Swings and roundabout jazz

‘I’m fortunate because I had the opportunity to deeply study the tradition of jazz.’

By BARRY DAVIS
Trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso (left) with his longtime cohort, pianist Julian Oliver Mazzariello (photo credit: SIMONE CECCHETTI)
Trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso (left) with his longtime cohort, pianist Julian Oliver Mazzariello
(photo credit: SIMONE CECCHETTI)
Among Duke Ellington’s many perennially popular numbers, “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)” has pride of place. Based on the words of Jewish lyricist and longtime Ellington manager Irving Harold Mills (né Isadore Minsky), it has been played and recorded at regular intervals, by artists with all kinds of creative orientations, for over 90 years.
The title also embodies a sentiment to which Fabrizio Bosso wholeheartedly subscribes, as he will demonstrate at his slew of gigs here, which will take place up and down the country from January 28 to February 4, as part of the Hot Jazz series. The aforementioned Ellington classic will be in the Italian trumpeter’s song list here, along with equally popular Ellington standards “In a Sentimental Mood” and “Caravan.”
As far as Bosso is concerned, Ellington’s oeuvre has a rare, timeless quality, coupled with a fundamentally downand- dirty attribute. “The simplicity and the intensity of his melodies have been, and are even now, a reference point for many generations of musicians,” states the 43-year-old trumpeter.
Unlike the vast majority of Hot Jazz slots, this one features no homegrown sidemen, with Bosso sharing the stages in Rehovot, Herzliya, Modi’in, Tel Aviv and Haifa only with longtime cohort, Italy-based British-born pianist Julian Oliver Mazzariello. That offers a working band understanding that is so central to spontaneous musical creation. It has been a lengthy and fruitful twinning.
“We started to play a long time ago, just after he arrived in Italy,” Bosso recalls.
The two hit it off from the outset but their professional paths bifurcated for a while.
“For some years we had our own experiences, and a few years ago we met again,” the trumpeter adds. It was a happy and enduring reunion. “We played a duo concert in a club, and since that night we play together as much as possible.”
Bosso says it has been a seamless synergy.
“I think we approach the music in a very similar way, and our understanding is natural,” he observes, noting that their performance choices follow an easily meandering path which helps to keep them fresh. “Our repertoire is free.
We play jazz standards but also songs or soundtracks or original tunes. We love beautiful melodies, and from there we can go everywhere. Each concert is completely new.”
Bosso began to nurture his musical awareness with his mother’s milk.
“I was a baby and my parents heard a lot of music at home,” he recalls, adding that genes certainly come into his developmental mix. “My father is an amateur trumpeter and he listened to a lot of jazz, and my mother listened to Italian singers. Many of my relatives were musicians...
I couldn’t slip away!” There was definite Latin current flowing through that early musical diet.
“I listened to jazz and Italian music,” says Bosso. “Then I was very impressed by Brazilian music, and it is still one of my favorite listening things.”
The youngster’s choice of instrument was a given, and he soon got serious.
“I started to play trumpet at five,” he says.
His initial infant brass blowing efforts were subsequently honed, in his teen years, at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Turin, and he later moved on to St. Mary’s College in Maryland.
While formal education certainly contributed to Bosso’s artistic growth, he says he really gained insight into the wild and woolly world of improvisatory music in the proverbial university of the streets.
“I attended conservatory, but I learned everything I know about jazz from direct experience. When I was 10, I was playing with my father in an amateurish big band. Later, I spent a lot of time with Flavio Boltro, a marvelous trumpeter 10 years older than me. We went to many concerts – at that time there were many beautiful clubs in Turin – and I divided my time between classical studies and fascinating jazz experiences.”
Still, if you want to play in a band, you’ve got to learn to listen to others and not just strut your own stuff. Bosso got the requisite ensemble insight back at the Turin school of music.
“At the conservatory I certainly learned discipline and, actually, to share music,” he notes. “I mean, I started there to play with other musicians.”
Bosso may have taken something of a circuitous route to jazz, but he quickly fell in love with the work of one of the brightest stars in the 1950s jazz firmament and possibly the most celebrated trumpeter around today.
“My first and uncontested love was Clifford Brown,” Bosso declares. “He died prematurely, but his contribution to the music was immense.” Brown was a pioneer of the hard bop style of the early 1950s, and was only 25 when he was killed in a car crash. The Italian’s other instrumental hero is Wynton Marsalis, whom many consider to be the unofficial spokesman of the global jazz community.
Unsurprisingly, the Italian’s stateside move proved to be a life-changer for him. “I was very young [when starting college]. “I won a scholarship and I attended a master class and played a concert there. As any other experience abroad, it was very formative.”
Over the years, Bosso has maintained an eclectic approach to the business of music making, playing in small groups, big bands and orchestras, and mixing it with leading members of the jazz community and pop musicians alike.
He came to national notice in Italy at the age of 20, and gained valuable experience with seasoned titans such as celebrated pianist-composer George Russell, avant-garde front-runner saxophonist Dave Liebman and fellow reedman Steve Coleman.
Bosso released his debut recording, Fast Flight, to critical acclaim at the age of 26, and eventually signed for the fabled Blue Note record label.
For the past couple of decades he has wowed audiences the world over with his sparkling technique and compelling lyricism.
But he never forgot the vocal music that his mother listened to when he was small, and it continues to fire his artistic imagination. “Singers were one of the most important things I listened to from the very first moment. I practiced a lot to improvise on their songs, so I learned to dialogue with a voice.”
That has paid professional dividends. “I collaborated with many Italian and international pop singers. With Julian, last year, we recorded a trio album with a very important Italian pop singer, Fabio Concato. And I recently invited a young Italian jazz singer, Walter Ricci, to guest with my Spiritual Trio. I always love to play with singers.”
Extracurricular outings notwithstanding, Bosso says he continues to imbibe from the jazz wellspring. “I’m fortunate because I had the opportunity to study the tradition of jazz deeply; I’m sure that it is fundamental to build something new, to build a personal sound, to develop myself both as a player and as composer. Knowledge and awareness of the past allow you to understand where you are going to.”
Ellington would, no doubt, have approved.
For tickets and more information: (03) 573-3001 and www.hotjazz.co.il