettist Nico Gori (Guerrini and Gori are also members of Bollani's regular quintet). In addition, vocalists Zé Renato (in "Hora da razão") and Monica Salmaso (in "Folhas secas") appear as guests. In the closing number "Trem das onze - Figlio unico", Bollani himself can be heard as a singer.

As a six-year-old boy, Stefano Bollani (born in Milan in 1972) dreamed of becoming a singer. Even then, he accompanied himself on a keyboard when he sang. A few years later, he recorded such a home solo performance on cassette and sent it to his idol Renato Carosone. In an enclosed letter, Stefano told him about his dream of one day pursuing a career as a singer. Carosone wrote back and advised him to listen to many blues and jazz recordings. And Bollani did as he was told.

The first record he got his hands on was a supplement to the second volume of the Jazz Encyclopaedia (Fratelli Fabbri Editori) published by the Fabbri brothers. At the age of eleven, Stefano enrolled at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, where he graduated as a pianist in 1993. By the age of 15, he was already playing mostly pop music professionally, studying part-time with Luca Flores as well as Mauro Grossi and attending seminars by Franco D'Andrea at the Accademia Nazionale del Jazz in Siena.

In 1996, he met Enrico Rava at the Teatro Metastasio in Prato, who immediately invited him to perform with him in Paris. "You're young and you don't have a family yet," Rava told him at the time. "Take a risk, give up pop music and devote yourself entirely to the music you love." Bollani took Rava's advice to heart, quit Italo rapper Jovanotti's band during an ongoing tour and threw himself into jazz, the language of improvisation and freedom.

In a flash, Bollani made a name for himself on the jazz scene: first through the important and lasting collaboration with his mentor Enrico Rava, then when the trade magazine Musica Jazz named him the best new talent of 1998. In addition, Bollani led the Orchestra del Titanic (with whom he gave countless concerts and made two recordings for the Via Veneto label), recorded albums under his own name, performed in shows honouring Italian pop legends such as Peppe Servillo, Irene Grandi, Marco Parente, Elio e le Storie Tese, Gianmaria Testa and Banda Osiris and, in September 2003, won the Premio Carosone in Naples, which is normally only awarded to singers. Even in Japan, Stefano Bollani had huge successes. The Swing Journal, Japan's leading jazz publication, awarded him the New Star Award in 2003, the first European musician to do so. Certainly the most curious honour was bestowed on the pianist last May when he was allowed to grace the cover of an Italian Mickey Mouse magazine.

Enrico Rava has not been the only world-class jazz musician with whom Bollani has collaborated over the past twelve years: Richard Galliano, Gato Barbieri, Pat Metheny, Michel Portal, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Han Bennink and Paolo Fresu have also played with the pianist, who is now at home on the world's great stages (from Town Hall in New York to La Scala in Milan).

Bollani's own music often has an ironic touch, is often unconventional and almost bizarre, such as "Gnòsi Delle Fanfole", an album for which he set surreal poetry by Fosco Maraini to music together with the songwriter Massimo Altomare in 1998, or the "Cantata Dei Pastori Immobili", a kind of oratorio for four voices, narrator and piano, based on texts by David Riondino and published by Donzelli in a slipcase in 2004.

Stefano Bollani recorded four albums for the fine French label Bleu: "Les Fleures Bleues" (recorded in 2002 with bassist Scott Colley and drummer Clarence Penn), a tribute to the French poet, writer and surrealist Raymond Queneau; the solo album "Smat Smat" (2003); "Concertone" (2004), a work for jazz trio and symphony orchestra (arranged and conducted by Paolo Silvestri); and finally "I Visionari" (2006), the first recording of Bollani's new quintet with saxophonist Mirko Guerrini, clarinettist Nico Gori, double bassist Ferruccio Spinetti and drummer Cristiano Calcagnile. In 2003, the pianist also began collaborating with the Danish musicians Jesper Bodilsen (bass) and Morten Lund (drums), with whom he recorded the albums "Mi Ritorni In Mente" (2004) and "Gleda - Songs From Scandinavia" (2005) for Stunt Records.

