
«The musical world of Gabriele Pezzoli is so creative and full of tension.»
Jazz n’ More, Switzerland
Photo: Stefano Galli
Pianist Gabriele Pezzoli lives in Locarno, in southern Switzerland. His international debut came in 2006 with 'Improvviso', a piano trio album released worldwide by the Montreux based TCB Records. As a leader or co-leader, he has released nine albums and is active with musical projects - from solo piano to extended ensembles - that cross the boundaries between jazz and present-day music. He has performed music for theatre, dance, visual art and multidisciplinary projects and composed a soundtrack for the documentary 'Mission Asclepios' by multi award-winning director Patrik Soergel and produced by Swiss national television. He has been active as a performer, composer and producer for over 25 years.
Described as 'one of the great piano hopes in Europe' by German Radio Dreyeckland, he graduated at the École de Jazz et Musique Actuelle in Lausanne studying, among others, with US pianist Richie Beirach and completed his studies at the Lausanne Conservatory obtaining in 2001 a piano diploma and a special distinction in music pedagogy. He has played in clubs and festivals in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, Estonia, Greece and Madagascar in projects promoted by leading European cultural institutions, such as the European Capitals of Culture Tallinn and Pilzen, Athens Technopolis, Eesti Kontsert, Piano City Milano, the European Institute of Design IED, the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). His research project on 'piano & live electronics' was supported in 2022 by the Swiss art council Pro Helvetia. He had the opportunity to play with international artists such as French harmonica player Olivier Ker Ourio, electro jazz pioneer Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær, leading Italian saxophonist Tino Tracanna, Italian harmonica player Max De Aloe and top national and local musicians such as Nils Wogram, Domenic Landolf, Reto Suhner, Cédric Gysler, Brian Quinn, Kety Fusco, Mauro Fiero and Sandro Schneebeli among many others. He is co-founder of the musicians' collective BLUE 2147, which featured more than 20 musicians and performers in different artistic domains over the past ten years.
His music is regularly broadcast on national radio stations, he participated in numerous radio and television broadcasts and developed in-depth content on various musical topics related to jazz, improvisation and electronic music for the national cultural network Rete Due. He taught at the former Swiss Academy of Music Pedagogy, at the Jeunesses Musicales Suisse, at the École de Jazz et Musique Actuelle EJMA and is currently educational coordinator at the Accademia Ticinese di Musica and member of the national industry associations SMPV, SUISA and SONART. He has also been involved in activities to promote live music in his region, collaborating in the creation of the 'Jazz nelle nostre piazze', 'Jazzinfabbrica' and 'Six O'Clock' festivals, which have featured hundreds of concerts.