Massimo D’Avola Quintet
Tribute to Harold Floyd “Tina”Brooks
- Massimo D'Avola: tenor sax
- Mirko Rinaldi: trumpet
- Aldo Perris: double bass
- Leonardo Borghi: piano
- Amedeo Ariano: drums
On the occasion of 50th anniversary of the publication of Tina Brooks’ last record - which signed the end of the “maudit” of jazz’s career - Massimo D’Avola, tenor sax, will pay homage to this great American saxophonist, who is more or less unknown to the public, with a concert dedicated to him.
D’Avola and his quintet will present a series of pieces chosen from the repertoire of Tina Brooks who, due to alcohol and drug problems and having lived a borderline life - after years spent between jail and hospital - died in 1974 at a very young age.
“Tina Brooks”, (whose nickname was due to his very slight build as a teenager), “is still one of the most interesting composers of his generation which straddled hard bop and blues” says Massimo D’Avola. “Although he was a great improviser and his sensitivity aroused strong emotions, he never succeeded in reaching the fame he deserved or gaining the recognition worthy of such a great musician and interpreter. A testimony of this is also the fact that his more interesting works were published posthumously, twenty years after his death.”
In particular, the pieces and arrangements selected by D’Avola are performed by a quintet, Tina Brooks’ favourite formation and for which the pieces had originally been conceived and that gives them the best artistic expressiveness.
In the band that accompanies Massimo D’Avola, one of the greatest contemporary tenor saxes in terms of language and musical effectiveness, we find prominent names such as Mirko Rinaldi on the trumpet, Aldo Perris on the double bass, Leonardo Borghi on the piano, Amedeo Ariano on drums.
WOST (Way Out South Trio)
- Massimo D’Avola: tenor sax
- Vincenzo Florio: double bass
- Marco Valeri: drums
WOST (Way Out South Trio) is a recently formed group that brings together some of the best young talent from the Italian jazz scene proposing them in a specific assemblage where the absence of the harmonic contribution of the piano allows for greater expressive freedom.
The rhythmic and harmonic movements therefore develop through a weaving of improvisations that are full of intensity and in places melodic and in others abstract on a journey that draws on the roots of tradition then takes on a contemporary and avant-garde language, constantly in search of deeper and more stirring elements of expressiveness.
The repertoire includes some of the most important and significant pages of jazz history: from Billy Strayhorn to John Coltrane, from Sonny Rollins to Thelonius Monk, but also the new interpretation of important pieces of Italian music and various original compositions.
The recent publication by Tuscia in Jazz Live (April 2010) is being met with wide critical acclaim.
Massimo D’avola Featuring The Mike Melillio Quartet
- Massimo D'Avola: sax tenore
- Mike Melillo: pianoforte
- Giampaolo Ascolese: batteria
- Elio Tatti: contrabasso
The idea for this quartet and musical collaboration between Massimo D’Avola, one of the best known Italian saxophonists, and Mike Melillo, pianist and composer, one of the great American jazz musicians, came when the two meet recently.
Mike Melillo has not played in a quartet since the early 80s’. The last time was with the ensemble of the great contralto sax Phil Wood, which saw him win a GRAMMY AWARD in 1979, the most prestigious award to which a musician can aspire.
Since then Melillo has dedicated himself to the piano or work as a soloist or in a trio made up of the piano – double bass and drums.
From his formative years as a musician, Massimo D’Avola has always been close to the giants of jazz. Beginning with Tony Scott, who considered him his favourite student, then on to Steve Grossman, Johnny Griffin, Gianni Basso and Massimo Urbani. Historical figures of jazz that have handed down great legacies to Massimo D’Avola, which would not be possible today.
Mike Melillo has played with many of these protagonists. And the two artists have decided to play together starting from this very common denominator.
Their coming together represents the consolidation of the expressive reality of two great musicians who transmit, with their music, the legacy and experience that have their origin in a period that has given so much.
D’Avola and Melillo are accompanied by the best Italian rhythm section: Giampaolo Ascolese on drums and Elio Tatti on the double bass.