Paolo Paliaga

The classic acoustic jazz piano trio has experienced an amazing renaissance over the last few years, and the Alboran Trio is a perfect example of this renaissance. It is the ideal admixture of a disciplined, well-defined group sound and individual musicians playing with a maximum of freedom. The trio masterfully combines traditional jazz forms with elements of world music, playing with an ease and surety in which the most basic ideas dance hand in hand with the most complex. On their ACT debut CD, Meltemi, pianist and composer Paolo Paliaga, bassist Dino Contenti, and drummer Gigi Biolcati exhibit a timeless, stylistically open-ended jazz. In this respect, with Near Gale nothing has changed. Sailing is Paolo Paliaga’s second great passion - Meltemi are the strong, dry summer winds of the Aegean Sea, and Near Gale is also borrowed from the sailor’s lingo…

He begins with classical training studies at the Academy of Musical Art in Varese, personally followed by Maestro Tenzi. He attends the Civic Jazz Courses in Milan, joining the "Franco Cerri Guitar 4et with whom he records the discs" Cerri & Cerri "(1994) and" En Souvenir de Milan "(1995). He also collaborates with Cerri on the publication of the "Jazz Guitar Manual" a issues published by Fabbri (1996). Still with this formation in 1993 he participated in the "Clusone Jazz Festival" and in the "Monteroduni di Isernia Festival" and in 1994 in the "Iseo jazz '94". In 1998 he took part in the recording of Paolo Paliaga's album "Azul" with the "Horizont Quartet" with Nicola Stranieri on drums and Carlos Buschinial on bass. His first work as a quartet (Luca Necciari - double bass, Marco Zanoli - drums) “Lights and Shadows” comes out of the Siena workshop led by the pianist Stefano Battaglia in 2005. 2007 marks his entry into the Milanese Consevatorio and in 2008 he wins the selection to participate in the "Prize of the Arts" of the Italian Conservatories in Messina, arriving as a finalist with his project in collaboration with the pianist Gianluca Di Ienno. Lorenzo Serafin on double bass and Michele Salgarello on drums complete the line-up. With this rhythm in 2010 he published "Schiuma" and with the inclusion of Antonio Zambrini on piano and Mirco Mariottini on clarinets he published in 2011 his third work "Whistle this".

The Alboran Trio is a significant encounter between three individuals, each with their own approach to improvised music, three musicians who breathe rhythm, three artists, who are constantly searching for a new sound and approach to playing. The main characteristic of the Alboran trio is the successful collaboration of three personalities, working together to realize a single musical vision. The programme is built around original compositions by the pianist Paolo Paliaga, and arranged by the trio. Rigorously acoustic in concept, the work of the musicians enhances our understanding of the vibration of skins, strings and wood. It concentrates on developing the art of melody, on interaction and spontaneous creation outside traditional genres and the mainstream of swing. The result is music, which is fresh, complex and full of nuance, music that comes from a jazz background yet moves freely between Europe and Africa.