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Alessandro Palmitessa
tenor and alto sax, clarinet, Harmonisers, Loops/Delays, Live Electronic and other instruments
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Alessandro Palmitessa was born in Atina, Italy, on July 23,
1969.
 The
composer, clarinetist and saxophonist Alessandro Palmitessa has received
numerous awards and is a regular performer at international jazz festivals. He has
been involved in many productions for radio and television.
In Italy, at the "N. Piccinni" Conservatory in Monopoli (Bari) and in Siena,
Alessandro Palmitessa studied jazz and classical saxophone. He won a scholarship
at "Siena Jazz"
and within three years earned his diploma, "High Professional Qualification in Jazz
Music and Contemporary Derivation." He studied jazz under
Gianluigi
Trovesi,
Paolo Fresu,
Jerry Bergonzi,
J. McPherson,
Enrico Rava,
Tim Berne, Bob Mover, Giorgio Gaslini,
Pietro Tonolo,
Mario Raja,
Furio Di Castri,
Rudj Migliardi, Stefano Zenni, Marcello Piras,
Claudio Fasoli and Bruno Tommaso.
At the "Sant'Anna Arresi Jazz Festival/Workshop" in Sardinia, Alessandro
Palmitessa and his band Noizland 2005 took
top honors in the "Newcomer" category. The quintet's first CD was distributed by
the "Ai confini tra Sardegna e jazz" festival in Sant'Anna Arresi and the jazz festival
in Vignola, under the Nu Bop Records label.
 The
CD includes a guest performance by American trumpeter Lewis Barnes, who played
in the William
Parker Quartet as well as in his legendary orchestra.
Between 1990 and
1997 Alessandro Palmitessa played in
various bands in Italy, and with such renowned musicians as
Antonello
Salis, Peter Avanti (Ordinari and Associati), Fontamara
(Leo Gadaleta, Vito Quaranta) and the Noci Big Band. He also
performed at many music festivals in Italy, including Pistoia Blues, the Alter Festival
in Cisternino, and Bari Hi-End. He performed as a soloist with the Noci Big Band
alongside guests such as
Pino Minafra,
Gianluigi
Trovesi, Giancarlo Schiaffini and Carlo Actis Dato.
He played duets with Peter Avanti of New York as "Ordinari and Associati."
In collaboration with publisher Brand New York, he produced a CD entitled "What
a Way to Live," which was widely reviewed, including critiques in "Keyboard
Magazine" (Titus Levi, USA) and the newspaper "Il Manifesto" (Fabrizio Versienti,
Italy). With "Ordinari and Associati" and the band Fontamara, Alessandro
Palmitessa performed live the soundtracks for various multi-media projects including
"Microcosmos," "The Multimedia Blues" and "New Tribal... new trials."
Alessandro Palmitessa has lived in Cologne since
1997, where he founded the "Menschensinfonieorchester" (The Human
Symphony Orchestra). He currently serves as the arranger and conductor of the ensemble,
which brings together homeless musicians and musical professionals - an idea developed
in collaboration with Pastor Hans Mörtter. After the release of the group's
first CD, which featured guest performances by Markus Stockhausen, Helmut
Zerlett and Klaus der Geiger, among others, an extensive article about
the Menschensinfonieorchester appeared in the February
2004 edition of the monthly magazine GEO.
In May 2004, German television broadcaster
ZDF reported about the ensemble on the "Sonntags" show, and again in January
2005 on "ZDF Menschen - das Magazin." The cultural
foundation of the Sparkasse banking group awarded Alessandro Palmitessa and
the Menschensinfonieorchester the Rheinischen Förderpreis grant in
2005.
In 2004, the ensemble performed at a
church service broadcast by ZDF and in 2006
on "NRW packt's an! - Die Show," broadcast by the West German Broadcasting Company
(WDR). It also appeared during the 20th World Youth Day in Cologne in
2005 and the German Protestant Kirchentag national
conference in 2007.
In 2006, the HISTORY award of the HISTORY
CHANNEL® Germany went to a Cologne project entitled "Navajos and Edelweiss Pirates,"
which featured the song "Wilde Gesellen" by the Menschensinfonieorchester.
