Tommaso Starace Organ Trio
Tuesday 14 March 2023 8pm
Tommaso Starace – Alto and Tenor – stunning saxophonist – think bebop – very much in the style of Cannonball Adderley – with a bleusy swagger – and lots of Passion!
Tommaso has played at all of the top Clubs and Festivals including London Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival, Pizza Express Soho, Blue Note Milano, Oxford Jazz Festival etc. He swings magnificently, playing alto and soprano saxophone with impressive post Parker felicity and Italian flair. He has performed with some of the most respected jazz musicians including Billy Cobham, David Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, Stan Sulzmann, Jim Mullen, Jonathan Gee, Paolo Pellegatti, Gianni Giudici.
Born in 1975 in Milano, Italy, Tommaso started playing the saxophone and studying music at the age of 18. He moved to the UK in 1994 where he graduated at Birmingham Conservatoire with a Bmus first class honours and, later at the Guildhall School Of Music and Drama, with a Postgraduate Degree in jazz studies in the 2000. In 2008 Tommaso was awarded with an Honorary Membership by Birmingham Conservatoire, given to him for his significant contributions, made across the years, within the various branches of the music profession.
Italian saxophonist Tommaso Starace pays homage to two Giants of the alto saxophone and the Jazz idiom: Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderely. In the first part of the concert the Trio will revisit some of Parker’s most celebrated Jazz compositions which include Donna Lee, Confirmation, K.C. Blues, Segment, Moose the Mooche, Yardbird Suite, Chi Chi and more. In the second part of the concert the Trio will explore the music of Tommaso’s idol on alto sax, Cannonball Adderely who, despite his ‘late age’, shortly after the premature death of Parker, was nicknamed the ‘New Bird’ on the alto saxophone after a sensational short visit to New York City. The Trio will explore some of the great hits such as Del Sasser, This Here, Jeannine, Azule Serape, Jive Samba, Work Song, Mercy Mercy Mercy, Waltz for Debby.
Tonight’s line up is Tommaso Starace on alto saxophone, Martin Jenkins on Hammond Organ and Pip Harbon on drums
“Anyone who has experienced a glissando of language on the streets of Italy will understand the utter exuberance with which Italian-born Starace attacks and runs with the language of music” – Paul Medley, Oxford Times
“…….Starace is star material” – Ian Carr, jazz