Daniele Di Bonaventura: bandoneon, piano
“In his hands, the bandoneon transforms into a chamber orchestra.” (Pierre Favre)
Daniele Di Bonaventura is considered one of the most original and creative bandoneonists in the world. His music is a wonderfully serious yet extraordinarily playful blend of classical music (composition, structure) and jazz (improvisation and freedom), drawing notably from Mediterranean melodic traditions and South American musical genres. Even in solo performances, he performs and improvises pieces rooted in his "musical homeland," with inspirations ranging from Baroque composers to popular folk classics, culminating in his latest repertoire. This creates his own uniquely rich musical world where the bandoneon playfully transforms into a harmonica or the organ of a cathedral. A dynamic stream of superb melodies emerges, captivating the listener.
Born in Fermo (in the Marche region of Italy), Daniele Di Bonaventura—composer-arranger, pianist-bandoneonist—has nurtured a strong interest in improvised music since the start of his career, despite his classical background (a diploma in Composition) that began at age 8 with studies in piano, cello, composition, and orchestral conducting. His collaborations span classical and contemporary music, jazz, tango, ethnic and world music, with ventures into theater, cinema, and dance. He has performed in leading Italian and international festivals across Italy, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Norway, France, Romania, Switzerland, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Slovenia, Moldova, Croatia, Latvia, Albania, Singapore, Japan, the United States, and South Africa, in renowned venues from New York’s Town Hall to Paris’s Salle Pleyel. He has performed, recorded, and collaborated with a range of artists, including Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Stefano Bollani, A Filetta, Oliver Lake, David Murray, Miroslav Vitous, Rita Marcotulli, David Liebman, Toots Thielemans, Lenny White, Robin Kenyatta, Omar Sosa, Joanne Brackeen, Greg Osby, Ira Coleman, Dino Saluzzi, Javier Girotto, Cèsar Stroscio, Tenores di Bitti, Aires Tango, Peppe Servillo, David Riondino, Francesco Guccini, Sergio Cammariere, Lella Costa, Ornella Vanoni, Franco Califano, Eugenio Allegri, Alessandro Haber, Enzo De Caro, Omero Antonutti, Giuseppe Battiston, Giuseppe Piccioni, Mimmo Cuticchio, Custódio Castelo, André Jaume, Furio Di Castri, U.T. Gandhi, Guinga, Riccardo Fassi, Frank Marocco, Paolo Vinaccia, Mathias Eick, Bendik Hofseth, Pierre Favre, Jaques Morelenbaum, Ivan Lins, and Quintetto Violado. In 2003, he composed, performed, and recorded the “Suite for Bandoneon and Orchestra” commissioned by the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana. He has released over 90 albums with labels including Via Veneto Jazz, Philology, Manifesto, Felmay, Amiata Records, Splasc(H), World Music, CCn’C Records, and Harmonia Mundi. For the latter, he recorded a bandoneon and string quartet album titled "Sine Nomine". His recent collaborations include Miroslav Vitous, who invited him to participate in his album "Universal Syncopation II", which won the German Critics’ Prize (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik) for Album of the Year 2007, released by the prestigious ECM label. Also with ECM, he released "Mistico Mediterraneo", a project with Corsican vocal ensemble A Filetta and Paolo Fresu. For Fresu’s Tuk Music, he released his first double album "Nadir" in 2013. In 2014, he contributed to the soundtrack of Ermanno Olmi's film "Torneranno i prati". In March 2015, he released the ECM duo album "In Maggiore" with Paolo Fresu, alongside the documentary film "Figure musicali in fuga" by director Fabrizio Ferraro, portraying the two musicians during their recording session in Lugano with Manfred Eicher.
