Ferdinando Romano
Totem feat. Ralph Alessi
#1 “Best Italian Rising Star” - Top Jazz 2020 (Musica Jazz Magazine’s annual Critics Poll)
#8 “Best Italian Albums” - Top Jazz 2020
““A poetic bassist, inspired composer and intriguing arranger” ”
““..they produce some of the most luscious and melodious ensemble performances i’ve heard for some time.” “there’s certainly an eloquence to these original sounds which, through vibrant rhythm or iridescent calm, speak to our humanity. in that sense, right now, the value of beauty in totem feels inestimable.””
““...an album that is high in quality and benefitting from that musical sweet spot between challenging and accessible listening.””
““If you want a refined mix of post bop, modern music and ECM sound - this is your album!” ”
““Some albums take a few listenings to get inside, but I fell for this one instantly. With further listening, the attraction increased... This is a master class in less being more. It is minimalism but it is not stark, perhaps, because it’s from the warmer south...”
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““Alessi’s style and tone blend seamlessly with the sound of the rest of the group. They are beautiful, well thought-out songs with clear melody lines and improvisation space. They fit in with the tradition of contemporary, serious jazz of european cut. Romano has a source of inspiration for each of his pieces.” ”
“Great music on stage with Ferdinando Romano’s sextet, who totally confirmed all the album qualities (writing, interplay, articulation, elegance, soloism) with the addition of the pathos that only the live show can give. Honor to Romano and his musicians, all showcasing a high level of playing, for being able to enchant the large audience, who called them again for an encore, an unreleased song at the second performance ever”
Short Bio
Ferdinando Romano is a doublebass player, composer, improviser and producer. His reputation has increasingly grown since he was awarded in the Top Jazz 2020 (Musica Jazz Magazine’s annual Critics Poll) as “Best Italian Rising Star”, and he is now considered as one of the most interesting artists of the new generation. In 2021 he got the SIAE (the Italian Copyright Association) Award, given every year to musicians that distinguished themselves for the originality of their compositions. “Totem feat. Ralph Alessi” has been released for the Norwegian label Losen Records. The album got international acclaim from magazines all over the world like Musica Jazz, All About Jazz (USA), Jazz Views (UK), Marlbank (UK), The Jazz Mann (UK), Jazz Life Japan (JP), UK Vibe (UK), Jazztrail (USA), Jazzport (CZ), SKJazz (SK), Jazzflits (NL), Jazzlocal32 (New Zealand), JazzIT (IT), Alias, Blogfoolk, Musiczoom and many more. The music has been broadcasted in many radio shows in Europe and the US, in particular on France Musique (FR), WDR (DE), BRF1 (Belgio), Radio Classica, Radio Popolare, Brooklyn Radio.
In 2020 he was selected with his band Totem for “Nuova Generazione Jazz”, a program of I-Jazz that promotes selected bands of the new Italian generation in Italy and all over Europe.
Totem toured intensively in Europe, playing in major clubs and Festivals in Italy, France, Germany, UK, Hungary
Ferdinando has an intense activity live and in studio, collaborating with many musicians of the Italian and international scene like Ralph Alessi, Enrico Rava, Robin Eubanks, Benny Golson, Glenn Ferris, Logan Richardson, Jerome Sabbagh, Simona Premazzi, Jon Boutellier, Allen Vizzuti, Michael Applebaum, Yuhan Su and many more.
He is part of the trio Phylum that was awarded in 2021 as Best Debut Album by the New York City Jazz Record
Gallery
“In an artistic sense each of us has his own Totems; they are our references, the people that we met and with whom we shared musical and artistic experiences. But the single Totems can give life to a much bigger one, something that is much more than the sum of the parts and that represents the creative synthesis of our musical personality.”