ITALY GAVE AMERICA PIZZA. AMERICA GAVE ITALY JAZZ.
Just like there’s pizza in even the smallest American burb, the same goes for jazz in Italy. Italians went gaga over the style in 1904, when a Creole group, hailed as “the creators of the catwalk,” performed in Milan. With great enthusiasm, orchestras were formed. Over the decades star players emerged, bringing Italian twists to this American form.
From the start, American jazz musicians who came to Italy were welcomed and revered. Louis Armstrong toured through in the thirties, Chet Baker lived in Turin for a while, Ella Fitzgerald celebrated her fortieth birthday (really her forty-first, she was tricky about it) with a concert in Rome that’s one of her best recordings.
These days in Italy you’ll find top American players on the bills, along with legendary natives such as trumpeteer Enrico Rava. As far as Italian jazz gals to look out for, there are vocalists Tiziana Ghiglioni (called Italy’s “First Lady of Jazz”), and Maria Pia de Vito, a Naples native whose take on Joni Mitchell tunes is wonderful.
As a backdrop to the cool players, the varied performance venues are exquisite. You may find yourself at one of Italy’s many jazz festivals, mostly held in summer, when an entire small town is filled with music and you can see shows in baroque theaters, chic clubs where the food is fantastic, or in amazing outdoor settings, where often the performances are free.
Like pizza in America, jazz in Italy varies greatly in quality. As in, you wouldn’t want to spend a euro to hear the sour saxophonist who played “Strangers in the Night” outside my Rome apartment again and again.
Here are some outstanding venues:
Clubs, reservations necessary
Rome
A cozy spot near the Spanish Steps that hosts top of the line players, offering dinner downstairs, and a whiskey tasting bar with over a hundred varieties. Gregory’s has expanded to Gregory’s by the River, a summer jazz lounge on the banks of the Tiber River, and Gregory’s Boat, docked on the river, both offering evening and Sunday brunch concerts. (Main venue: Via Gregoriana 54/a, 06 679 6386, closed Monday, dinner reservations essential, shows start around 10:00 P.M., www.gregorysjazz.com)
Praised as one of the best jazz venues in Europe, this former villa of a Roman crime boss was confiscated by the government and turned into a jazz cultural center that opened in 2005, with a theater, library, restaurant, and outdoor performance spaces. (Viale di Porta Ardeatina 55, 06 704 731, www.casajazz.it)
Ferrara
See headliners, with fantastic food of the Emilia-Romagna region, in this amazing location, a renovated Renassiance bastion, built in 1493. (Torrione San Giovanni, Rampari di Belfiore 167, 339 788 6261, shows on Monday, Friday, Saturday, www.jazzclubferrara.com)
Torino
In the heart of this elegant town is this cozy club, featuring jam sessions, headliners, and it transforms to a dance club after 11 P.M. (Via S. Francesco Da Paola, 011 882 939, closed Monday, www.jazzclubtorino.it)
Festivals
The largest jazz festival in Italy, which takes over the town of Perugia for ten days in July. Two hundred thousand fans flock in to see what’s been called the best in the world. The more low-key Umbria Jazz Winter takes place in December in Orvieto, in venues such as Teatro Mancinelli (built in 1886) and the Palazzo del Popolo, from the eleventh century.
The seaside town on the northern Adriatic is filled with jazz all year long and every July with this festival, featuring performances at the historic Teatro delle Muse and beautiful gardens.
In early autumn, top female players and vocalists reign here. The event includes gallery shows and films, and often performances that pay homage to a particular legend, such as Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald.
Also
All year long, this non-profit jazz foundation hosts performances at various Palermo venues. The most beautiful is Santa Maria dello Spasimo, a roofless former Gothic church.
TIP: For listings of jazz performances all over Italy by dates and regions: www.jazzitalia.net or www.italiajazz.it.