In 2004, he published the book "L'america di Renato Carosone" in the series "Racconti di Canzoni" of the Elleu publishing house, which tells the story of swing and jazz in Italy and especially the story of his idol Carosone. In May last year, the Italian weekly magazine L'Espresso published the first Italian CD of Bollani's trio with bassist Ares Tavolazzi and drummer Walter Paoli in its jazz series. The trio's previous albums had been released on the Japanese label Venus Records.

In September 2006, Bollani's ECM debut album "Piano Solo" was released, which immediately landed at the top of various jazz charts. Almost at the same time, "La sindrome di Brontolo", the pianist's first novel, was released, apparently willing to follow in the footsteps of his versatile Norwegian instrumental colleague Ketil Bjørnstad.

In the 2007 polls of the American jazz magazine Down Beat, Stefano Bollani was ranked eighth in the "New Jazz Talent" category and third among up-and-coming pianists. The critics of the New York magazine All About Jazz also acknowledged the Italian's talents by including him in the list of the five most important musicians of 2007, side by side with legends such as Ornette Coleman and Sonny Rollins. In December of the same year, Bollani received the European Jazzprize as European Musician of the Year in Vienna.

Stefano Bollani, piano, vocals (track 16)
Marco Pereira, guitar
Jorge Helder, bass
Jurim Moreira, drums
Armando Marcal "Marcalzinho", percussion
Ze Nogueira, soprano saxophone
Nico Gori, clarinet, bass clarinet
Mirko Guerrini, tenor saxophone
Ze Renato, vocals (track 6)
Monica Salmaso, vocals (track 9)

Stefano Bollani
born 1972, has been no less prodigious. He too started at five years old and cannot recall a time when he was not playing piano. The instrument often seems like an extension of his personality and thought processes, a fast-moving mind finding expression in jump-cut music sequences and surreal juxtapositions. He has fairly romped through the idioms, his ECM “Piano Solo” disc characteristically moving from Prokofiev to the Beach Boys via Scott Joplin and the tango, a post-modernist with an admirable reluctance to take himself too seriously. He keeps finding new ways to address the virtuoso’s dilemma: What do you play when you can play anything? Multi-talented, he’s known in Italy also as author of books and as a TV show host; he tours with pop singer Irene Grandi, plays Gershwin at La Scala. And he returns to particular musical constellations that continue to inspire him. Amongst these: the duo with Enrico Rava, the Danish Trio with Jesper Bodilsen and Morten Lund (which recently recorded a new ECM session, augmented by Bill Frisell and Mark Turner). To these special groups add now the exciting project with Hamilton de Holanda. At the end of August and into September Bollani joins de Holanda for another round of concerts in Brazil.

Jesper Bodilsen
The Danish bass player, composer, producer and educator Jesper Bodilsen was born January 5th 1970 in Haslev, Denmark.

As 3 a year old he moved to Silkeborg with his parents and older brother and there he stayed until he was 18 years old.

No one in his family were playing music. But as a 8 year old kid he found an old trumpet at the loft of his grand parents farm and he was immediately interested in trying to make music with the old horn. At the age of 10 he was admitted as a member of the school brass band there he learned to play the cornet and read music.

In 1984 Jesper got his first bass - an electric bass - and one year later he joined a pop/funk band and played his first professional gig short after. He was admitted at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark in 1991 where he studied for 5 years and ended up with a Diploma degree in June 1997. The same year as he received The Memorial Bursary of Edward Eriksen and was hired to teach at the academy.

While studying at the school in Aarhus Bodilsen also worked as a professional musician. In June 1994 he was asked to perform at two All Star Concerts at the Riverboat Jazz Festival together with American drummer Ed Thigpen and pianist Duke Jordan. These concerts was a kind of breakthrough for Bodilsen and in the years to come he was peforming with other great jazz artists like James Moody, Benny Golson, Lee Konitz, Tom Harrell, Joe Lovano, Horace Parlan, Jimmy Heath and Phil Woods. Often at the legendary jazz club BENT J in Aahus.

In 1995 Bodilsen moved to Copenhagen and he was immediately asked to join the Erling Kroner Dream Quartet. He was touring with different Aarhus and Copenhagen based bands in the years to come when he in 1997 met Ed Thigpen again. Ed Thigpen wanted him in his trio and together with pianist Carsten Dahl the trio recorded their first album “It´s Entertainment” in 1998. The album was nominated for a Danish Grammy and won the JazzSpecial Prize “Album Of The Year”. Bodilsen was playing and recording with Thigpen until 2010 - a collaboration that lasted 13 years and the music is well documented on 6 album releases.

