New York Gigs

LIVE AT SMALLS
Every once in a while I go back to New York to recharge myself, check out some great music, see my friends as well as playing some gigs with some amazing musicians. Last spring I had a great time in the Big Apple. My first gig took place at Smalls where I had been playing a few times before I moved out of the city in 2005. I spent a lot of time down there in the past and it was a pleasure to hang out there again. It was as if nothing had changed since the good old days.

For the occasion I called Aaron Goldberg on piano who I had played with back in 2001 at the Rainbow Room. He most definitely is one the best jazz piano players in the world and it was a honor and a blast having him perform some of my music. The great Omer Avital played bass. He and I never played together before but I heard him million times playing down at the same spot ten years or so ago. It was so comfortable and enjoyable grooving with this amazing talent.
Michael Blake was on saxophone. During these last 2 years I've been teaming up with Michael. Everytime I perform with him I feel very relaxed knowing we both come from the same musical place. He's a very special person and a unique musican.



A few weeks back I was walking in Venice and suddendly ran into William Parker - on a day off from his tour - who was taking a stroll in the city. He was accompanied by his manager, piano player Eri Yamamoto and singer Leena Conquest. It was a real surprise as I had not seen Eri from the New School days and we all decided to go for a drink.. Italian style!

We had a very pleasant time and I got aquainted with Ms. Conquest whose voice I had heard in Parker's "Song Of Hope". Once in New York I asked her if she could sit in in one of my tunes for the Smalls performance and she agreed. I was struck by her stunning interpretation of my original song "World Traveller" as we did not have much time to rehearse.



It was a memorable night that got recorded by Smalls owner and great piano player Spike Wilner and that can be heard here:

LIVE AT NUBLU
Just a few days later - on April 18 - I performed with my good friends and partners in crime Bill Ware and Brad Jones at Nublu. I was part of Bill's band Vibes from 2002 up to 2005 during which time we played regularly as a trio or in larger ensemble and in many different situations. For the Nublu gig I involved once again Michael Blake and guitarist Teddy Kumpel came and sat in with us. It was a pretty short but super funky show. We performed the old tunes from Bill's repertoire and each one of us remembered everything in detail. I really hope there's a chance to keep playing - maybe in Europe - with these incredible and underrated musicians as well as recording some killing album... anyone out there?
Michael Blake (tenor saxophone) Bill Ware (vibraphone) Brad Jones (bass) Tommaso Cappellato (drums) Teddy Kumpel (guitar)



NEW ORLEANS
After these 2 awsome shows I took it down south to experience what I should have done much before... NOLA baby! many many thanks to my Brooklyn brothers DJ Concerned and Chauncey Yearwood who convinced me to go during the first week of Jazz Fest!!!! I heard and saw so much music from brass bands like HOT 8 and Rebirth, jazz acts like master drummer Herlin Riley Quartet + Wynton Marsalis to The Lincoln Jazz Orchestra + Yacub Addy & Obabaa (from Ghana); from the old school R&B of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings to the new school of Erykah Badu.. All of it was so inspiring. The best part of being there was feeling the great vibe that permeates the whole town despite the pityful events of 2005. People were very warm and welcoming and musicians were very open to share. With my great surprise I ran into a couple of old friends from school and wonderful musicians: saxophone player John Ellis and organ player Joe Ashlar. I had not seen both of them in a while and it was a great pleasure. I promised myself i would spend more time there, there's so much to learn and more talented people to meet. Definitely a special and spiritual place.

BACK TO NYC
Once back in NY I played a couple of "new-york-style-lounge-gigs" before taking off to Italy. The first one was with Gabriele Donati on bass and Greg Ruggiero on guitar. Obliqsound Records producer Michele Locatelli showed up and sat in on guitar. Gabriele, Michele and I attended New School University at the same time and used to have a jazz trio that toured Switzerland in 1998.. so there was another beautiful reunion.. hopefully one day we'll get together for a recording session. The second with Italian bass player - now living in NYC - Gianluca Renzi and once again my big brother Michael Blake on tenor.

GROTTO
Wed. APRIL 29 2009 10pm
100 Forsyth St. New York, NY
Greg Ruggiero (guitar) Gabriele Donati (bass) Tommaso Cappellato (drums)

ZORZI
Thu. APRIL 30 2009 9pm
1 E 35th St. New York, NY
Michael Blake (tenor saxophone) Gianluca Renzi (bass) Tommaso Cappellato (drums)

A very intense trip that got me connected to the spirit of the city where I grew myself up for almost a decade... to be continued...

Australian Gigs

This is an article that came out soon after the concert I played at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club in Melbourne, Australia on March 30 2008. I was leading a quintet featuring Australian musicians Peter Knight, Colin Hopkins, Steve Magnusson and Frank Di Sario.

Music at:
http://www.box.net/shared/65nx4fdrdq
 
ARTICLE PAGE


Jazz

Hear free play

Tommaso Cappellato Quintet
Bennetts Lane Jazz Club
30th March 2008

Text by Brae Grimes

Every morning, when I begin my journey to work, I think about what the beginning of my day's soundtrack will be. Sometimes it's jazz, sometimes it's metal, and somedays a touch of classical, but after Sunday nights performance I will be listening to home-grown jazz to liven my senses. In one of the most inspirational performances I have seen, Tommaso Cappellato (drums) and his quintet (which included local heroes such as Peter Knight on trumpet/electronics, Colin Hopkins on piano, Frank Di Sario on Double Bass and Steve Magnusson on guitar), fought through free-form structure to create a beautiful, intriguing and coherent performance.

Before I continue, I must tell you that Peter Knight (to whom I had the pleasure of being introduced the previous night at the Melbourne International Biennale of Exploratory Music) is one of my favourite performers and composers.
He echoes great trumpeters like Dave Douglas, Scott Tinkler, and Wynton Marsalis, but brings a completely different approach to every note he plays.

This same freshness was evident on the night: everybody played with their own unique contributions to the musical stew.

From the first note, each musician had their own way of creating change; playing broken rhythms, creating odd harmonic structures, or adding an element of ambient sound to throw the performers into a new direction. The communication seemed subconscious on stage; the flow seemed sometimes obvious and sometimes impossible to tell where it would lead next. The best part was that I didn't mind if there was no resolution! The music was so pure, so raw, that it sounded like it had been written for that night alone.

In a way, it was. In conversation with Peter, I asked what his inspiration was for the music. 'It was all improvised,' he said, 'We just had a lot of fun.'
As did the other audience members. The music sometimes had brooding qualities, clear motives, directive drive and joyous moments. Sometimes these moods were evoked simultaneously.

The real star of the night was Tommaso. His vision, to put together a somewhat unrehearsed band and let them do whatever, whenever and for however long they like, had a brilliant, almost Miles-esque, quality. His drumming was absolutely superb. Using a full range of auxiliary percussion as well the drum kit, his technique commanded rapt attention from the whole audience. It was a pleasure watching his bare hands create phrases that outlined the central idea of themes, then repeating these themes with sticks, brushes, mallets, replacing familiar tonalities with sea-shells on rope and junkyard percussion.

So that's why I'm going to be listening to our own boys and girls playing the music I feel most passionate about. Being a musician myself, I can appreciate just about anything for what it is, but, being an Australian jazz musician I feel we are different to the Europeans and Americans in our approach to jazz. This is refreshing considering how much American and European jazz is available to us in comparison to the Australian jazz available overseas. The whole concert could be summed up with the simple comment Miles Davis made to Chick Corea before a recording session: 'Just play what you hear.' And what a pleasure, hearing what they played.