LATEST REVIEW

  • "Signor Starace is a shrewd operator. He plays alto and soprano sax with impressive post-Parkerian felicity and Italian flair. 21/12/2005"

    Jack Massarik
    Purcell Room concert reviewed in The Evening Standard

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  • "Staraces melodious originals offer good blowing potential for alto and soprano solos delivered in a cleanly articulate post-bop style reminiscent of Phil Woods"

    Jack Massarik
    Jazzwise magazine

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  • "...The promising Starace seems to be revealing his most personal voice in the full-on music."

    John Fordham
    The Guardian

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  • "...a distinctive new artist."

    John Fordham
    Jazz UK Magazine

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  • "This is an extremely promising debut album"

    Ian Carr
    Jazz Author

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  • "Starace swings magnificently. The quintet plays exquisitely and Tommaso Starace plays alto as it should be played..."

    John Gilbert
    www.ejazznews.com

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  • "...he and his band turned in a real tour-de-force performance."

    Chris Beggs
    Leicester Mercury

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  • "One of the new young lions of jazz to look out for..."

    Edward Blanco
    www.ejazznews.com

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NEXT GIG

Saturday 17th August

Tommaso @

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Tommaso Starace releases his latest recording 'The Power of Three', a collaboration with piano virtuoso Jim Watson and electric bass Maestro Laurence Cottle. In this recording Tommaso performs some of his favourite tunes frequently played across the past years in concerts. The album displays different styles of music including Funk, Latin, Bossa, Ballads and Swing. Some of the composers included in the album are Ennio Morricone, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Timmons, Pino Daniele, Chick Corea.

In 2018 two albums very different in styles are produced by Tommaso: 'Tommaso Starace Quintet - Eleuthera All That Jazz' and ' Tommaso Starace Harmony-Less Quartet, Narrow Escape'. The first album which places an emphasis on Latin style of music is a mixture of originals and a few jazz standards. It features Italian pianist Massimo Colombo and some fine musicians from the Bahamian Jazz scene: Adrian D'Aguilar, Lamont Gibson, Kevin Dean. The second album features a totally different line up of instruments creating a different sound and vibe all together. It includes British saxophonist Dave O'Higgins on tenor, and Davide Liberti on bass and Ruben Bellavia on drums. The album is pretty much rooted in the Be-Bop tradition with a combination of unusual jazz standards and originals.

In 2016 Tommaso teamed up with pianist Michele Di Toro creating a Duo album released on
the Universal/EmArcy Label: From a Distant Past This album is made mainly of original compositions and a couple of arrangements of pieces by Chick Corea and Randy Newman creating a poetic and nostalgic overall recording. This CD as the previous one 'Italian Short Stories', continues to explore a melodic and cinematic approach to jazz, this time bringing to life a world that belongs to a remote past made of fables and surreal stories.

Past albums also include 'Italian Short Stories', an album dedicated to the images of Italian Photographer Maestro Gianni Berengo Gardin, 'Celebrating the Music of Michel Petrucciani', 'Blood & Champagne', 'Don't Forget', 'Tommaso Starace plays the photos of Elliott Erwitt'.

'An exciting talent, Starace is developing a seriously impressive body of work' - Bruce Lindsay - (www.allaboutjazz.com)
'He soars assertively when needed, cajoles and caresses with 'molto' lyricism on the ballads and demonstrates unequivocally that it is possible for contemporary jazz to be accessible'. Lance Liddle - ( Bebop Spoken Here)
'Blood & Champagne' unveils a bandleader possessing a flair for creative interpretation'. Robbie Gerson - ( audaud.com)
'..the title Blood & Champagne, conjuring up as it does life's intoxicating intensity, is well chosen: this is a heady, exuberant but affecting album'. Chris Parker
'La sezione ritmica che lo accompagna lo fa in modo egregio e moderno. oscillante fra neoclassicismi ed uno swing ispirato ai modelli americani, dando cosi all'album nel suo complesso una sua precisa individualita' che lo distingue da altre produzioni simili'. Vittorio Lo Conte - (italia.allaboutjazz.com)

Tommaso has performed and collaborated with many great musicians including Dave Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, Billy Cobham, Jim Mullen, Liam Noble, Jonathan Gee, Roger Beaujolais, Paolo Pellegatti, Attilio Zanchi, Fabrizio Bosso, Tino Tracanna, Paolo Fresu, Gianni Giudici and Academy Award Winning composer Dario Marianelli. He continues to seek inspiration and nurture his jazz expertise by taking part in jazz seminars and classes led by some of the greatest musicians alive, including Dave Liebman, Miguel Zenon, Vincent Herring, Ted Nash.