The XXI edition of Orchestra senza Confini closes with a tribute to Antonello Salis, one of the great artistic figures of Italian jazz.
For the first time, the Sardinian pianist and accordion player will be bringing his creativity to an orchestral context with arrangements by Riccardo Fassi, one of the most important composers on the national contemporary scene, who has elaborated Salis’s compositions - chosen from the most important works in the artistic career of this singular musician - in a functional and original manner.
The energy and fantasy of an authentic artist is given a completely new form of expression and guise in which he will have the opportunity to present his extremely lively musical world, characterised by great versatility and an untainted spirit of artistic adventure. Amplified and extended through an operation which focuses the attention of the audience on the depth of an artist whose originality and uniqueness lies in his quality as a pure improviser, the compositions highlight the flexibility of improvised invention in this brand-new, curious and surprising orchestral guise. With this project, Riccardo Fassi brings further depth to the relationship that has existed for years between himself and Salis, adding a new chapter to their many projects together, from keyboard duets to their participation in many CDs by the Tankio Band.
One of the most important Italian jazz soloists, Salis performs with both the piano, which he plays with great originality, and the accordion, an instrument with which he could be defined an innovator and creator of new expressive techniques that have risen him to an international level. In recent years Salis was voted first among accordion soloists in the 2015 Jazzit Awards, and always among the top artists in previous editions, confirming his success with audiences and critics alike. Active since the 1970s, he boasts countless collaborations with Italian, European and American artists. Riccardo Fassi is one of the most interesting pianists-keyboard players-composers on the Italian jazz scene, and has performed for many years in various groups, above all his Tankio Band. He has played in projects involving great representatives of the international jazz scene and is the director of the Department of Jazz at the Florence Conservatory.