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Julien Colarossi

Originally from Settefrati, Italy, guitarist and composer Julien Colarossi, born the 4th of February 1988, has recently graduated with a first-class honours degree in jazz performance from Newpark Music Centre in Dublin, Ireland. Since moving to Ireland in 2007, Julien has established himself as one of the most exciting young guitarists to emerge in recent years on the Irish contemporary jazz scene. He is gaining a strong reputation not only as a performer but also as a composer and teacher. Julien studied jazz guitar in Ireland with Tommy Halferty and Ariel Hernandez. He studied composition with Ronan Guilfoyle, rhythm studies with Conor Guilfoyle, ear-training and harmony with Gèrman Lima and Phil Ware, and jazz history and world music with Francesco Turrisi.

In 2010 Julien was awarded a $16,000 scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston. In the same year, he was awarded a bursary from his college (Newpark Music Centre) to go and study at Fridhems Folkhögskola in Sweden for two weeks.

He has attended masterclasses and workshops with, Dave Douglas, Steve Lehman, Miles Okazaki, Okkyung Lee, Vijay Iyer, Rich Brown, Clarence Penn, Matt Brewer, Joshua Roseman, Tyshawn Sorey, Lionel Loueke, Jim Black, Tom Rainey, Mats Holtne, Trio Corrente and Michael Buckley among others. ​​

In May 2012 Julien attended the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, where he played with some of the most talented young musicians in the world, from every continent. He spent three weeks in Banff (Canada) under the guide of great mentors such as Dave Douglas and Vijay Iyer.​

Julien has collaborated with many of Ireland’s finest jazz musicians, his professionalism, his ductility and his dedication to music has made him one of the most hired guitarist in the Irish scene. At the moment he’s actively involved in these projects: the Julien Colarossi Quartet, the Kalima Trio, Phisqa, the Riona Sally Hartman’s Band, Edel Meade Quintet, the Hot House Big Band, the Colours Afrobeat Band.

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4
Album Review

Julien & John: Just The Way We Are

Read "Just The Way We Are" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Not to be confused with the Julian and John duo of Bream and Williams fame, Julien and John are Julien Colarossi and John Keogh, two fine guitarists in their own right. This is the Dublin duo's second release, eighteen months on from Street Life (Self-Produced, 2016). Like their debut recording, Just The Way We Are sees the duo trawl the pop charts for inspiration for its acoustic instrumentals, drawing from the 1960s until the present day. The greater vibrancy on ...

2
Album Review

Julien Colarossi: Note to Self

Read "Note to Self" reviewed by Luigi Sforza


Classe 1988, musicista d'origine italiana ma irlandese d'adozione, Julien Colarossi è un chitarrista e compositore non ancora trentenne in grado di sostenere le sorti di un quartetto di bravi e motivati musicisti. Note to Self è il primo disco a suo nome, ed è un lavoro sfaccettato, suonato sapientemente da artisti che sanno mettere in ordine idee liriche e melodiche quanto articolate e nervose, modernismo jazzistico e divagazioni postfusion. La pronuncia chitarristica è di stampo tradizionale -bop ...

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Album Review

Linley Hamilton: In Transition

Read "In Transition" reviewed by Ian Patterson


The title of trumpeter Linley Hamilton's second release for Northern Irish label Lyte Records tells a tale; in the three years since Taylor Made (Lyte Records, 2011) Hamilton has dug deep into the essence of his playing, refining his compositional approach and instilling a greater economy of notes in his playing. His is a discipline that owes more to the modern European tradition exemplified by Till Bronner and Mathias Eick than the beboppers that first inspired Hamilton on his journey. ...

5
Album Review

Julien Colarossi: Note to Self

Read "Note to Self" reviewed by Ian Patterson


Since moving to Ireland in 2007, Italian guitarist Julien Colarossi has established himself as one of the busiest hands for hire on the Dublin jazz/contemporary music scene. He can be found in the band of singers Riona Sally Hartman and Edel Meade, and in the quintet Phisqa, whose eponymous debut fuses Peruvian rhythms--courtesy of drummer Cote Calmet--with modern jazz. He's a member of the 17-piece Hot House Big Band and also plays in Colours Afrobeat Foundation. Colarossi's debut as leader ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Turning Skies

electron productions
2018

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Just The Way We Are

Self Produced
2017

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Note to Self

Self Produced
2014

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In Transition

Lyte Records
2014

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Note to Self

Self Produced
2013

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Videos

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