ANTONIOFARAÒ Trio
“Tributes“
featuring AMEEN SALEEM & JEFF BALLARD

For the first time as a guest of Bergamo Jazz, Antonio Faraò presents his latest project, Tributes, a heartfelt tribute to some illustrious instrument colleagues, from McCoy Tyner to Chick Corea, who have played an important role in shaping the Italian pianist’s musical personality. But in

Tributes there is also more: “In this new project I wanted to pay homage to some great musicians who over the years have given me strong artistic and human emotions, as well as to some places, such as Calvì, where I got to know formidable musicians of the French jazz scene, including the great Didier Lockwood and Michel Petrucciani, to whom the song “Memories of Calvì” is dedicated,” comments Antonio Faraò himself, alongside whom there will be on the stage of the Teatro Sociale the double bass player Ameen Saleem, a well-rounded artist originally from Washington, D.C., and drummer Jeff Ballard, former partner of Chick Corea and Brad Melhdau and well known to Bergamo Jazz audiences. Born in Rome in 1965, but a Lombard by adoption, Antonio Faraò is a very accomplished pianist, highly regarded internationally: among his admirers is Herbie Hancock, who several times invited him to participate in the International Jazz Day Global Concert. Impressive is the list of musicians with high-sounding names with whom he has had the opportunity to collaborate: Jack DeJohnette, Chris Potter, Daniel Humair, Gary Bartz, Lee Konitz, Steve Grossman, Billy Cobham, Bireli Lagrène, Dennis Chambers, Claudio Fasoli, André Ceccarelli, Ivan Lins; Jeff “Tain” Watts, Benny Golson, Von Freeman, Chico Freeman, Miroslav Vitous, John Abercrombie Didier Lockwood, Billy Hart, Lenny White, Eddie Gomez, Bob Berg, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman; Wayne Shorter, Johnny Griffin, Richard Galliano, Al Jarreau, Marcus Miller, Charles Tolliver, Toots Thielemans, Christian McBride, George Garzone and others. Since 2023, he has been involved in the McCoy Tyner Legends project, a quintet in which Antonio Faraò, the only non-U.S. member of the group, stands alongside Chico Freeman, Steve Turre, Avery Sharpe and Ronnie Burrage. In 2024 the album Tributes was released by Criss Cross in which Faraò is joined by John Patitucci and Jeff Ballard.

_______________________________________

LIZZ WRIGHT

The New York Times described her voice as “a soft, dark alto, endowed with qualities one might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather.” Lizz Wright is among the black voices of recent decades whose interpretive strengths best reflect the African-American cultural fabric, drawing inspiration from her upbringing in South Georgia, where she debuted as music director of a small church whose father was the pastor. “My influences are very clear: you only have to listen to my music,” Lizz Wright says today, “My family was a very spiritual family and strongly tied to the land, having had a farming tradition for generations. What you hear in my music is not only my African-American heritage, but also that of someone who lives connected to the land. So I try to break away from stereotypes and sing my personality as a woman and a human being on this planet.” Although still young, Lizz Wright already has a considerable career behind her. At 22 she tried her hand at a Billie Holiday tribute and at 23 she topped the Billboard jazz charts with her first album, Sa, which was followed by Dreaming Wide Awake (2005), The Orchard (2008) and Fellowship (2010), which includes prestigious collaborations with Me’Shell Ndegéocello, Joan as Policewoman and Angélique Kidjo. Together with the latter, as well as with Dianne Reeves and Lisa Simone, Lizz Wright participated in the “Four Women” project, a heartfelt tribute to another legend of African-American music and culture, Nina Simone.
The 2017 album Grace is produced by Joe Henry, one of the most original personalities in today’s songwriting world. In 2022, with the live album Holding Space, Lizz Wright launched her independent record label, Blues & Greens Records, with the goal of creating a sustainable circuit for artists. The American singer’s most recent album, Shadow, released in 2024, mixes jazz, soul, blues, and folk with skill and sensitivity, with direction by Chris Bruce. The latter also features various guests, from Me’Shell Ndegéocello to Angélique Kidjo to harpist Brandee Younger, while the voice of its main protagonist is enveloped by acoustic guitars, string quartets and instruments from the Indian Carnatic tradition.
Lizz Wright is thus a versatile artist, capable of giving personal interpretations to musical materials from different sources, linked to each other by authenticity and depth.

Playbill