Valentina Casula: Chiaroscuro

Artist(s)

ENRICO LOCCI (drums)
Born in Cagliari, in 1995. He’s a brilliant talented young drummer. Graduated at the Conservatorium G.P. da Palestrina in classical percussion and in jazz drums. He performs in various music festivals such as Culture Festival, Karel Music Expo, Interzone, Music in Touch & Inaudita, Seuiinmusica, then he attends the Music Academy of Krakow where later in October 2017 he obtains the master’s degree in classical percussion.
In 2018 he moove to Gant and begins the Master in Music and Performance as jazz drummer at the Royal Conservatory where he gets the degree of Master of Arts of Music.

Jean Luc Roumier was born in Saumur. After graduating in musicology from the University of Rennes, he moved to Paris in the early nineties where he collaborated with highly respected artists of the jazz scene. Roumier’s playing, marked by harmonic richness and a gift for improvising, as well as his skill as an accompanist have earned him the appreciation of music critics, competition judges and fellow musicians alike. Mixing rigor with passion, he has received such distinctions as first prize in Jazz in Rennes competition and a third prize in the La Defense competition in Paris. He's been performing with some of the most influential musicians of the french and international jazz scene such Jackie Terrasson, Gildas Scourarnec, George Brown, Archie Shep, Jaques Pellen, D.N. Guyen, C. Lavergne, Eric Barret, Peter King, Larry Browne, Valentina Casula and Didier Lokwood.

MARCEL B (aka Bad Trip)
Young rapper and beatmaker from Cagliari.
Born in 1994 into a family of musicians, he began his musical journey studing
drums, guitar, piano and voice, exploring different styles.
His first album as a producer and composer was released on January 30, 2022

NICOLA COSSU (double-bass)
Eclectic double bass player, he stands out for his flexibility in different styles ranging from mainstream jazz to modal and Afro-Cuban music. He studied at the Conservatory of Cagliari then in 1985 he started his musical journey performing with many artists of the italian jazz scene as Fabrizio Savino, Antonio Zambrini, Andrea Braido, Roberto Dani, Massimo Carboni, Micheal Rosen, Rossella Faa, Rosario Giuliani, Francesco Sotgiu and Tino Tracanna. In the Salsa field, since 1991,he has been titular bassist of the Mambo Caliente Orchestra performing with Nicky Marrero, Jorge Morales and Reinaldo Hernandez. He also collaborates with the Cagliari big band Cotton Club.

VALENTINA CASULA
She began her music journey studying oboe, sax, singing and composing. But her passion for jazz lead her at University of Massachusetts, specializing with Yusef Lateef and Sheila Jordan.
She has been living in Paris since 1993, where she soon distinguished herself as an all- round jazz and world music singer and in theater as a scene-music composer, musical director, and choreographer, collaborating with companies such as Ecla Theatre, La NumeriCie, La Toscana, Est en Ouest, Le Grenier de Babouchka.
Parallel to her concert activity and composer, she earns a degree of sound engineering, from the CFPTS in Paris.
She teaches at CIM, one of the most prestigious European schools of jazz and contemporary music.
Her first album pays homage to Chet Baker, and embarks on a more personal path with a repertoire of compositions and arrangements of themes from the Mediterranean tradition, collaborating with Alain Jean Marie, Gilles Naturel, Philippe Soirat, Giovanni Mirabassi, Paolo Fresu, Olivier Hutman, Kristof Bacso and many other artists on the international jazz music scene.

With Viva la Black project she has participated in major European jazz festivals along with Minafric Orchestra, the iconic south-african drummer Luis Moholo-Moholo and under the direction of Keith Tippetts. She has been a prominent figure in major European world music festivals, flanking Dj Click and virtuoso players of tzigane Romanian and Indian music. With the same project she has toured in China, Japan, Korea, India, South Africa and South America, and has produced two CDs.
In 2012 she was awarded the “Premio Maria Carta”. Engaged in the study of the potential of sounds and voice, she has carried out research on popular chants all around the world. This has taken her to collaborations over the past 18 years with guitar player Jean Luc Roumier on the international scene. Their duo has a repertoire from popular and gypsy culture, arranged and interpreted in 20 original languages, an invitation to travel, an ideal walkway between their origins and those of unknown lands.
In 2015 the double-bass player Nicola Cossu joined the duo; in 2018 the percussionist Enrico Locci did as well. The quartet’s repertoire is mainly Valentina’s original compositions.