electronic music
and digital arts festival
foligno june 25.26

GIANLUCA PETRELLA

Gianluca Petrella started to play at funerals, in cover bands and weddings as a young boy in Bari and in its vicinity. Now he is 35 years old and after having won the ‘DJango d’oro’ in 2001 for “best first recording of a young Italian talent”, “best new talent” still in 2001, “musician of the year” (2005) at the ‘referendum di Musica Jazz’, “Critics Poll of ‘Down Beat’ magazine” in 2006 in the emerging artist category and the ‘Paul Acket Award’ in 2007, we can now say that Italian jazz has found its new point of reference from Puglia even in music and managed to do it with an instrument not very present in the collective thought: the Trombone. Petrella, besides having perfected his technique during the years, has included a pinch of musical initiative and a bag of exceptional references: Duke Ellington, Ben Webster, Gil Evans and last but not least Sa Ra- the most extravagant figure in Jazz- that has inspired his last project, the ‘Cosmic Band’, 10 components for a group full of energy derived from rock music and free jazz, that reformulates “Space Is The Place” and other Sa Ra masterpieces through structure and deconstruction giving each piece its own new personality while keeping its original spirit.
Gianluca Petrella at will be performing twice at Dancity Festival: a DJset and then with Giovanni Guidi on the piano for Alessio Bertallot’s ‘Jazzaposizioni’, a mixture of jazz improvisations and electronic music.


“I remember that once, when I was very young, my mother gave me an Italian flag made from scrap materials sewed together. I tied it to my bike and proudly went to see the match. Unfortunately I lost it straight afterwards and found myself celebrating without.”

gianlucapetrella.com
spacebonerecords.com