The ensemble's second CD, "Tanz mit mir/Balla con
me," was introduced to the public at an event held in the top floor of
the spectacular, glass-domed department store designed by Renzo Piano in downtown
Cologne.
Together with Agnes Erkens and Steve Noble, Alessandro Palmitessa
performed at the "Jewish Cultural Days" festival of North Rhine-Westphalia in
2002, at the "Music in the City's Homes" festival
in Cologne in 2004, and at "Musica Sacra Paderborn
2007." The Agnes Erkens Trio was also heard
at the exhibition "Marc Chagall - un Maestro del Novecento" at the Galleria d'Arte
Moderna in Turin, and was nominated for the "Creole Prize for World Music" in North
Rhine-Westphalia in the year 2007.
Alessandro Palmitessa performed with the trio "Oriental Jazz" at the "16th
Festival JAZZALIEGE 2006" in Belgium, at the
"Voce dal Ponte IV-2006" international festival
in Italy, and during "Music in the City's Homes" in Cologne in
2007.
In 2006 Alessandro Palmitessa
organized a program for the Italian Cultural Institute in Cologne entitled "Dialogo
in Jazz," which featured events about jazz in Italy and Germany. At one of the events,
discussion guests included Stefano Zenni, president of the Società Italiana
di Musicologia Afroamericana, critic Pino De Biasi, concert producer Hans-Jürgen
von Osterhausen and Gigi Campi, music fan and legendary figure in the jazz scene
of Cologne. The exhibit "Jazz italiano - Emozioni, scritti, immagini" featured photography
y Roberto Cifarelli. In collaboration with Jazz am Rhein, concerts were given by
Noizland,
Rita Marcotulli and Florian Weber.
In March 2007, the Filmforum NRW e.V.
(i.G.) COLOGNE CINEMATIC SOCIETY presented a series of films in collaboration with
cinematologist Geremia Carrara at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne. The screening of
LICHTSPIEL OPUS I-IV(1921-25) by Walter Ruttman was accompanied live by Alessandro
Palmitessa and the ensemble "PEM" (Cosimo Erario/guitar -Holger Mertin/percussion)
with original and improved music.
Alessandro Palmitessa presented his solo project "Soul Circles" on
the "Ohrclip" WDR radio broadcast, and again during the literature festival "Lit.cologne
- 100-Book Marathon." Three titles from the "Soul Circles"
CD were used as background music for television broadcasts by ZDF in April
2007.
Alessandro Palmitessa toured Europe in 2005
and 2007 with the Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra
of Japan, performing at the Moers Festival 2005,
Japan Tag in Düsseldorf 2005, Loft Cologne
2005; Bern 2005;
Kiel 2005, Geldern
2007; Sannt'Anna Arresi Jazz Festival 2007,
Roccella Jonica Jazz Festival 2007; Wien
2007; Nantes Jazz Festival
2007. The ensemble and its founder Daisuke Fuwa
have received numerous Japanese jazz awards, and have performed regularly at the
Fuji Rock Festival since the year 2000. Shibusa
Shirazu has been touring Europe since 1998 and
has made extensive recordings for radio and television.
On January 19, 2008, Alessandro Palmitessa
and his PEM trio (Cosimo Erario/guitar -Holger Mertin/percussion)
played during the 2008 "Music in the City's
Homes" festival. The performance featured guest appearances by double-bass player
Sebastien Boisseau of France and Israeli dancer Michal Hirsch.
On March 7, 2008, at the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary
Art in Cologne, Alessandro Palmitessa musically interpreted artist Piet Mondrian's
journey toward increasing abstraction with a performance featuring new compositions
and improvised music that ranged from impressionistic, atmospheric sounds to minimalist
structures.
foto di R. Cifarelli
Contacts and Information:
Alessandro Palmitessa
Ph.Fax: 0049 (0) 221 93 22 9 55
Mobile: 0049 (0) 170 65 80 247
email: palmi_ale@hotmail.com
web: www.palmitessa.de
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Last Modified Date: 07/02/2008
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