Giorgio Gaslini
Encyclopedia
Giorgio Gaslini is an Italian jazz pianist and composer.
He began performing at 13 and recorded with his jazz trio at 16. In the 1950s and 1960s Gaslini performed with his own quartet. He was the first Italian musician mentioned as a "new talent" in the Down Beat
poll and the first Italian officially invited to a jazz festival in the USA (New Orleans 1976-77). He collaborated with leading American soloists, such as Anthony Braxton
, Steve Lacy
, Don Cherry
, Roswell Rudd
, Eddie Gomez
, Max Roach
, but also with the Argentinian Gato Barbieri
and Frenchman Jean-Luc Ponty
. He has also adapted the compositions of Albert Ayler
and Sun Ra
for solo piano, which the Soul Note
label has issued. He also composed the soundtrack
of Michelangelo Antonioni
's La notte
(The Night, 1961).
From 1991 to 1995 Gaslini composed works for Carlo Actis Dato renowned Italian Instabile Orchestra. As to contemporary music, he composed symphonic works, operas and ballets represented at the Scala Theatre
in Milan and other Italian theatres, in addition to music for the stage and about 20 film scores. He has been deemed a godfather of hardcore improvised music in Italy and has been the first holder of jazz courses at the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music
in Rome (1972-73).
He began performing at 13 and recorded with his jazz trio at 16. In the 1950s and 1960s Gaslini performed with his own quartet. He was the first Italian musician mentioned as a "new talent" in the Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
poll and the first Italian officially invited to a jazz festival in the USA (New Orleans 1976-77). He collaborated with leading American soloists, such as Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton
Anthony Braxton is an American composer, saxophonist, clarinettist, flautist, pianist, and philosopher. Braxton has released well over 100 albums since the 1960s...
, Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy , born Steven Norman Lackritz in New York City, was a jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone....
, Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
, Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd
Roswell Rudd is a Grammy Award-nominated American jazz trombonist and composer....
, Eddie Gomez
Eddie Gomez
Edgar "Eddie" Gómez is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, perhaps most notable for his work done with the Bill Evans trio from 1966 to 1977.-Biography:...
, Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
, but also with the Argentinian Gato Barbieri
Gato Barbieri
Leandro Barbieri , better known as Gato Barbieri , is an Argentinean jazz tenor saxophonist and composer who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and from his latin jazz recordings in the 1970s.-Biography:Born to a family of musicians, Barbieri began playing music...
and Frenchman Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty
Jean-Luc Ponty is a French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer.- Early years:Ponty was born into a family of classical musicians on 29 September 1942 in Avranches, France. His father taught violin, his mother taught piano...
. He has also adapted the compositions of Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.Ayler was among the most primal of the free jazz musicians of the 1960s; critic John Litweiler wrote that "never before or since has there been such naked aggression in jazz" He possessed a deep blistering tone—achieved...
and Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
for solo piano, which the Soul Note
Black Saint/Soul Note
Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian jazz independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz.-History:...
label has issued. He also composed the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
's La notte
La Notte
La Notte is a 1961 Italian film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. It is considered the central film of a trilogy beginning with L'avventura and ending with L'Eclisse.- Plot :...
(The Night, 1961).
From 1991 to 1995 Gaslini composed works for Carlo Actis Dato renowned Italian Instabile Orchestra. As to contemporary music, he composed symphonic works, operas and ballets represented at the Scala Theatre
Scala Theatre
The Scala Theatre was a theatre in London, sited on Charlotte Street, off Tottenham Court Road, in the London Borough of Camden. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire...
in Milan and other Italian theatres, in addition to music for the stage and about 20 film scores. He has been deemed a godfather of hardcore improvised music in Italy and has been the first holder of jazz courses at the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, based in Italy.It is based at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, and was founded by the papal bull, Ratione congruit, issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western...
in Rome (1972-73).