STICK MEN
Teatro SocialeSTICK MEN featuring TONY LEVIN, MERKUS REUTER & PAT MASTELOTTO Bergamo Jazz 2025 broadens its horizons by proposing a formidable trio that draws its lifeblood from the mixture of improvisation, experimental rock and more, as well as from the extraordinary instrumental mastery of its members. Stick Men, or Stick Men, take their name from the particular instrument invented in the 1970s by Emmett Chapman, a sort of cross between electric bass and guitar, usually equipped with 10 strings played with the tapping technique, which involves the independent use of the hands. Maximum virtuoso of the Stick is considered Tony Levin, a trusted man of Peter Gabriel and many others, as well as a member of various editions of King Crimson from 1981 onward. Also converted to the Stick is German guitarist Markus Reuter. The third member is drummer Pat Mastelotto, whom most know from hearing him in the last editions of King Crimson itself, including one with as many as three drummers. Born in Boston in 1946, Tony Levin began playing when he was 10 years old. In high school he switched to electric bass and met drummer Steve Gadd, also destined for a bright career and with whom Tony Levin was part of flugelhornist Chuck Mangione's group in the early 1970s. From here on, countless doors opened wide. In fact, the list of Tony Levin's collaborations, both in the studio and on stage, is almost endless: in addition to Peter Gabriel and King Crimson, John Lennon, James Taylor, Andy Summers, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Gary Burton, Alice Cooper, the Italians Claudio Baglioni and Ivano Fossati, just to name a few among the many possible names. Markus Reuter began as a pianist, later converting to guitar, thanks to studies with Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft, and then to Stick and Touch Guitar. He has made several solo records and plays with various bands, including Centrozoon and Tuner, or a duo with Pat Mastelotto. He has also been a member of the Europa String Choir and has collaborated with Ian Boddy, Robert Rich, Tim Bowness, and others. Pat Mastelotto took up the drums as a self-taught musician and also developed a keen interest in electronics. Major collaborations include Mr. Mister, XTC, David Sylvian, The Rembrandts, and Finland's Kimmo Pohjonen, as well as, of course, King Crimson, in which he was able to cement a partnership with Tony Levin. Playbill STICK MEN featuring TONY LEVIN, MERKUS REUTER & PAT MASTELOTTO Tony Levin chapman stick and electric bass Markus Reuter guitar and chapman stick Pat Mastelotto drums
MARC RIBOT Quartet “Hurry Red Telephone” (1st set) / DIANNE REEVES (2nd set)
Teatro DonizettiMARC RIBOT Quartet "Hurry Red Telephone" Marc Ribot is one of the most innovative and imaginative guitarists on the contemporary music scene, not just jazz. In fact, names such as Tom Waits, John Zorn, Elvis Costello, Caetano Veloso, Vinicio Capossela, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Plant, Marianne Faithfull, Jack McDuff, John Lurie's Lounge Lizards appear in his vast and varied background of collaborative experience. And the list could go on and on. His solo activity is also unabated, punctuated by albums and groups such as Rootless Cosmopolitans, which is also the title of his debut album as leader, Los Cubanos Postitzos, Shrek, Ceramic Dog and Spiritual Unity. The latter featured Henry Grimes and drummer Chad Taylor: that group, formed as a tribute to Albert Ayler, stayed alive until the legendary double bassist retired from the scene in 2018. "The last concerts with Henry were the best music I've ever played in ... or heard ...," recalled Ribot, who has since reunited with Chad Taylor to continue playing along the lines laid out by Spiritual Unity. And here is "Hurry Red Telephone," a name derived from a quote from Richard Siken's poem "Several Tremendous." Ribot himself introduces his two new partners: "When I first heard Sebastian Steinberg's bass, I thought, 'That's who I'm looking for: a gifted improviser, a musician with a deep groove and totally original.' We worked together in my band Shrek and other projects from the early 1990s until Sebastian moved to Los Angeles, and I'm excited to resume our collaboration." And of Ava Mendoza, a guest of Bergamo Jazz in 2022 with a dazzling solo concert at the Accademia Carrara, he says, "She is the perfect person to complete this quartet: great soloist, sensitive partner in ensemble settings, fearless guitarist/improviser who knows how to move things along." These are the assumptions of the new band: now the word is to the music, which will surely be hard to pin down. Somewhat disorienting as Marc Ribot has always been. ________________________________ DIANNE REEVES. Returning to Bergamo Jazz, exactly ten years after her previous appearance, is Dianne Reeves, one of the most intense and engaging female voices in contemporary jazz, already the winner of no fewer than five Grammy Awards for as many albums, the fourth of which she won for the soundtrack to George Clooney's film Good Night and Good Luck. Film that gave Dianne Reeves well-deserved planetary notoriety. Born in Detroit into a family where music was at home - her father, who died when she was only two years old, was a singer, while her mother played the trumpet and her cousin was the famous keyboardist George Duke, Dianne Reeves began singing and playing piano in the early 1970s. During a concert in Chicago she was noticed by trumpeter Clark Terry, who wanted her in his group. Following her move to Los Angeles she began collaborating with Stanley Turrentine and others. She made her debut album under her own name in 1983, but it was with her joining