«Pezzoli's appeal lies on his ability to break away from the all-jazz mould and bring in influences from classical music and inventive electro-rock.»
La Côte, Switzerland
Bio
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 is internationally active with live musical projects - from solo piano to extended ensembles and collective projects - that cross the boundaries between jazz, improvisation and present-day music. He performs both on acoustic piano and Rhodes electric piano, occasionally with live electronics. He has also performed music for theatre, dance, visual art and composed a soundtrack for the documentary 'Mission Asclepios' by multi award-winning director Patrik Soergel and produced by Swiss National Television.
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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 (Music Pedagogy) obtaining in 2001 a Piano Teaching Diploma.
He has played in clubs and festivals in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, Estonia, Greece and Madagascar and had the opportunity to collaborate 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 BLUE 2147 collective and the Six O'Clock festival which, in over 13 years of activity, have promoted over 200 concerts, collective projects and cultural exchanges, involving hundreds of musicians and performers. His projects have received support from major regional and national cultural players, such as the Swiss art council Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Republic and Canton of Ticino and the SIG - Performing Artists' Cooperative. He is a member of professional associations Sonart, Smpv, Suisa, Sig and Swissperform.
Selection of past performances
Piano City Milano (IT)
Montreux Jazz Festival (CH)
Ahtens Jazz Festival (EL)
Estival Jazz (CH)
Festival di cultura e musica Jazz Chiasso (CH)
Pilzen European Capital Culture (CZ)
Eesti Kontsert (EE)
Tallinn European Capital Culture (EE)
Jazz Dock Prague (CZ)
European Institute of Design IED Milano (IT)
Madajazzcar Festival (MDG)
Preveza Jazz Festival (EL)
Mutamenti Jazz Festival (IT)
Concerti Jazz, National Radio (CH)
Jazzz, Éspace 2 RTS
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Tra Jazz e nuove musiche, National Radio (CH)
Jeppis Jazz Festival (FIN)
Cully Jazz Festival (CH)
Label Suisse (CH)
Festival de la Cité (CH)
Internationale Kulturbörse Freiburg (D)
Schweizer Künstlerbörse (CH)
Les Urbaines Festival (CH)
AMR Geneva (CH)
Moods Zurich (CH)
Bird’s Eye Basel (CH)
Jazz in Bess Lugano (CH)
Teatro Sociale Bellinzona (CH)
BeJazz Bern (CH)
WIM Werkstatt für Improvisierte Musik Bern (CH)
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Teaching
Gabriele Pezzoli teaches main and complementary piano, improvisation, theory and harmony since 1998. He is teacher and educational coordinator at the Accademia Ticinese di Musica Locarno and member of the SMPV Swiss Society of Music Pedagogy. Please visit this link for more information on piano lessons and available courses (Italian only).