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Ferruccio Spinetti & Giovanni Ceccarelli
Biographie Ferruccio Spinetti & Giovanni Ceccarelli
Ferruccio Spinetti
Giovanni Ceccarelli and Ferruccio Spinetti founded this duo in 2008, when they gave a series of successful concerts in Italy, also with the participation of saxophonist Marcello Allulli. When the two musicians went on to founding group InventaRio, the duo stopped performing until its comeback in 2019.
Ferruccio Spinetti is a steady member of duo Musica Nuda and legendary group Avion Travel. Ferruccio and Giovanni recorded together four albums: “InventaRio”, Latin Grammy awarded “InventaRio incontra Ivan Lins”, jazz trio album “Météores”, plus a participation by the double bassist to Giovanni’s quartet album “Daydreamin'”. Having started playing jazz together thirty years ago, the two musicians share a deep musical empathy and a common strong sense for melody.
In September 2019 the duo entered the studio in order to record a tribute album to great composer Ennio Morricone. A recording project produced by French label Bonsaï Music and on release on September 18th 2020, “More Morricone” presents original arrangements of well and less known film music by Morricone. Vocalist Chrystel Wautier is featured on a few tracks. On August 21st the label released the single “I Figli Morti” from the upcoming album.
Giovanni Ceccarelli
was born in Fabriano, Italy. He started playing piano at seven years-old, then at thirteen he turned on to jazz. He received the basics of piano by studying with Anna Trontino and Nedda Spotti. Giovanni taught himself how to improvise, later on he specialized by studying jazz with pianists Eddie Wied, Rita Marcotulli, Mike Melillo, Franco D’Andrea, Stefano Battaglia, and Enrico Pieranunzi, with arrangers Bruno Tommaso and Giancarlo Gazzani, with masters Dave Liebman and Jack Walrath. In the early 2000’s he studied North Indian music theory and tablas with Aki Montoya.
Giovanni started playing professionally in the Rome jazz scene, where he lived for ten years, acquiring a deep knowledge of the standards’ repertoire by performing with numerous soloists and ensembles. As a sideman and as a trio with bassists Mauro Battisti, Stefano Cantarano, and Giordano Pietroni and with drummers Carlo Battisti, Massimo Manzi, and Francesco Vitale he performed in the most prominent jazz venues in Italy, Europe, and the Middle East with Tony Scott, Benny Golson, Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Bob Wilber, Rosario Giuliani, Max Ionata, Luca Velotti, Gianni Basso, Garrison Fewell, Rosario Bonaccorso, Gianni Coscia, Fabrizio Bosso, Emanuele Cisi, Pietro Tonolo, Ettore Fioravanti, Massimo Nunzi, Charles Davis, Manu Katché, Marco Tamburini, Tiziano Tononi, Carlo Atti, Antonello Salis, John Stowell, Larry Smith, Joe Magnarelli, Jim Snidero, Attilio Zanchi, Gianni Cazzola, Gianluca Petrella, Massimo Moriconi, Stefano “Cocco” Cantini, Nicola Stilo.
Giovanni recorded three albums playing standards with great jazz soloists Massimo Urbani – “The Nights Of The Beuscher” (Philology, 2009) – and Lee Konitz – “At The New Mississippi Jazz Club” (Philology, 2000) and “Waxin’ in Camerino” (Philology, 2011). His first release as a co-leader – “The Street Dancer” (Philology, 1998), a piano duo with mentor Eddie Wied – was dedicated to the standards’ repertoire, too.
Giovanni is a very demanded pianist for jazz singers, due to his active listening, deep sound, and rich harmonic palette. He was a steady member in vocalists Tiziana Ghiglioni and Ada Montellanico‘s groups, performing and recording with them the American and Italian songbooks – albums “The Essential Ellington” and “Tenco In Jazz” with Ghiglioni, “Suoni Modulanti” and “Omaggio a Billie Holiday” with Montellanico. He also played and recorded with great vocalists Nancy King, Mark Murphy, Giacomo Gates, David Linx, Maria Pia De Vito, and Camille Bertault.
A prolific and inspired composer with an immediately recognizable style as a pianist, Giovanni has released some remarkable recordings, as a leader or co-leader, presenting his own compositions. He co-signed songs with Sandra Cartolari, which were released in her album “Twolips” (1999). While living in Paris, Damascus, Beirut, and back to Paris, he released “Feedin’ Inner Urges” (2009) with vocalist Fabrizia Barresi, “Daydreamin’” (2010), acclaimed albums “Météores” (Bonsaï Music, 2011) – with long-time music collaborators Ferruccio Spinetti and Francesco Petreni – and “Mare Calmo” (2015) with bandoneon star Daniele di Bonaventura, “Canto” (2019) with saxophonist Marcello Allulli. Pagine Vere with Michela Lombardi and Luca Falomi focuses on songs written by the pianist and the vocalist. Their album is due to be released in 2021.
