Paolo Fresu
Encyclopedia
Paolo Fresu is a trumpet
and flugelhorn
jazz
player, as well as an arranger
of music, and music
composer
.
, Sardinia
. He picked up the trumpet
at the age of 11, and played in the band Bernardo de Muro in his home town Berchidda. Fresu graduated from the Conservatory of Cagliari
in 1984, in trumpet studies under Enzo Morandini, and attended the University
of Music
al and performing arts
in Bologna
.
Fresu has taught at the Siena Jazz National Seminar
s, as well as jazz university courses in Terni
, and is the director of Nuoro Jazz Seminars in Nuoro
, Italy.
Fresu composes music for theatre, poem, dance, radio, television, and film.
In 2007, Fresu recorded and toured with Carla Bley's quartet, The Lost Chords.
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and flugelhorn
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
player, as well as an arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
of music, and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Career
Fresu was born in BerchiddaBerchidda
Berchidda is a comune in the Province of Olbia-Tempio in the Italian region Sardinia, located about 170 km north of Cagliari and about 30 km southwest of Olbia....
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. He picked up the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
at the age of 11, and played in the band Bernardo de Muro in his home town Berchidda. Fresu graduated from the Conservatory of Cagliari
Cagliari
Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
in 1984, in trumpet studies under Enzo Morandini, and attended the University
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
of Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
al and performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
.
Fresu has taught at the Siena Jazz National Seminar
Seminar
Seminar is, generally, a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is...
s, as well as jazz university courses in Terni
Terni
Terni is a city in southern Umbria, central Italy, capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is 104 km N of Rome, 36 km NW of Rieti, and 29 km S of Spoleto.-History:...
, and is the director of Nuoro Jazz Seminars in Nuoro
Nuoro
Nuoro is a city and comune in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte Ortobene. It is the capital of the Province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,443 Nuoro is a city and comune (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte...
, Italy.
Fresu composes music for theatre, poem, dance, radio, television, and film.
In 2007, Fresu recorded and toured with Carla Bley's quartet, The Lost Chords.
Bands
Paolo Fresu has played with the following bands:- Paolo Fresu Quintet and Sextet
- Paolo Fresu-Furio di Castri Duo
- The Open Trio (with Di Castri and James TaylorJames TaylorJames Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
) - P.A.F. (with Furio di Castri and Antonello Salis)
- Fresu-Di Castri-Balke-Favre
- Paolo Fresu Euro4th
Discography
Paolo Fresu quintet and sextet
- 1985 - Ostinato - (Splasc(h) Records)
- 1986 - Inner Voices feat. David Liebman - (Splasc(h) Records)
- 1987 - Mamut - (Splasc(h) Records)
- 1988 - Qvarto - (Splasc(h) Records)
- 1989 - AA.VV. (Fresu 5th) - Top jazz from Italy (Yvp)
- 1990 - Live in Montpellier - (Splasc(h) Records)
- 1991 - Ossi Di Seppia feat. G. Trovesi - (Splasc(h) Records)
- 1992 - Ballads - (Splasc(h) Records)
- 1992 - Linve in Lugano - (Blue Jazz)
- 1994 - Ensalda Mistica feat. G. Trovesi - (Splasc(h) Records)
- 1994 - AA.VV. (Fresu 5th) - I Disertori (Columbia Records)
- 1995 - Night on the City - (OWL - EMI RecordsEMI RecordsEMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
) - 1995 - AA.VV. (Fresu 5th) - Onyx jazz Club 85-95 (Onyx)
- 1996 - AA.VV. (Fresu 6th) - Italian jazz today (MJDC)
- 1996 - P. Fresu 6th + Orchestra Utopia - 6 X 30 (Onyx)
- 1996 - AA.VV. (Fresu 5th) - Sempler, The Blue Note 1995 Labels (EMI / Blue Note RecordsBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
) - 1997 - Paolo Fresu 5th / Erwin Vann - Wanderlust (RCA/Victor BMG)
As sideman
- With A FilettaA filettaA Filetta is an all-male singing group that performs traditional music from Corsica. This group was created in 1978 by Michele Frassati. He enlisted Corsican singers so that the traditional Corsican singing style would not be forgotten by everyone...
and Daniele di Bonaventura
- Mistico Mediterraneo, (ECM, 2011)
- With Carla BleyCarla BleyCarla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
- The Lost Chords find Paolo FresuThe Lost Chords find Paolo FresuThe Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley with Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow, and Billy Drummond and Paolo Fresu recorded in Europe in 2007 and released on the Watt/ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM/Watt, 2007)
- With Ralph TownerRalph TownerRalph Towner is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and bandleader. He plays the twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, piano, synthesizer, percussion and trumpet.-Biography:...
- ChiaroscuroChiaroscuro (Ralph Towner album)Chiaroscuro is an album by American guitarist Ralph Towner and Italian trumpeter Paolo Fresu recorded in 2008 and released on the ECM label.-Reception:...
(ECM, 2008)