Arrigo Cappelletti: Tough Love

Arrigo Cappelletti was born in Brunate, near Como, on 12 February 1949. After graduating in philosophy and teaching in Italian high schools, he devoted himself to jazz. His discography includes thirty recordings. Samadhi, Reflections, Pianure, Terras do risco, Trio in New York and Mysterious have contributed to an Italian approach to jazz characterised by lyricism, introspection and connections with other musical cultures.

His festival appearances include the Como Jazz Meeting (1976 and 1996), Rapallo Festival (1984), the Italian Jazz Festival at Capolinea in Milan (1986, 1987 and 1989), the Seventh International Jazz Festival Città di Milano (1988), I suoni del jazz in Pavia (1991), the jazz festival at Palazzo Butera in Palermo (1991), Pori Festival in Finland (1991), Sanremo: l’altra musica (1993), Jazzitalia in Verona (1994), Noto Jazz (1996), Lisbon Expo (1998), Sete Sóis Sete Luas in Portugal (1999), Clusone Jazz (2000), Jazz & Wine in Gorizia (2000), Le voci del jazz at Milan’s Auditorium (2003), Iseo Jazz, Siena Jazz and Ecojazz in Reggio Calabria (2004), Villa Celimontana in Rome and Siena Jazz (2005), Novara Jazz (2007), Sant’Anna Arresi and Padova Jazz (2009), Udin&Jazz and Iseo Jazz (2011), and the Chiasso International Jazz Festival in Switzerland (2013).

In Italy he has played with Gianni Cazzola, Sergio Fanni, Paolo Dalla Porta, Roberto Ottaviano and Gianni Coscia. His international collaborators include Barre Phillips, Lew Soloff, Mike Mossman, Daniel Schnyder, Hämi Hämmerli, Bill Elgart, Olivier Manoury, Steve Swallow, John Hébert, Bruce Ditmas, Ralph Alessi and Mat Maneri. He has also collaborated with Mia Martini and Giorgio Gaslini’s national jazz orchestra. In 1988, Cadence included Reflections among its ten best recordings of the year.

His work in Lisbon brought him together with Custódio Castelo, Jorge Fernando and Alexandra in a project connecting fado and jazz through twentieth-century Portuguese poetry. He has also worked in Russia with singer Polina Runovskaya.

Active in jazz education and writing, he is the author of Il profumo del jazz (ESI, Naples), a book combining teaching and autobiography; Paul Bley: la logica del caso (L’Epos, Palermo), translated into English by Greg Burk and published by Véhicule Press in Montreal as Paul Bley: The Logic of Chance; and Le avventure di un jazzista-filosofo (Arcana). He has taught jazz at CDM and Nuova Milano Musica in Milan, the Civico Istituto Musicale Brera in Novara, and the conservatories of Sassari, Alessandria, Reggio Calabria and Venice.

Alexander Scriabin: (b Moscow, 25 Dec 1871/6 Jan 1872; d Moscow, 14/27 April 1915). Russian composer and pianist. One of the most extraordinary figures musical culture has ever witnessed, Skryabin has remained for a century a figure of cultish idolatry, reactionary yet modernist disapproval, analytical fascination and, finally, aesthetic re-evaluation and renewal. The transformation of his musical language from one that was affirmatively Romantic to one that was highly singular in its thematism and gesture and had transcended usual tonality – but was not atonal – could perhaps have occurred only in Russia where Western harmonic mores, although respected in most circles, were less fully entrenched than in Europe. While his major orchestral works have fallen out of and subsequently into vogue, his piano compositions inspired the greatest of Russian pianists to give their most noteworthy performances. Skryabin himself was an exceptionally gifted pianist, but as an adult he performed only his own works in public. The cycle of ten sonatas is arguably of the most consistent high quality since that of Beethoven and acquired growing numbers of champions throughout the 20th century.

Andrew Hill (1931-2007) was an American jazz pianist and composer. His distinctive work combined rhythmic independence, exploratory harmony and carefully shaped composition. His recordings for Blue Note, including Point of Departure, became important contributions to the development of adventurous modern jazz.

