Fusion of Italian Jazz and World Music Captivates Kolkata Audience

Kolkata: The Kolkata tour of the two Italian musicians, organist Alessandro D’Alessandro and saxophonist Gianni Denitto, who were invited to the Bengali capital by the Consulate of Italy, has concluded. In addition to performing in four concerts, at Skinny Mo’s Jazz Club, the Calcutta School of Music, the Dalhousie Institute, and in the Consulate’s garden, on the occasion of the Festa Italiana, organized in collaboration with the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce, D’Alessandro and Denitto were featured in master classes, at La Martinière for Boys school and the Armenian School, where they won the students’ interest with their sounds that blend jazz, world music, folk traditions, and classical music.

According to Ansa News Agency, Alessandro D’Alessandro is one of the most talented Italian and European organists particularly appreciated for his technique, versatility and timbral research, which have enabled him to bring an instrument typical of the folk tradition to dialogue with the most diverse musical envir
onments. A sound experimenter, he pioneered the use of electronics applied to his instrument and created an original percussion system for the accordion. His latest solo recording project “Canzoni – for accordion prepared and electronics,” (Squilibri, 2021), was voted best Italian world music album.

Gianni Denitto is an eclectic saxophonist, born in classical music and raised in jazz, who has developed a personal language in the synthesis of acoustic sound, timbral research and meeting of cultures. Considered by GQ to be among the “10 Italian jazz musicians of the future,” he has built an international career that has led him to perform in over thirty countries, playing and giving master classes at institutions such as the Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory, Beijing Contemporary Music Academy, Global Music Institute in Delhi, University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, Tafe in Perth, and collaborating with orchestras, jazz ensembles and artists from different traditions.

“We are thrilled to have hosted these musicians
who have enriched with a unique soundtrack our various initiatives on the occasion of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World,” commented Vice Consul Daniele Panfilo.