Maurizio Mecenero starts the study of guitar with a private teacher at the age
14 in his home town, Arzignano (Vicenza, Italy). During the following three years
he studies as an autodidact approaching the world of rock guitar and the repertoires
of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Dire Straits, Santana. After two years he
already performs in various rock bands of his area. At the age 17 he discovers
jazz music. He attends the Thelonious Music School in Vicenza studying with Michele
Calgaro for four years.
He desires to improve his technique. He moves to Milan and studies with guitar master
Danilo Minotti another four years, until the age 25.
Maurizio Mecenero attends many guitar seminars (Acoustic guitar with Franco Morone
in 2005, 2007,
2008 and 2009; Jazz guitar
with Tommaso Lama and
Garrison Fewell
in 2007. In 2009 he attends
a seminar dedicated the use of sound, its construction and the use of effects, with
Massimo Varini; Two seminars of pop rock guitar with Chicco Gussoni in
2009 and 2010. From
2014 to 2015 he regularly
studies with master Ruggero Robin. From 2018 he studies ear
training with Francesco Villa.
From 2003 to 2010 Maurizio
Mecenero collaborates as a teacher with the Dali Music School in Vicenza.
As a sideman, he shares the stage with many important artists such as: the Pop Orchestra
of Danilo Minotti, Elio, Paola Folli, Vittorio Matteucci, Ambra Marie Facchetti.
Among his many collaborations it is worth mentioning two important performances
with the rock band Terzo Capitolo: the live cover of the concert held by PFM with
Fabrizio De Andrè and a theatrical project dedicated to Giorgio Gaber.
The encounter with the music of
Pat Metheny
Group, Mike
Stern and jazz-fusion is love at first sight. For Maurizio Mecenero this
is the turning point and the sparkle that makes him desire to start composing his
own original music.
In 2006, he forms a jazz-fusion trio in his name, the
Mecetrio, proposing pieces from the jazz repertoires of Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis
(Alton, 26 maggio 1926 – Santa Monica, 28 settembre 1991)
and jazz standards.
In 2010, a pianist joins the trio and the formation
becomes the Mecequartet. The band is increasingly interested in the jazz-fusion
style of Pat Metheny,
John Scofield,
Herbie
Hancock and Chick Corea.
It is in this period that Maurizio Mecenero starts to compose his first original
pieces. In 2011 he releases his first self-produced
album, UPWARD, eight original tracks of instrumental jazz-fusion music, featuring
Valerio Galla on percussions.
In 2012 Maurizio Mecenero forms a duo (classical guitar
and double bass) with the double bass player Joy Grifoni. They propose their own
original compositions as well as some pieces from the renown album The Missouri
Sky by Pat Metheny
and Charlie Haden.
In 2015, the percussionist Valerio Galla joins the
Mecequartet on a permanent basis and so the "Maurizio Mecenero Quintet" is formed.
In the same year their second self-produced album, SECRETS OF LIGHT, is released.
Their third album, INSIDE DREAMS, has been just published by the Milanese label
Preludio Srl in the month of October, 2019.
The main feature of Maurizio Mecenero's way of playing guitar is his versatility
and his ability to mix many different genres and styles. He employs the fingerpicking
after the style of Mark Knopfler, the phrasing in the style of
Pat Metheny
and Mike Stern
or the rock of the Seventies, or the classical way of playing octaves after Wes
Montgomery's style.
"In my opinion jazz is not a lesson of style, but it is what Miles Davis
(Alton, 26 maggio 1926 – Santa Monica, 28 settembre 1991)
delivered to us, his sound, his improvisation, in a mix of different cultures and
music genres". (Maurizio Mecenero).