Arrigo Cappelletti was born in Brunate, near Como, on 12 February 1949. After graduating in philosophy and teaching in Italian high schools, he devoted himself to jazz. His discography includes thirty recordings. Samadhi, Reflections, Pianure, Terras do risco, Trio in New York and Mysterious have contributed to an Italian approach to jazz characterised by lyricism, introspection and connections with other musical cultures.

His festival appearances include the Como Jazz Meeting (1976 and 1996), Rapallo Festival (1984), the Italian Jazz Festival at Capolinea in Milan (1986, 1987 and 1989), the Seventh International Jazz Festival Città di Milano (1988), I suoni del jazz in Pavia (1991), the jazz festival at Palazzo Butera in Palermo (1991), Pori Festival in Finland (1991), Sanremo: l’altra musica (1993), Jazzitalia in Verona (1994), Noto Jazz (1996), Lisbon Expo (1998), Sete Sóis Sete Luas in Portugal (1999), Clusone Jazz (2000), Jazz & Wine in Gorizia (2000), Le voci del jazz at Milan’s Auditorium (2003), Iseo Jazz, Siena Jazz and Ecojazz in Reggio Calabria (2004), Villa Celimontana in Rome and Siena Jazz (2005), Novara Jazz (2007), Sant’Anna Arresi and Padova Jazz (2009), Udin&Jazz and Iseo Jazz (2011), and the Chiasso International Jazz Festival in Switzerland (2013).

In Italy he has played with Gianni Cazzola, Sergio Fanni, Paolo Dalla Porta, Roberto Ottaviano and Gianni Coscia. His international collaborators include Barre Phillips, Lew Soloff, Mike Mossman, Daniel Schnyder, Hämi Hämmerli, Bill Elgart, Olivier Manoury, Steve Swallow, John Hébert, Bruce Ditmas, Ralph Alessi and Mat Maneri. He has also collaborated with Mia Martini and Giorgio Gaslini’s national jazz orchestra. In 1988, Cadence included Reflections among its ten best recordings of the year.

His work in Lisbon brought him together with Custódio Castelo, Jorge Fernando and Alexandra in a project connecting fado and jazz through twentieth-century Portuguese poetry. He has also worked in Russia with singer Polina Runovskaya.

Active in jazz education and writing, he is the author of Il profumo del jazz (ESI, Naples), a book combining teaching and autobiography; Paul Bley: la logica del caso (L’Epos, Palermo), translated into English by Greg Burk and published by Véhicule Press in Montreal as Paul Bley: The Logic of Chance; and Le avventure di un jazzista-filosofo (Arcana). He has taught jazz at CDM and Nuova Milano Musica in Milan, the Civico Istituto Musicale Brera in Novara, and the conservatories of Sassari, Alessandria, Reggio Calabria and Venice.

Bill Evans (1929-1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose harmonic imagination, lyrical touch and approach to ensemble interplay helped reshape modern jazz piano. He recorded with Miles Davis and developed a particularly influential trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. His later collaborations included Eddie Gomez, Jim Hall and Tony Bennett. Alongside his work as an improviser, he wrote compositions that entered the jazz repertoire, including Waltz for Debby, Peace Piece and Time Remembered.

Carla Bley (1936-2023) was an American jazz composer, pianist and bandleader. Her music combined formal invention, distinctive orchestration, humour and an openness to contrasting styles. The large-scale jazz opera Escalator over the Hill and her compositions for ensembles of many sizes established her as a major creative voice in contemporary jazz.

Ornette Coleman (1930-2015) was an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader, and a central figure in the emergence of free jazz. His music reshaped relationships between melody, harmony and collective improvisation. Albums such as The Shape of Jazz to Come and Free Jazz established his influence on successive generations of musicians.

Steve Swallow, born in 1940, is an American bassist and composer. An important figure in modern jazz, he worked with Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton and Carla Bley, among others. He helped establish the electric bass as a melodic voice in jazz, and his compositions have entered the repertory of many improvising musicians.