Antonio Faraò Trio

One concert, one great master: Antonio Faraò at JazzAscona

It is a great honor for JazzAscona to host Antonio Faraò for a unique and unmissable concert. The extraordinary pianist Antonio Faraò creates an exceptional trio featuring Ira Coleman and Gerald Cleaver. Herbie Hancock said, “It’s not often that I’m surprised by recordings of musicians, but I was when I first heard one of Antonio Faraò’s latest CDs. What struck me was the feeling I felt inside. There is so much warmth, conviction, and drive in his playing. I was immediately drawn to his harmonic vision, the joy of his rhythms and his sense of swing, and the grace and candor of his improvised melodic lines. Antonio is not just an excellent pianist—he is a great one.” Antonio Faraò is not just a musician of extraordinary talent: he is a true star of international jazz and an indispensable figure in contemporary European jazz. Praised by Herbie Hancock, he has collaborated with top-tier artists such as Joe Lovano, Didier Lockwood, Miroslav Vitous, Jack DeJohnette, Chris Potter, Benny Golson, Ivan Lins, and many others, undoubtedly confirming his place among European musicians who have achieved an expressive standard on par with the greatest american musicians. His style is unmistakable: technical brilliance combined with an impetuous emotional charge, an original compositional flair, and an overwhelming sense of rhythm make every performance a unique experience. In 1998 he received the prestigious first prize at the City of Paris Martial Solal International Jazz Piano Competition, an accolade that propelled him even further into the European contemporary music scene and led him, after recording several albums in Italy, to release albums as a bandleader for the prominent German label Enja Records, such as *Black Inside* (1998) with Jeff “Tain” Watts and Ira Coleman, and Thorn (2001), on which he is accompanied by Jack DeJohnette, Chris Potter, and Drew Gress.

Antonio Faraò has been invited several times by Herbie Hancock to participate in International Jazz Day, the global jazz event organized by UNESCO and the United Nations, alongside Bradford Marsalis, Kurt Elling, Wayne Shorter, Marcus Miller, Al Jarreau, and many others. On his album Eklektik, he collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Snoop Dogg, Marcus Miller, and Bireli Lagrène, once again demonstrating his ability to blend tradition, innovation, and stylistic influences. With a career studded with awards, prestigious collaborations, and world-class albums, Antonio Faraò reaffirms his role as an ambassador of a European style at the pinnacle of the global jazz scene, creating an intense, authentic, and memorable experience with every single one of his performances.