Giovanni Mirabassi

Giovanni Mirabassi is a Paris-based Italian jazz pianist, born in Perugia, Italy.Self-taught, he learned by listening to Bud Powell, Art Tatum, and Oscar Peterson. He is strongly influenced by Enrico Pieranunzi. At seventeen, After a few important experiences in Italy (he plays notably with Chet Baker in 1987, and with Steve Grossman in 1988), he chooses France, and decides to settle in Paris in 1992.

In 1996, he makes a first album with Pierre-Stéphane Michel on the upright bass and Flavio Boltro on the trumpet, and obtains the “grand prix” and the best soloist prize at the Concours international de Jazz d'AvignonSource: [http://www.pianobleu.com/mirabassi.html site pianobleu.com] , presided by Daniel Humair.

In 2001, Giovanni Mirabassi publishes his first solo album, Avanti!: a collection of songs about revolutions, which he had been thinking of for years. This record is an important milestone in his career (Django d’Or of the best young talent and a Victoires du Jazz in 2002. The pianist starts touring regularly, as a trio or alone.

Giovanni Mirabassi becomes one of the most sought after jazz musician for the French public and conquers the heart of Japan.

At the end of 2005, he publishes a new CD, "Prima o poi", as a trio and quartet, on the Minium label. A year later, he releases another record of standards of French “chanson”, "Cantopiano", which brings together his two preferred musical universes. Those two CDs, still saluted by public and media, anchored his unusual position in the world of jazz. In ten years time, Giovanni Mirabassi has produced a dozen CDs and DVD’s (some of them concerts released only in Japan) and has performed all around the world.

In 2008, the pianist released a new opus as a piano trio, "Terra furiosa."

Style

* "Giovanni Mirabassi possesses a marvelous quality…: that of being able to make a melody sing, to make it blossom, thus liberating from it the fullness of its aroma, of its shape and of its chromatic shimmer…(…) Signed by Philippe Ghielmetti, the edition in itself is object of art."Alain Gerber - Diapason [ [http://www.mirabassi.com/en/a-avanti.html www.mirabassi.com] "www.mirabassi.com"]

* "Giovanni Mirabassi had the nerve and showed a lot of panache in tackling, so young as he is, such a repertoire… of revolutionary and patriotic songs, songs of resistance, struggle and refusal…As usual, he chooses to stay as close as possible to the original melody…which dictates his chords, imposes by itself its rhythmical logic, its own interior dance…Mirabassi dares to reveal the whole of his lyrical sensibility « à l’italienne », and to develop an already very personal sense of melodic drama and rhythmical staging. Well done!"Pascal Anquetil - Jazzman

* "Giovanni Mirabassi knows all about emotion reaching right out to the tips of his fingers…when he lays them on the keys of his piano, it is not only the melody of a song that he offers to us: the words, the profound meaning, the poetry are expressed with as much sensitiveness and respect as is the music itself. This is rare and precious. As for me, listening two of his songs played on the piano and interpreted by Giovanni Mirabassi, gives me the opportunity to become the very spectator of my own pieces… It’s a beautiful gift ! "Agnès Bihl

Discography

* 1996, "Dyade - En bonne et due forme"
* 1997, "Cambaluc"
* 1998, "Architectures" — Trio with Daniele Mencarelli(bass) and Louis Moutin(drums)
* 2000,"Avanti!" — a collection of songs about revolutions.
* 2001, "Dal Vivo"
* 2002, "Giovanni Mirabassi & Andrzej Jagodzinski trio"
* 2003, "(((air)))" — trio with Glenn Ferris and Flavio Boltro, won best record of the year Académie du jazz.
* 2003, DVD "Live at Sunside!" — Giovanni Mirabassi, Gildas Boclé and Louis Moutin, recorded 27 October 2003 at Sunset-Sunside.
* 2004, "More from Sunside"
* 2004, "Léo en toute liberté" (with Nicolas Reggiani singing songs by Léo Ferré)
* 2005, "Prima o poi"
* 2005, "Live@Mokkiri-Ya"
* 2005, DVD "Live in Japan"
* 2006, "Lucky Boys"
* 2006, "Cantopiano" — solo piano album playing songs by Claude Nougaro, Agnès Bihl, Serge Lama, Serge Gainsbourg, Jeanne Cherhal, ...
* 2007, "Artero Brel" — Patrick Artero, Giovanni Mirabassi and their interpretations ofJacques Brel.
* 2008, "Terra furiosa" - Trio with Gianluca Renzi(bass) and Leon Parker (drums)

References

External links

* [http://www.mirabassi.com www.mirabassi.com] , Official site
* [http://www.discograph.com www.discograph.com] , Record label
* [http://www.metisse-music.com/pages/content/artist.php?headerID=281 www.metisse-music.com] , Publishing