Giovanni Guidi
Giovanni Guidi is an Italian jazz pianist who is well-known on the European scene as a bandleader and a frequent sideman for trumpeter Enrico Rava. As a soloist and an accompanist, his touch is subtle but technically deft, whether laying out angular solos (based on everything from slow, rubato interludes to fleet, high-register, aria-styled flights of fancy) to hard-comping, swinging grooves. His 2011 date We Don't Live Here Anymore on Italy's Cam label illustrated his canny, kaleidoscopic compositional style. On 2015's This Is the Day, with his multinational trio featuring New York bassist Thomas Morgan and Portuguese drummer João Lobo, the group showcased their intricate rhythmic and harmonic engagement with free jazz and expressionist composition.
Guidi was born in Foligno and studied piano from a very young age; he pursued it as his sole vocation. His primary teacher through his school and into conservatory was Ramberto Ciammarughi. By attending summer seminars, he was noticed by Rava, who recruited him for one of his now-famous "Under 21" groups. With this band, Guidi recorded live albums in 2006 and 2009 for the Editoriale l'Espresso label. He then appeared on two of the trumpeter's ECM albums, Tribe in 2010 and On the Dance Floor in 2012. In addition, he worked as a sideman on recordings by saxophonist Mauro Negri, guitarist Roberto Cecchetto, and drummers Tommaso Cappellato and Fabrizio Sferra. Guidi has also been a member of Gianluca Petrella's Cosmic Band and appeared on two of their recordings.
Guidi's debut album as a leader, Tomorrow Never Knows, came in 2006 at the age of 21. Released on the Venus label, the album was followed by a series of acclaimed recordings on Cam Jazz. The first two were self-titled quartet sessions in 2007 and 2008, respectively. In 2010, he released his debut big-band offering, The Unknown Rebel Band, modeled on the influences of Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra, the Freedom Now Suite band of Max Roach, and the Carla Bley Big Band. His first New York recording, We Don't Live Here Anymore, came in 2011, with Petrella, drummer Gerald Cleaver, bassist Thomas Morgan, and saxophonist Michael Blake. That same year Guidi signed with ECM. His debut for the label, City of Broken Dreams, was a trio date recorded with Morgan and longstanding drummer João Lobo. The album was released in June of 2013. In 2015, Guidi returned with another trio effort for ECM, This Is the Day. The following year, he cut the quartet date Ida Lupino (titled for the Carla Bley compostion performed at the album's center), with old friend and recording partner Italian trombonist Gianluca Petrella, American drummer Gerald Cleaver, and French clarinettist Louis Sclavis. After a tour, the pianist returned to the studio with the Morgan/Lobo trio and expanded it to a quintet with saxophonist Francesco Bearzatti and guitarist Roberto Cecchetto for 2019's Avecs Le Temps. The two bookends are trio selections -- the title track opener a cover/tribute to the late French singer and songwriter Leo Ferre, while the closer is Guidi's elegy for Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko. The remainder of the set's tunes, played by the quintet, were written by the pianist or group improvisations.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
Discography
17 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Avec le temps
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 22 Mar 2019
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Ida Lupino
Giovanni Guidi, Gianluca Petrella, Louis Sclavis, Gerald Cleaver
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 2 Sep 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Reminiscenze ((Dedicato a Mario Guidi))
Daniele Di Bonaventura, Giovanni Guidi
Contemporary Jazz - Released by DdB music on 1 Jan 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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City Of Broken Dreams
Giovanni Guidi Trio, Giovanni Guidi
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 8 Mar 2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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This Is The Day
Giovanni Guidi Trio, Giovanni Guidi
Jazz - Released by ECM Records on 24 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
We Don't Live Here Anymore
Contemporary Jazz - Released by CAM JAZZ on 15 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Indian Summer
Jazz - Released by Cam Jazz Presents on 10 Jan 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The House Behind This One
Jazz - Released by CAM JAZZ on 8 Jul 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Unknown Rebel Band
Contemporary Jazz - Released by CAM JAZZ on 8 Sep 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Avec le temps
Jazz - Released by ECM on 22 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Drive!
Giovanni Guidi, Joe Rehmer, Federico Scettri
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Auand on 1 Jun 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Essential House
House - Released by Giovanni Guidi on 23 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pandora Trance
Dance - Released by Giovanni Guidi on 29 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo