Once again this year, great Italian jazz artists returned to the Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival. Founded in 1978, the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival is now one of the largest and most respected jazz and blues festivals in Europe, offering 10 days of music and over 130 performances. The festival features local and international musicians, who not only provide memorable experiences for the citizens of Edinburgh and visitors from all over the world, but also have the opportunity to work together to create long-lasting projects.
This is the case for young Italian trumpeter Daniele Raimondi, who performed on 15 July at St Bride’s Centre with Scottish saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski, with whom he had debuted at the Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival two years ago. Indeed, in 2022 Raimondi spent a month in Scotland for a fruitful artistic residency supported by the Italian Cultural Institute in Edinburgh as part of the AIR – Artisti In Residenza project, an initiative conceived by MIDJ, an association of Italian jazz musicians, and made possible in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and with the support of SIAE, the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers, for the promotion of Italian jazz artists abroad.
On 19 July, Roman drummer Roberto Gatto performed with his PerfecTrio, accompanied by two of the most interesting musicians on the Italian scene: Alfonso Santimone (piano, fender Rhodes) and Gabriele Evangelista (double bass). During his long career spent working with the big names in Italian and international jazz, over the years Roberto Gatto has taken on a leading role in a number of successful groups. Always close to tradition, the formation of the PerfectTrio allows Gatto to play in absolute freedom, under the banner of experimentation, electronics and improvisation, creating a multifaceted performance.
To accompany the Italian contribution to the festival was the conference ‘Swinging Through History: The Evolution of Italian Jazz’ with Francesco Martinelli, a jazz historian, author and photographer. In his excursus on the history of jazz in Italy, held at the opening of the concert by Daniele Raimondi and Konrad Wiszniewski, Martinelli explored the relationship between swing and the Italian melodic traditions of opera and Neapolitan songs, from the origins of the music to the present day, where the jazz scene has nurtured later generations of musicians inspired by pioneers such as Giorgio Gaslini, Enrico Rava, Gianluigi Trovesi and Bruno Tommaso.
The participation of Italian musicians in the Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival was made possible by the collaboration between the Italian Cultural Institute and the Consulate General of Italy in Edinburgh.
Credits: Istituto italiano di cultura di Edimburgo
