BANDS
PROJECTS
PERICOPES
Emi Vernizzi – sax, electronics
Claudio Vignali – piano, Fender Rhodes, electronics
Ruben Bellavia – drums
Pericopes+1 is an Italian trio project with roots in European tradition, African-American music and improvisation, and an affinity for melody and compositional structure, mixed with other post-rock/prog/avantgarde/electronic influences.
In 2024 their fourth album was released, a new creative concept of futuristic reflections on the present: «Good Morning World». The release celebrates ten years of touring for this power-trio whose style would best be described as “crossover jazz” by the international press (Jazzthetik, Herald Tribune, Jazz’n’More, AAJ, Jazziz, RAI RadioTr), a «cleverly unorthodox trio» (Musica Jazz – Italy) who «demonstrate power and intention» (Downbeat – USA) plus grit and creativity that has earned recognition from both industry pros and fans.
Over the years Pericopes has performed hundred of concerts in UK, USA, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Nederland, including stages as the Gateshead Int’l Jazz Festival (UK), JIM Fest (Beijing), Sunside Jazz Club (Paris), Unterfahrt (Munich), ShapeShifter Lab (NewYork) to name a few.
Their debut have been introduced by prestigious words of eminent jazz masters Dave Liebman and Enrico Rava, later in 2021 Pericopes project was mentioned in the Italian jazz history book “La Storia del Jazz” (Ed.Hoepli) as one of the most important/unique new-generation productions of the last years. In 2023 the trio has been nominated by Musica Jazz magazine in the italian TopJazz chart as one of “best band of the year”.
The project was born as a sax-piano duo in 2007 and then evolved into Pericopes+1 with New York drummer Nick Wight.
“These guys have a history to be sure”
Dave Liebman
“Three excellent musicians”
Enrico Rava
Adwords
Winners of Umbria Jazz Contest 2013
TopJazz 2013 & 2022: Best Italian Jazz Group Top List
TopJazz 2012: Best New Italian Jazz Talents Top List
Winners of Padova Carrarese Prize 2012
✭✭✭DownBeat, AllAboutJazz, JazzInside,
Jazziz, JazzTime, Herrald Scotland, JazzViews,…
PROJECTS
PERICOPES
Emi Vernizzi – sax, electronics
Claudio Vignali – piano, Fender Rhodes, electronics
Ruben Bellavia – drums
Pericopes+1 is an Italian trio project with roots in European tradition, African-American music and improvisation, and an affinity for melody and compositional structure, mixed with other post-rock/prog/avantgarde/electronic influences.
In 2024 their fourth album was released, a new creative concept of futuristic reflections on the present: «Good Morning World».
The release celebrates ten years of touring for this power-trio whose style would best be described as “crossover jazz” by the international press (Jazzthetik, Herald Tribune, Jazz’n’More, AAJ, Jazziz, RAI RadioTr), a «cleverly unorthodox trio» (Musica Jazz – Italy) who «demonstrate power and intention» (Downbeat – USA) plus grit and creativity that has earned recognition from both industry pros and fans.
Over the years Pericopes has performed hundred of concerts in UK, USA, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Nederland, including stages as the Gateshead Int’l Jazz Festival (UK), JIM Fest (Beijing), Sunside Jazz Club (Paris), Unterfahrt (Munich), ShapeShifter Lab (NewYork) to name a few.
Their debut have been introduced by prestigious words of eminent jazz masters Dave Liebman and Enrico Rava, later in 2021 Pericopes project was mentioned in the Italian jazz history book “La Storia del Jazz” (Ed.Hoepli) as one of the most important/unique new-generation productions of the last years. In 2023 the trio has been nominated by Musica Jazz magazine in the italian TopJazz chart as one of “best band of the year”.
The project was born as a sax-piano duo in 2007 and then evolved into Pericopes+1 with New York drummer Nick Wight.
“These guys have a history to be sure”
Dave Liebman
“Three excellent musicians”
Enrico Rava
Adwords
Winners of Umbria Jazz Contest 2013
TopJazz 2013 & 2022: Best Italian Jazz Group Top List
TopJazz 2012: Best New Italian Jazz Talents Top List
Winners of Padova Carrarese Prize 2012
✭✭✭DownBeat, AllAboutJazz, JazzInside,
Jazziz, JazzTime, Herrald Scotland, JazzViews,…
BLUE MOKA
Emi Vernizzi – sax, electronics
Alberto Gurrisi – hammond organ, keys
Michele Bianchi – guitar
Michele Morari – drums
feat. Fabrizio Bosso – trumpet
Blue Moka is recognised as one of the new italian’s distinctive, creative and talented post-bop project, which includes influences from R’n’B to contemporary jazz, and marked by a blend of tradition and modernity. Blues, Soul-Funk, electronics, become elements of a contemporaneity in which “communicative joy and a well-defined sound represent the distinctive features of Blue Moka” (Stefano Dentice – ItalianJazz).
Their acclaimed debut album has been previewed at the renowned BlueNote club in Milano in 2018 with a sold-out show and followed by touring extensively in festivals, clubs and theatres around Italy.
2023 is the release of the new awaited album “Enjoy” (RNC Music), a new collection of original jazz compositions blended of Soul, Funk, Electronic, Indie influences, where rhythm and 3D dreamlike atmospheres make listeners dream, dance, enjoy the life.
