Friday 26 September, 12:40-13:10
Teatro Piccinni
Camilla Battaglia ‘ELEkTRA’
- Camilla Battaglia - vocals, electronics
- Francesco Fiorenzani - guitar
- Simone Graziano - piano, keys
- Stefano Dalla Porta - double bass
- Francesca Remigi - drums
ELEkTRA is a musical suite divided into 9 (+1) parts, each dedicated to an archetypal female figure from mythology, history, or literature: Cassandra, Electra, Molly Bloom, Aspasia, Phryne, and a nursery rhyme that embodies the desire of contemporary women to be “no one,” free from appearances. Each figure explores social themes and gender stereotypes that remain relevant today, raising the question: what has truly changed? The music blends acoustic and electronic sounds, incorporating synthesizers, effects, and samples to reflect the complexity of the characters and their stories - crafting a bold and distinctive musical language.
Friday 26 September, 17:00-17:30
Castello Svevo
VMV Trio
- Vincenzo Di Gioia - alto sax
- Marco Cutillo - guitar
- Vito Tenzone - drums
The trio focuses on the search - primarily through original compositions - for a personal and distinctive sound that draws from contemporary jazz and film music. The group’s musical offering is the result of blending their diverse influences and broad, varied backgrounds, making their style essentially boundaryless in terms of genre, writing approach, and improvisation. The trio’s core aim is to convey emotion and prioritise the communicative aspect of music, while still embracing the rhythmic and harmonic complexity that characterises each member’s compositions. In 2024, the trio released their debut recording - the EP “From Now On, Live at FDS Records” - on all digital platforms, under the FDS Records label. The EP features three original compositions, each penned by one of the trio’s members.
Friday 26 September, 17:45-18:15
Castello Svevo
Anaïs Drago ‘Relevé’
- Anaïs Drago - violins, electronics
- Federico Calcagno - clarinets
- Massimiliano Trabucco - drums
Violinist and performer Anaïs Drago - winner of the Top Jazz 2022 award for Best New Talent - leads the trio "Relevé" alongside clarinetist Federico Calcagno and percussionist Max Trabucco. Strings, winds, percussion, and movement: the music takes on a dimension that is not only sonic but also sculptural, evoking motion, upward momentum, and the body's irresistible impulse through space. In "Relevé", Anaïs Drago composes each piece, translating into music the poetics of artists and authors such as Paul Klee, Umberto Boccioni, and Alejandro Jodorowsky, infusing it deeply with the languages and forms of our contemporary world. The trio was formed in 2023 as an original production of the WeStart Center in Novara. "Relevé" - a term from classical dance meaning “to rise onto the toes” - highlights the upward thrust and explosive energy that pervade both their music and live performances
Friday 26 September, 18:30-19:00
Castello Svevo
Bring Your Horn
- Emanuele Coluccia - sax
- Filippo Bubbico - keys
- Alberto Manco - drums
The pieces performed on stage will be entirely original, unique, and unrepeatable. The core theme of the trio is “pure” improvisation - absolute, unrestrained - a constant effort to compose music in real time: not on paper, not on a screen, but directly in the air, just as light impresses itself into film in photography, or as a painter breaks the silence of the canvas, staining it irreversibly. The idea is to embrace this inevitable beginning in order to enter the real, living essence of sound - drawing from tradition while never holding back when it comes to exploration. Guided by this vision and trained in extreme flexibility, the trio explores the possibilities offered by the moment with complete freedom, achieving peaks of expressive intensity.
Saturday 27 September, 11:00-11:30
Castello Svevo
Matteo Bortone ‘No Land's’
- Matteo Bortone - bass
- Julien Pontvianne - tenor sax
- Benjamin Garson - guitar
- Yannick Lestra - rhodes/synth
- Ariel Tesssier - drums
The name of the band is a true statement: No Land’s - no land, no fixed place. The landscape changes, and the traveler changes with it. Matteo Bortone draws inspiration from ancient myths and cosmologies that don’t celebrate the essence of being or the ideal, but rather the process of becoming - an exploration of inner transformation that takes place when we travel, dream, or remember. Rooted in contemporary jazz with pop/rock influences, No Land’s music explores both acoustic and electroacoustic soundscapes, developing a creative process that begins with the individual but finds its true strength in the collective sound - carefully crafted over the years. “A Tree in the Mist” is the second release from this Franco-Italian ensemble. Their debut album, commissioned by NovaraJazz and Südtirol Jazz Festival, was named one of the best albums of 2020 by Musica Jazz and Il Giornale della Musica.
Saturday 27 September, 16:00-16:30
Teatro Piccinni
SC’ÖÖF (CH) - EJN Zenith Award winners
- Elio Amberg - saxophone & electronics
- Noah Arnold - saxophone
- Christian Zemp - guitar & electronics
- Vincent Glanzmann - drums & laptop
- Jonas Häni - audio engineer & sound design
Sc’ööf are a Lucerne-based quartet made up of drums & laptop, electric guitar, and two saxophones with electronics. They create acoustic glitch music using extended techniques on their instruments, weaving atonal melodies into tight, complex rhythms, and mixing a wide range of musical ideas within a single piece. Their sound blends jazz, rock, metal, punk, and experimental music into something truly their own. A strong affection for captivatingly odd grooves and an excessive live energy makes Sc’ööf an exciting bag of surprises.
Saturday 27 September, 17:00-17:30
Teatro Piccinni
Esmeralda Sella
- Esmeralda Sella - piano
- Federico Giolito - double bass
- Giovanni Nardiello - drums
The trio performs original compositions by Esmeralda Sella, inspired by events, artists, and other works. Every action is aimed at fostering a rhythmic-melodic exchange based on the sharing of fundamental elements such as sound and form. The compositional approach favours the expression of individual freedom in improvisational choices, resulting in a compact and cohesive sound. Since 2022, the trio has been meeting with determination and consistency, developing ideas, sounds, and spontaneous choices to support an immediate understanding of each member’s proposed material. In July 2024, the trio recorded its debut album - MAGMA - in Ferrara with Feggi Sound.
Saturday 27 September, 17:45 - 18:15
Teatro Piccinni
Matteo Paggi ‘GIRAFFE’
Matteo Paggi - trombone
Lorenzo Simoni - alto & soprano sax
Vittorio Solimene - piano
Jonathan Ho - double bass
Andrea Carta - drums
The giraffe, in the world of symbolism, represents "foresight." With its head far from its heart, it is able to make decisions with detachment and clarity. In the band's music, the mind is free to soar and express itself with the spaciousness that defines it. Yet at the same time, the fire of passion burns fiercely in the chest, finding no obstacles, burning ceaselessly. It is with this concept that Matteo Paggi composed the band’s original pieces. GIRAFFE's style succeeds in blending rationality and passion, creating a unique aesthetic strongly influenced by pop, rock, and melodic music - all within a jazz framework. This project is the winner of the 'Next Jazz Generation 2025' award by I-Jazz.
