Adriano Clemente

Born in Lecce in 1958, he grew up in Naples, and although he did not have a formal musical training as a child, he started to play guitar and piano at an early age, and composed his first songs in the early seventies.

​In 1974 he began to set to music the William Blake’s poems, as a result of which he made his first concert in Naples in 1978.

​In 1979 he formed a group in Rome for performing his Blake songs. He sang and played guitar and lute with Andrea Damiani, lute; Alessio Colarizi, recorder, crumhorn; and Miranda Simmons, voice. The band performed at the Folk Studio, Fonclea and other clubs in Rome.

​In 1982 he spent many months in India and Nepal, where he studied sarod in the Hindustani tradition with blind sarod master Mohan Sundar, and khyal vocal style with Chetnath Sharma.

​In 1986 he collaborated with Costantino Albini in the soundtrack of the TV movie “Cinque Piccoli Indiani” by Paolo Brunatto, playing sarod, hammered dulcimer, and percussions.

In 1991 he went to Varanasi, India to study the dhrupad vocal style with Ritwick Sanyal.

​In 1996 Amiata Records published his audio tape “Akashmani: Across the Sky”, minimalistic music in the tradition of Terry Riley and Steve Reich performed on Yamaha and Roland keyboards.

​In the late nineties he formed the Vajra Trio with Costantino Albini (sitar, percussion) and Bernhard Siegel (flute, megaharp). In this trio, which performed in Arcidosso, he played sarod and santur.

​In 2000 he began to study jazz piano with Alessio Buccella in Grosseto, Italy.

​In 2004 he started to play the Venezuelan harp and compose music that was performed in Isla Margarita with a band including sitar master Steven Landsberg, saxophone player Jey Clark, percussionist Pancho Company and guitarist Alex Pollack.

​In 2010 he began to study soprano sax and improvisation with Emanuele Cannatela, Grosseto, Italy.

In 2011 he set up the Akashmani Jazz Ensemble to perform at the Merigar 30th Anniversary, in Arcidosso (GR), Italy. The Akashmani Ensemble, at that time, consisted of ten musicians and two singers who performed his original compositions: Rosie Wiederkeher, voice; Nina Suza Reiss, voice; Harvey Kaiser, tenor sax, clarinet; Jasna Jovicevic, alto and soprano sax; Romano Consoli, tenor and soprano sax; Massimo Muratori, trumpet and flugelhorn; Massimiliano Santella, trombone; Fabio Tomassoni, flute; Massimiliano Ottaviani, double bass; Pancho Company, drums; Enzo Ciacci, percussions, and Adriano Clemente, harp.

​In 2013 his Akashmani Jazz Ensemble played in various locations in the Amiata area, and especially at the Teatro degli Unanimi, Arcidosso, with a band including: Adriano Clemente, soprano and alto sax; Harvey Kaiser, tenor sax, baritone sax, clarinet; Massimo Muratori, trumpet; Federico Manini, trombone; Stefano Pioli, piano; Carlo Bellucci, double bass; Claudio Sbrolli, drums.

In November 2014 he performed again at the Teatro degli Unanimi, Arcidosso, where he presented for the first time his Mingus Suite, with a band consisting of: Harvey Kaiser, tenor and baritone sax, clarinet; Andrea Lagi, trumpet; Piero Bronzi, alto sax; Fabio Tomassoni, flute; Federico Manini, trombone; Alessio Buccella, piano; Rossano Gasperini, double bass; Francesco Favilli, drums; Ida Landsberg, voice.

​In December 2014 - January 2015 he studied latin rhythms and percussions in Isla Margarita with Venezuelan percussionist Sergio "El Gato" Gallardo.

In April 2015 he had his Mingus Suite recorded by an Italian all-star band including: Marco Guidolotti, clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone sax; Daniele Tittarelli, alto sax; Francesco Lento, trumpet; Mario Corvini, trombone; Riccardo Fassi, piano; Dario Rosciglione, double bass; Andrea Nunzi, drums.

​The CD Mingus Suite, including a composition recorded as a duet with Roberto Ottaviano, soprano sax, has been issued by Dodicilune in May 2016.

Nina Suza Reiss and Adriano Clemente singing Yellow Flower song by Adriano, Tashigar Norte January 2010 In November 2014 he performed again at the Teatro degli Unanimi, Arcidosso, where he presented for the first time his Mingus Suite, with a band consisting of: Harvey Kaiser, tenor and baritone sax, clarinet; Andrea Lagi, trumpet; Piero Bronzi, alto sax; Fabio Tomassoni, flute; Federico Manini, trombone; Alessio Buccella, piano; Rossano Gasperini, double bass; Francesco Favilli, drums; Ida Landsberg, voice.

​In December 2014 - January 2015 he studied latin rhythms and percussions in Isla Margarita with Venezuelan percussionist Sergio "El Gato" Gallardo.

Ida Landsberg singing at Teatro degli Unanimi, Arcidosso, The Mingus Suite, Ida Landsberg voice Akashmani Latin Ensemble after recording of Havana Blue, Abdala Studio, Decemeber 2015 Among other projects, a series of compositions has been recorded in Havana in December 2015 with top Cuban musicians: Leyanis Valdes, piano, daughter of Chucho Valdes and granddaughter of Bebo Valdes; Emir Santacruz, tenor sax, clarinet; Yuniet Lombida, baritone sax, alto sax; Victor Guzman, baritone and alto sax; Santiago Ceballos, trumpet; Heikel Trimino, trombone; Yandy Martinez, double bass; Augusto Lage, congas; Lennon Ruiz, timbales; Adel Rodriguez, bongos, guiro, cowbell.

The CD Havana Blue was published by Dodicilune in February 2017.

Adriano started to conceive last CD "Cuban Fires" as a sequel to his first CD on Latin Jazz, “Havana Blue”, with the idea of deepening some aspects of the Cuban musical heritage. He also wanted to explore different moods and sonorities, and for this reason on the occasion of the second trip to Havana in December 2016 he contacted Eduardo Sandoval, a young and gifted musician and trombone player whose CD “Caminos Abiertos” had particularly impressed Adriano. With the help of Eduardo Sandoval he hired trumpet player Thommy Lowry, saxophonist Michel Herrera - well-known in Cuba as leader of his own jazz project “Madre Tierra”, - and Alejandro Falcòn, a worthy heir of the great tradition of Cuban pianism, and leader of his own band “Cubadentro”. For tenor sax and clarinet Adriano called Emir Santa Cruz, who had already collaborated in the first CD. The bass player is Roberto "El Chino" Vàsquez, while Eduardo Silveira and Deivys Rubalcaba play respectively congas and timbales, plus various percussions. For the title track he invited percussionist Degnis Bofill, who plays the sacred batà drums.

The CD "Cuban Fires" was published by Dodicilune in July 2018. Show less