Borned on 2009, these four pieces are some of the most in-demand and versatile musicians on the national jazz music scene (Dee Dee Bridgewater, Mario Biondi, Steve Swallow, Seamus Blake, Enrico Rava). Blue Moka’s guests include a long lasting featuring with a legendary Blue Note record artist, the trumpet player Fabrizio Bosso (worldwide collaborations such as Enrico Pieranunzi, Charlie Haden, Carla Bley and the London Symphony Orchestra).
Blue Moka is a band “full of energy […] that could only happen today. It’s the sound of Jazz NOW” (Steven Cerra – Jazzprofiles).
BLUE MOKA
Emi Vernizzi – sax
Alberto Gurrisi – hammond organ
Michele Bianchi – guitar
Michele Morari – drums
feat. Fabrizio Bosso – trumpet
Blue Moka is recognised as one of the new italian’s distinctive, creative and talented post-bop project, which includes influences from R’n’B to contemporary jazz, and marked by a blend of tradition and modernity. Blues, Soul-Funk, electronics, become elements of a contemporaneity in which “communicative joy and a well-defined sound represent the distinctive features of Blue Moka” (Stefano Dentice – ItalianJazz).
Their acclaimed debut album has been previewed at the renowned BlueNote club in Milano in 2018 with a sold-out show and followed by touring extensively in festivals, clubs and theatres around Italy.
2023 is the release of the new awaited album “Enjoy” (RNC Music), a new collection of original jazz compositions blended of Soul, Funk, Electronic, Indie influences, where rhythm and 3D dreamlike atmospheres make listeners dream, dance, enjoy the life.
Borned on 2009, these four pieces are some of the most in-demand and versatile musicians on the national jazz music scene (Dee Dee Bridgewater, Mario Biondi, Steve Swallow, Seamus Blake, Enrico Rava). Blue Moka’s guests include a long lasting featuring with a legendary Blue Note record artist, the trumpet player Fabrizio Bosso (worldwide collaborations such as Enrico Pieranunzi, Charlie Haden, Carla Bley and the London Symphony Orchestra).
Blue Moka is a band “full of energy […] that could only happen today. It’s the sound of Jazz NOW” (Steven Cerra – Jazzprofiles).
BUDOKAN
Emi Vernizzi – sax, electronics
Budokan is a minimal project in the role of a soloist where the exploration of contrasting musical situations, partly composed by the author himself and partly improvised, leaves much to the imagination of the listener precisely because of the absence of an explicit harmonic reference.
Sometimes making use of electronics – by means of an analog pedalboard designed specifically for saxophone – the sound productions revolve around different themes: “The memory” (selected by AFIJ and presented at the Festival de L’Aquila), “Exodus: the echoes of migration” (exclusively for the Fano Jazz Festival), “The Sound of a City” as a production for the Parma Jazz Frontiere Festival.
Depending on the context, the situation can transform into a duo, placing artists with different roles alongside the sax, including Luca Perciballi (electronics), Marco Frattini (drums), Giuseppe Arcamone (photography). Budokan is a sound journey in solo saxophone in which melodic fragments evoked by the artist’s feelings are explored and developed in extemporaneous, timbral improvisational forms, often in absolute contrast with each other, defining a passage between the musical and the immersive experience.
“a path in which poetry and abstract structuring, memory and projection into the future have closely interpenetrated, giving life to a timeless journey, interior and physical at the same time”
IZZY & THE CATASTROPHICS (USA)
Izzy Zaidman – lead guitar/vocals
Emi Vernizzi – sax
Chapman Sowash – trombone
Seth Kessel – bass
Gasper Bertoncelj – drums
Stitching together rock n’ roll, swing, surf, honky-tonk, and bebop, Izzy and the Catastrophics are a profoundly exciting and challenging group. Rooted firmly in traditional American roots music with the chops to nail it and the grit to deliver it, Izzy and his boys have toured constantly since 2008, playing over 250 shows per year in America and Europe. They have shared the stage with everyone from Snoop Dogg and Reverend Horton Heat in Orlando to the unmentionable punk bands of Anaheim. Izzy Zaidman is the veteran guitarist of Wayne “The Train” Hancock’s band. Fronting the group with swagger and zest, his masterful guitar playing is surpassed only by his witty songwriting and razor-sharp stage banter.
“If Izzy and the Catastrophics had been the band on the Titanic
they’d have blown that iceberg into cubes or drinks on the ledo deck.”
Brian Baker – Citybeat Cincinnati, OHIO
IZZY & THE CATASTROPHICS (USA)
Izzy Zaidman – lead guitar/vocals
Emi Vernizzi – sax
Chapman Sowash – trombone
Seth Kessel – bass
Gasper Bertoncelj – drums
Stitching together rock n’ roll, swing, surf, honky-tonk, and bebop, Izzy and the Catastrophics are a profoundly exciting and challenging group. Rooted firmly in traditional American roots music with the chops to nail it and the grit to deliver it, Izzy and his boys have toured constantly since 2008, playing over 250 shows per year in America and Europe. They have shared the stage with everyone from Snoop Dogg and Reverend Horton Heat in Orlando to the unmentionable punk bands of Anaheim. Izzy Zaidman is the veteran guitarist of Wayne “The Train” Hancock’s band. Fronting the group with swagger and zest, his masterful guitar playing is surpassed only by his witty songwriting and razor-sharp stage banter.