The Tommaso Starace ITALIAN QUARTET
Alto saxophonist Tommaso Starace returns to The Pizza Express with a new exciting line up promoting his latest CD 'Tommaso Starace Quartet - Don't Forget'.
The Italian Quartet features: Michele Di Toro on piano, Attilio Zanchi on bass ( part of the Paolo Fresu Quintet) and Tommy Bradascio on drums.
Following a successful sold out concert at the Blue Note in Milan on January 2010 the Tommaso Starace Quartet will be performing new compositions written by the band members and re-arranged music from composers such as pianist Michelle Petrucciani, film composer Ennio Morricone and jazz composers Billy Strayhorn, Oscar Pettiford...etc
Tommaso’s comments on his own music:
" As a composer I have always made a point of exploring and pushing the boundaries of my own compositions, trying to create different moods within my pieces by combining both traditional and more contemporary harmony while focusing on the strong use of melody and groove with additional use of unfamiliar time signatures. Composers and musicians from Maurice Ravel, Cannonball Adderley to Ennio Morricone, Joshua Redman and Stevie Wonder; they are a continuous
inspiration for what I'm trying to achieve musically. To me a composition is both powerful and magic when it suggests immediately the mood, it takes the audience on a journey by creating vivid images in their minds: that's when I personally get moved the most and the music stays with me for a long time. This is the goal I strive to achieve each time I start a project and complete a recording".
'Anyone who has experienced a glissando of language on the streets of Italy will understand the utter exuberance with which Italian-born Starace attacks and runs with the language of music' Paul Medley - The Oxford Times
More on the Musicians
Tommaso Starace ( saxophones) - www.tommasostarace.com
Michele Di Toro ( piano ) - www.micheleditoro.com
Attilio Zanchi ( bass) - www.myspace.com/attiliozanchi
Tommaso Bradascio ( drums) - www.tommasobradascio.it