Gilad Atzmon: tenor sax
Tony Lakatos: tenor sax
Johannes Müller: tenor sax
Alessandro Maiorino: doublebass
Roberto Tarenzi: piano
Enzo Zirilli: drum
From Coltrane’s "Impressions" to Nat King Cole’s "Nature Boy," the surprising frontline composed of three extraordinary saxophonists is supported by a highly accomplished team, featuring the formidable Greek (New York-based) bassist Kimon Karoutzos, the elegant pianist Roberto Tarenzi, and the renowned master of European swing, Enzo Zirilli, on drums. The band has toured Europe to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the highly successful "International Jazzwerkstatt Saarwellingen." “The music they create is so colorful and diverse that words cannot describe it” (Pforzheimer Zeitung).
A familiar face at FolkClub, Gilad Atzmon is a jazz artist and author, naturalized British, born in Israel in 1963. A multi-instrumentalist, he plays saxophones, clarinet, and various ethnic wind instruments. His album “Exile” was named Jazz Album of the Year 2003 by the BBC. Atzmon is constantly touring the world. As a member of the Blockheads, Gilad has also recorded and performed with Ian Dury, Robbie Williams, Sinead O'Connor, and Paul McCartney. He has also recorded with Robert Wyatt and the Water Boys. In 2014, he recorded with Pink Floyd and is featured on their album, "The Endless River." In 2000, Gilad founded the Orient House Ensemble, with which he has toured globally, recorded 15 albums, and won numerous awards.
“A formidable improvisational powerhouse... a jazz giant who constantly stretches to his full height...” (The Guardian).
“The best musician living in the world today” (Robert Wyatt).
Antal "Tony" Lakatos (Budapest, 1958) is a Hungarian jazz saxophonist (tenor, soprano sax) who resides in Germany, where he has worked with bands led by Toto Blanke, Uwe Kropinski, Jasper van 't Hof, and Wolfgang Haffner. He has led his own ensembles since the late '80s, including Things; as a sideman, he has collaborated with JoAnne Brackeen, Terri Lynne Carrington, Al Foster, Billy Hart, and Anthony Jackson. He has also worked with Randy Brecker, Kevin Mahogany, George Mraz, the Mingus Big Band, Chris Hinze, Kirk Lightsey, Dusko Goykovich, Michael Sagmeister, Roberto Magris, Art Farmer, and Kenny Werner.
Born in Milan, Roberto Tarenzi joined the Big Band of the Civici Corsi di Jazz in Milan in 1995, recording four CDs and accompanying, among others, Dave Liebman, Max Roach, Bobby Watson, Bob Brookmeyer, David Murray, Eddie Daniels, David Raksin, Franco Cerri, Enrico Rava, Franco Ambrosetti, Giovanni Tommaso. In 2000, he founded the CUES Trio with Lucio Terzano and Tony Arco, recording two albums, one of which features David Liebman, with whom he developed an exciting collaboration through concerts and studio recordings. Invited in 2006 to the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition, he began an intense concert activity in 2008 alongside Stefano Di Battista and Rosario Giuliani, collaborating with Roberto Gatto, Maurizio Giammarco, Dario Deidda, Fabio Zeppetella, Fabrizio Bosso, Max Ionata, and virtually all the top musicians on the Italian scene. He has recorded albums with Roberto Pistolesi, Pietro Ciancaglini, Stefano Di Battista, and Dario Deidda, as well as with Rosario Giuliani, John Patitucci, Joe Locke, and Joe LaBarbera. He also recorded part of the music for the Oscar-winning film "La Grande Bellezza" by Paolo Sorrentino and accompanied Gino Paoli in a series of concerts with a jazz trio and Symphony Orchestra. He is very active on the Italian and international scene and also teaches regularly at the Saint Louis College of Music in Rome and the Conservatory of Turin, in addition to conducting improvisation workshops.
Alessandro Maiorino. Eclectic bassist and double bass player, he studied improvisation in Amsterdam and has been active on the jazz scene since the early 90s. Of Roman origins, he has lived and played in Turin for many years. Among his professional experiences he counts some forays into the world of rock, including a tour of Spain and Ireland in 1995 with Manu Chao in his first post-Mano Negra band, and hip-hop, including a tour of Spain and Cuba in 2004 with the Italian-Spanish-Cuban band La Fresk-Base Llena. He has participated in numerous musical projects and numerous recordings, has had the opportunity to collaborate with great national and international musicians and to play in clubs and jazz and rock festivals including the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Ethiopia, Cuba, as well as than in Italy. He has been teaching double bass, electric bass and improvisation for over ten years. Since 1996 he has been a jazz double bass teacher for the project of musical seminars in high schools in Turin, "Le Chiavi della Musica", conceived by the journalist and teacher Marco Basso and financed by the Municipality of Turin. Since 1998 he has been a teacher of electric bass at the Musical Training Courses of the Municipality of Turin and since 2005 he has been a teacher of electric bass and double bass at the School of Musical Training and Orientation of the "Fondazione Istituto Musicale" of Aosta.
Enzo Zirilli is considered one of the most creative and versatile drummers/percussionists of the last generation. Gifted with great musicality, which has led him to absorb and personalize every form of contemporary music, he has been active for over a quarter of a century, performing and recording worldwide with great Afro-American, Italian, and European musicians in the realms of jazz, world music, and pop, including: Dado Moroni, Enrico Pieranunzi, Bob Mintzer, Charlie Mariano, Steve Grossmann, Eddie Gomez, Antonio Forcione, James Moody, Tom Harrell, Ira Coleman, Rossana Casale, Marco Pereira, Ivan Segreto, Peppe Servillo, Flavio Boltro, Ares Tavolazzi, Larry Nocella, Randy Brecker, Gloria Gaynor, Fabrizio Bosso, Rosario Giuliani, Furio Di Castri, Emanuele Cisi, and many others. After being born and musically raised in Turin, he moved to London in 2003, where he quickly established himself as one of the most sought-after musicians and began collaborating with some of the musical icons of British and international jazz such as Jim Mullen, Stan Sulzmann, John Etheridge, Liane Carroll, Ian Shaw, Omar LyeFook, and Hamish Stuart (who played alongside Paul McCartney for 10 years), as well as other musicians from the latest generations like John Parricelli, Gilad Atzmon, Alex Garnett, Brandon Allen, Ross Stanley, and Quentin Collins.
