Enrico Pieranunzi, Bishopsgate Institute

15 Nov

Despite many decades performing at the highest level, with many of the last century’s most dazzling figures such as...

Enrico Pieranunzi, Bishopsgate Institute

Despite many decades performing at the highest level, with many of the last century’s most dazzling figures such as  Chet Baker and  Paul MotianEnrico Pieranunzi remains a relatively low-profile performer. That suits his self-effacing demeanour, and is good news for those in the know, able to seek him out in an intimate club most musicians of his ability would have sold out ten times over. But for those uninitiated in the charms of Enrico - make sure you catch him at this year’s London Jazz Festival

A great musical storyteller, Pieranunzi combines the harmonic sophistication and technical wizardry of the most angular contemporary player with the lyrical and melodic gift of a cabaret. Some critics declare him to be an exponent of  post-modern jazz, by which they mean that he has accomplished all of the techniques of the squeakers and crashers of the contemporary hard core, but deploys those techniques in a more varied, less ideological way, charming his way to an audience’s heart rather than attempting a dissonant, forced entry. 

Pieranunzi displays a refreshing lack of pomposity about genre: alongside his collaborations with the formidable Motian, and his classical recordings of  Bach, Handel and Scarlatti, there are albums of film music, of the director Fellini and composer Ennio Morricone. These find him at his most engagingly melodic, as he spins and reels the melody, re-creating the hooks and lures of those cinematic narratives. All from a pianist frequently described as a modern  Bill Evans

He is performing alongside pianist and composer Julie Sassoon, who has just released a new album of solo piano music, Land of Shadows. She improvises brilliantly on fragments of musical phrase, a kaleidoscope of sonic surprise. 


Ticket price: £22

Address and Map: 230 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4QH

Nearest Tube: Liverpool St.

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What Enrico Pieranunzi, Bishopsgate Institute
When On 15 Nov 13, 8pm
Price
Website Click here to book via Bishopsgate Institute.