Jesper Bodilsen has always been interested in producing music, finding interesting musicians to perform with and create new constellations. He has been a co-producer for Danish vocalist Katrine Madsen for more than a decade but in 1999 he started his first band “Scandinavian Summit”. They recorded 2 albums and did tours in Europe, SE Asia, China and Australia.

He started his own music production company in 2002 and until now he has produced more than 15 albums, recorded and performed with many great artists.

In 1998, 2002 and 2004 Bodilsen was asked to perform at the prestigious Jazzpar Prize concerts and in 2002 the prize winner was italian trumpet player Enrico Rava.

Bodilsen did 4 concerts with Rava, Stefano Bollani, Gianlucca Petrella, John Abercrombie and Morten Lund and after the final concert in Copenhagen he asked Bollani and Lund if they would be interested in playing together again.

One year later (in march 2003) they did the first trio tour and their first recording for Stunt Records “Mi ritorni in mente”. The first issue of this trio album was released as Jesper Bodilsen Trio.

In 2004 Bodilsen was awarded with the Django d'Or Prize as “Performer of the Year” and that same year the trio recorded their second album “Gleda”. Now all the names of the trio was on the cover. The album was no. 4 on the Italian Jazz Charts in 2005 and nominated for an Australian Bell Award 2006 for “Best International Jazz Album”.

From the start the trio was touring around Europe playing clubs and festivals like the Umbria Jazz festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival and the legendary Birdland in New York.

After “Gleda” they recorded with singer Katrine Madsen. The album is called “Close To You” and was nominated for a Danish Music Award as “Best Vocal Jazz Album”.

Then 4 years went by before they recorded again. This time on the highly estimated ECM label and with producer Manfred Eicher. The album “Stone In The Water” was acclaimed the best trio recording of 2009 by several jazz magazines around the world.

Two of the songs on the album was composed by Bodilsen and that same year he went in the studio with Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius, Peter Asplund on trumpet and the Finnish vibraphone player Severi Pyysalo to record a new album mainly with his own songs. The album “Short Stories for Dreamers” was released in 2010 and was praised for its calmness and lyrical mood.

Recently Bodilsen has also been a part of the succesful TV-shows “Sostiene Bollani”. In the fall of 2011 the trio, with Bollani being the host, did 6 shows brodcasted on the Italian national channel RAI 3.

Besides touring around the world, recording albums and teaching at the conservatories Bodilsen has also spent more and more time on composing music.

In the fall of 2012 a new album will be released with his music - displaying his skills as a composer, bandleader, bassplayer and producer.

Morten Lund
(born 1972) is a Danish jazz drummer. He co-leads a trio with Italian pianist Stefano Bollani and Danish bassist Jesper Bodilsen, and he is a member of Paolo Fresu's Devil Quartet and Kind of Porgy and Bess ensembles. As a sideman he has participated on more than 60 albums.

Lund was born into a musical family in Viborg, Denmark, in 1972 to a father who played drums, trumpet, and guitar and was active part of the city's jazz scene, and a mother who played flute. At age 6, he started to play drums. He got his first paid jobs at age 15. In 1993 he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus and only a year later, still a student, he started to play in the internationally recognized Klüvers Big Band. With this band that he recorded his first album.

After receiving his diploma in 1997, he moved to Copenhagen and was soon involved in several projects, recording and going on tours. Jesper Bodilsen, with whom he had studied at the Academy, has been a close collaborator on many projects. In 2002 Lund and Bodilsen were among the musicians selected for the Jazzpar Sextet which Enrico Rava formed, as was virtuoso Italian pianist Stefano Bollani. Because the chemistry was good among them, they formed a trio the following year. Their first album, Mi ritorni in mente, was released the same year to critical acclaim and became one of the ten best selling records in Italy that year.

After tours in Italy and Scandinavia it was clear that the collaboration was going to be of a more lasting nature. They went on to play in jazz clubs and at festivals around the world. Their debut in New York City was at the legendary Birdland Club. In 2006 the trio released their second album, Gleda, which is centred on Scandinavian songs.

This album contains no booklet.