LA VIA DEL FERRO

The Iron Way, or if you prefer in English ‘The Iron Way’, is certainly an unusual name for a jazz group, but there’s a reason why it was chosen: the quartet consists of four musicians of different nationalities who have identified in the name of the ancient road that connected Tuscany, specifically Follonica, with London, the ‘iron way’ indeed, as their common geographical identifier. In Tuscany, in fact, has his roots the double bassist Michelangelo Scandroglio, born in 1996, former student of Ares Tavolazzi for jazz and Gabriele Ragghianti for classical double bass. Today he is based in London, as is the Roman keyboardist Maria Chiara Argirò, another prodigious Italian talent in an export format. From New Zealand comes the drummer Myele Manzanza, who after making a name for himself in his homeland, landed in the United Kingdom, gaining notice for his overwhelming rhythmic verve, while native to the British capital is the saxophonist Alex Hitchcock, one of the most prominent names in the new wave of British Jazz. Together, the four create music with a high energy level, which has quickly conquered the hearts and minds of new generations of jazz fans, not only across the Channel. And among their admirers is none other than the famous DJ and producer Gilles Peterson: ‘absolutely crazy good’ was his reaction after seeing La Via del Ferro in action.

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