NEWS
I recently came back from a great tour/trip to Japan. It's my second time there and got to spend a fair amount of time to be a tourist , socialize and perform. After a week in beautiful Kyoto I moved to Tokyo to meet up with some wonderful musicians such as koto player Karin Nakagawa, piano player Mami Ishizuka and record producer Makoto Myanogawa owner of Song X Jazz Records. While in Tokyo I paid visit to many record shops including Lighthouse Records where I found, with much surprise, the pre-release of Upperground Orchestra's "The Eupen Takes". Since I still hadn't seen it, I had to buy it.
Next stop was lake Yamanaka, in the proximity of Mount Fuji. Unfortunately it was raining the whole time so I didn't get to see the gentle giant. There I met up with my friends, guitar players Hideshi Takatani and Ohya Masa and performed along with other musicians from the area. Ohya is the owner of Sound Village an amazing facility in the woods equipped with several rehearsal studios, a professional recording studio, a cafeteria and dorms. 
The following performance was in Osaka playing duo with avant-garde guitar player Shinichi Isohata. We played in a very quite and small room inside a French style café named Chef D'Oeuvre. Percussionist Kimura Fumihiko joined the performance in the second set. Everything was totally improvised and unplanned.
I spent my last week in Japan in Fukuoka, Kyushu where, needless to say, I had my good dose of ramen. During the Nakasu Jazz Festival, taking place in several parts of town, I joined legendary bassist Kiyoto Fujiwara and piano player Daisuke Iwasaki for three great concerts in different locations and for wonderful audiences. A special thank you to Etsuko-san for putting these concerts together.
I've been back for a couple of weeks now and I already miss it. Looking forward to spend more time there, playing and visiting.
The Minus One is a trio formed by Michael Blake on tenor and soprano saxophone, Stefano Senni on double bass and myself on drums. The group started a year ago as a transition between different projects. My collaboration with Blake started in late 2007 and it hasn't stopped since. I involved Michael in my first official quartet culminating with the release of the album "Open" on Elefante Rosso which has been receiving outstanding reviews.
In October 2010 we both took part in the Tectonic Quartet tour in China and started a new chapter in 2011 with this last formation releasing the album "Live in Pisa" on punto Rojo Records at the beginning of 2012. Currently the trio performs mainly Blake's original compositions, some of which unreleased, and a few more obscure standards.
After several shows in 2011 and 2012 The Minus One might no longer exist as a new shift will occur shaping the group into a larger ensemble with different musical material led exclusively by Michael Blake. We'll definitely keep you posted on this!
For the very first time in history the Castello Dei Carraresi in Padova opened its gates on June 23 2012 for a musical event featuring the Tommaso Cappellato Orchestra. Over 600 people attended the concert made possible by: Assessorato alla Cultura - Comune di Padova, Fineco Bank, Scuola di Musica Gerswhin, Enoiteca Cortes and Studio Prp. Cappellato's original compositions arranged and conducted by Michele Corcella.
TOMMASO CAPPELLATO ORCHESTRA
Tommaso Cappellato (drums/comp.)
Michele Corcella (arr./cond.)
Alessia Obino (voice)
Marco Ponchiroli (piano)
Michele Manzo (guitar)
Stefano Senni (bass)
Marco Catinaccio (percussion)
Nicola Fazzini (alto/soprano sax)
Ettore Martin (tenor sax)
Giovanni Masiero (baritone sax)
Gianluca Carollo (first trumpet)
Hugo D'Leon (second trumpet/flugelhorn)
Humberto Amesquita (first trombone)
Federico Pierantoni (second trombone)
Listen to the entire performance:
Many exciting things are about to happen this coming summer. This week I will reunite with my old time friend from Argentina, alto saxophonist Ramiro Flores, who's touring Europe for a few weeks. We will play a couple of trio gigs, June 15 in Verona and the following day in Padova. Ramiro and I met in New York about 10 years ago taking part in a project playing Argentinian pop music. A very fun time of my life.
The following week I will play with the acclaimed double saxophone quartet NESSO G featuring Michele Polga, Francesco Bigoni and Danilo Gallo (June 22 at Sile Jazz Festival) while the next day I will replicate with my ORCHESTRA playing in the ancient castle of Padova. This will be a historic event since the castle has never been open to the public before. For the past century it served as a prison and remained abandoned in the last few years. I feel very honored to have been chosen for its very first opening. The Orchestra will perform my own original compositions arranged and conducted by Michele Corcella and it sounds something like this:
The last week of June I will be touring with Andrea Lombardini, the excellence in worldwide electric bass, and young brazilian trumpet sensation Gileno Santana. Check the shows page for details. We will also spend a couple of days in the studio. Definitely looking forward to this!
On July 7 my brand new project ASTRAL TRAVEL (a tribute to Spiritual Jazz) featuring Alessia Obino (voice), Paolo Corsini (rhodes/synths) and Marco Privato (bass) will be showcased in the "Bugs Festival" at Roots Club in Verona hosted by DJ Volcov and we'll be opening for Dego (formerly of 4Hero). July will also see the coming out of the long awaited UPPERGROUND ORCHESTRA vynil release "The Eupen Takes" on Morphine Records distributed by Rush Hour. Click on photo to see the preview.
At the end of the month I'll be recording with multi-instrumentalist Piero Bittolo Bon for Long Song Records. The album will be featuring guitarist Simone Massaron and Peter Evans of Mostly Other People Do The Killing. Last but not least my coop project THE MINUS ONE with Michael Blake and Stefano Senni will be on the road again July 27 (Pordenone), August 10 (Pisa) and August 16 (Como).
