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Ferdinando Romano

Ferdinando Romano is a doublebass player, composer and improviser. His reputation has increasingly grown since he was awarded in the Top Jazz 2020 (Musica Jazz’s annual Critics Poll) as “Best Italian Rising Star”, and he is now considered as one of the most interesting new artists of the Italian and European scene. Recently he got the SIAE (the Italian Copyright Association) Award, given every year to musicians that distinguished themselves for the originality of their compositions.

“Totem”, his first album as a leader, was released for the Norwegian label Losen Records and has been voted in the Top Jazz 2020 in the category of the “Best Italian Albums”. The band is formed by some of the most interesting musicians and improvisers of the new Italian generation and the great ECM artist Ralph Alessi on trumpet.

The album got international acclaim from magazines all over the world, selected as one of the best albums of the year in many countries, and has been described as “the debut recording of a poetic bassist, inspired composer and intriguing arranger” (T. Conrad, Stereophile), “A brilliant album, expression of a clear talent” (Musica Jazz), “a highly expressive jazz, always taking care of narrative in music” (La Repubblica), “an album that is high in quality and benefits from that musical sweet spot between challenging and accessible listening.” (Uk Vibe)

In 2020 he was selected with his band Totem for “Nuova Generazione Jazz”, a program of I-Jazz that promotes selected bands of the new Italian generation in Italy and all over Europe.

Totem toured intensively in Europe, playing in major clubs and Festivals in Italy, France, Germany, UK, Hungary

He recently recorded a new album, Invisible Painters, where he combines improvised music with his passion for electronic music, synthesizers and contemporary music. The album features Elias Stemeseder, Federico Calcagno and Evita Polidoro.

Ferdinando has an intense activity live and in studio, as a leader and as a sideman, collaborating with many musicians like Ralph Alessi, Enrico Rava, Robin Eubanks, Benny Golson, Glenn Ferris, Logan Richardson, Elias Stemeseder, Jerome Sabbagh, Simona Premazzi, Jon Boutellier, Yuhan Su and many more

As a composers some of his orchestral and chamber compositions have been played in festivals. In particular the composition for string quartet Madrigale LXI has been played in the festival Art of this Century, dedicated to music whose scores where damaged by the Florence flood in 1966, recreated and completed by some composers to be presented in a contemporary way.  The orchestral composition I Tetti della città, inspired by Claude Debussy's music,  has been played in the Youth Orchestra Festival in Palazzo Vecchio in Firenze.

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1
Live Review

Ferdinando Romano 4tet al Pinocchio

Read "Ferdinando Romano 4tet al Pinocchio" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Ferdinando Romano 4tet Pinocchio Live Jazz Firenze 2.2.2024 Tagliato il traguardo del 2023 del Top Jazz di Musica Jazz --un po' a sorpresa, ma con indubbio merito --al secondo posto tra i musicisti italiani, al terzo tra i dischi e al quarto tra le formazioni, Ferdinando Romano ha portato il quartetto del suo ultimo album Invisible Painters sul palco fiorentino del Pinocchio, un locale che --sia detto a suo merito --è solito frequentare con ...

1
Album Review

Ferdinando Romano: Invisible Painters

Read "Invisible Painters" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Non ama cullarsi sugli allori Ferdinando Romano: dopo i meritati riconoscimenti ricevuti grazie anche al suo progetto Totem, cambia completamente scenari, lascia da parte il jazz moderno, ancorché strutturato e complesso, e si dedica all'esplorazione di sonorità in equilibrio tra acustico ed elettronico e di atmosfere maggiormente sospese e frammentate. Per farlo l'artista --beneventano d'origine e toscano d'adozione --ha chiamato con sé tre musicisti giovani, che ciononostante già godono di grande attenzione: il pianista e tastierista austriaco, ma ...

Album Review

Nazareno Caputo: Phylum

Read "Phylum" reviewed by Neri Pollastri


Diplomato al conservatorio, esecutore attivo nella classica contemporanea, più volte presente negli inetichettabili progetti senesi di Stefano Battaglia, il vibrafonista Nazareno Caputo presenta il suo primo album a proprio nome, che gli ha già fruttato molta attenzione della critica, la quale nel 2021 ha indicato il disco tra i migliori usciti in Italia e il suo autore ai primi posti tra i talenti emergenti. Phylum è un lavoro complesso che si articola su quattro lunghi brani e una ...

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Album Review

Ferdinando Romano: Totem

Read "Totem" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


According to Italian double bassist Ferdinando Romano, a totem “is a symbol that represents a natural or spiritual entity which has a particular meaning for a single person or even for a large group of people." Furthermore, it refers to the different references each of the musicians on this album have, the different people they've met and shared artistic experiences with, as Romano explaines in the liner notes. For his debut album as a leader, Romano has chosen to work ...

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Interview

Ferdinando Romano: Una Collaborazione Naturale con Ralph Alessi

Read "Ferdinando Romano: Una Collaborazione Naturale con Ralph Alessi" reviewed by Paolo Marra


Per il suo debutto discografico da leader con il disco Totem, registrato per l'etichetta norvegese Losen Records, il giovane musicista Ferdinando Romano sceglie di formare un settetto con la presenza come ospite di Ralph Alessi, uno degli artisti di punta della scena creativa newyorchese, grazie a collaborazioni con musicisti del calibro di Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane e Uri Caine. Una prova non priva di insidie, che il contrabbassista fiorentino ha superato in maniera brillante, regalandoci un lavoro caratterizzato da un ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Invisible Painters

Jam/UnJam - Universal Music
2023

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Morning Raga

Emme Record Label
2022

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Phylum

Aut Records
2021

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Totem

Losen Records
2020

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Morning Raga

From: Morning Raga
By Ferdinando Romano

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