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Francesco
Cusa
.Via Vampolieri 2, traversa n.2Complesso"Adalisa"
Pal. 6 Int. C, Acicatena (CT) ItalyVia Pal. 6 Int.
CVampolieri 2, Traversa n.2Via Vampolieri 2, Traversa n.2Tel.0329/6230336
++39 (0)329 6230336. 030329/6230336 0329/6230336
E-Mail sac2980@iperbole.bologna.it
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................................................drummer and composer
Francesco Cusa was born in Catania in
1966 and started approaching jazz around 1986.
He is mainly a self-tought musician, but he
took part to various clinics
and drums stages, among which "Siena Jazz",
where he studied with Bruno
biriaco, Roberto Gatto and Ettore Fioravanti.
He also gradueted at DAMS ( Department of
Arts, Music and Show at
Bologna University) discussing a work about the 'extramusical
elements in
the jazz performance', and studied composition with M°Alfredo
Impullitti.
In 1988 he moves to Bologna and starts
collaborating with Fabrizio
Puglisi, Stefano De Bonis, Guglielmo Pagnozzi, Domenico
Caliri, Cristina
Zavalloni, Alberto Capelli, Riccardo Pittau, Mirko
Sabatini, Lullo Mosso,
Edoardo Marraffa and other young talents standing
out in the Bologna
scene. They give birth together to the musical
association BASSESFERE, an
ensemble which aims at promoting improvised music and
increasing the
research in that field.
At the same time, he performs with well-known
musicians such as Paolo
Fresu, Tino Tracanna, Attilio Zanchi, Marco Micheli,
Bruno Tommaso, Larry Smith, Walter Schmocker, Gianni
Gebbia, Jay Rodriguez, Butch Morris, John Rose, Michel
Godard, Kenny Wheeler, Garbis Dedeian, Steve Lacy, Tim
Berne, Stefano D'Anna, Pietro Ciancaglini, Paolino Dalla
Porta, Roy Paci, Elliot Sharp, Saadet Türköz, Flying
Luttembachers.
In 1994, he records the CD "Amaremandorle" with
T.A.O. (published by the
record label Y.V.P. music). With this group he performs
very often both in
Italy and Germany (Munich, Ulm, Wheinheim, Stuttgart)
also with the trumpet
player Paolo Fresu as a special guest. In the same year,
he records the CD
"Suite n.1 per quintetto doppio" with the group
"Specchio Ensemble",
produced by the label CAICAI. This group performs in many
festivals, among
which Angelica (International Music Festival), and in
places such as
Podewill Theater in Berlin and Bimhuis in Amsterdam.
In '95 he works at the Sergio Leone' movie
"Per un pugno di dollari": he
elaborates the original soundtrack by Ennio Morricone
giving birth to a new
project, which also involves live improvisationson images.
This project has been realized, so far, with the
musicians Edoardo Marraffa, Gianni Gebbia and Fabrizio
Puglisi.
In '96 he records the CD "Danse ŕ
Rebours" with the "Cristina Zavalloni
Open Quartet"(always published by Y.V.P. music) and
the CD "L'Inferno dei
polli" with the group "Jorge"(published by
Splasc(h) records). In the same
year he creates "Impasse", a musical project
about J.Prévert's poetry to
wich take part the actors Claudio Melchior and Massimo
Cattaruzza and the
musicians Guglielmo Pagnozzi, Gianni Gebbia, Cristina
Zavalloni. They
perform together and record the CD"About J.Prévert"
(1997). Always in 1997,
he gives birth to the ensemble Francesco Cusa "66six",
with Edoardo
Marraffa, Riccardo Pittau, Tiziano Popoli, Alberto
Capelli and Vincenzo
Vasi; this ensemble is now wotking at the project "Du
Démon et d'autre
questions". In april '98 he tours Germany (Ulm,
Esslingen) with the OPEN
QUARTET plus French tuba player Michel Godard,
and in May he performs with SPECCHIO ENSEMBLE at "Angelica"
international music festival. In the same year he records,
for CMC rec., the cd "Come valersi non servilmente
di
B.Brecht" with the Cristina Zavalloni "Open
Quartet" feat. Michel Godard.
In november, during the festival "Jazz in Town",
he performs with Tim Berne
and Steve Lacy.
1999:
February: he opens the Metasatasio Jazz Festival"
with an original
production placed on order for the Metastasio Foundation
(Prato Italy): it
deals with the addition of a new soundtrack to the silent
movie "Aurora"
(1927) by Murnau. He gives birth to this project togheter
with Cristina
Zavalloni.
May: he performs at Bimhuis (Amsterdam) with the"Open
Quartet" and Michel
Godard.
June: He performs at "Milano Music Fest" with
Trionacria, (with RoyPaci,
G.Gebbia) that open the concert of Masada (J.
Zorn ) (19). He play in
Palermo for the Brass Group Jazz Fest with"Rosenoir",
(Gebbia, Stefano
D'Anna e Pietro Ciancaglini) (21).
July: He performs in Catania at the Catania Jazz Fest
with "Trinkle Tinkle"
about the music of T. Monk (Michel Godard tuba, Paolo
Sorge and Lino Costa
guitar) (11).
September: He found with the others members the new label"Bassesferec",
that produce the cd: F.Cusa "66six" - Du Démon
et d'autres questions - . He
plays in Bologna in Bassesfere Festival
"Jazz a Palazzo Bargellini" with
the Open Quartet, the F.Cusa "66six", the
Impossibili of G. Pagnozzi. He
performs in Palermo with Trionacria for the Curva
Minore Fest (30).
Ottobre: He performs in Palermo with the Ensemble Curva
Minore conduct by
Elliot Sharp. He plays in Konstanz (Germany) with
Specchio Ensemble (30).
Novembre: he performs in Bolzano at the festival
dedicated to Pierpaolo
Pasolini with the "Jorge" Ensemble and the
actor Massimo Cattaruzza (4). He
plays in Bergen in (Norway) with the C. Zavalloni Open
Quartet + M. Godard
e Roy Paci (7). He records with "Conjura" (Roy
Paci, Fred Casadei, Ninni
Morgia, F. Cusa) the cd CONJURA, for the Etnagigante Rec.
He found the trio F. Cusa "Skrunch", with Fred
Casadei and Gaetano Santoro.
He's also been alernating his carrier as a musician with
his teaching
activities since 1994, holding workshops at the centre
"Antonio De Curtis"
and giving drums lessons at "Scuola Ricordi" in
Bologna and at Centro
Culturale "B. Brecht".
Apart from being the leader of the quintet/trio
"Impasse", of the sextet
"66six", of the trio F. Cusa "Skrunch"
and of the re-sonorization project
for the movies "AURORA"and PER UN PUGNO DI
DOLLARI", he collaborates with the following groups:
JORGE, SPECCHIO ENSEMBLE led by Domenico Caliri, Cristina
Zavalloni OPEN QUARTET, TRIONACRIA, CONJURA, GLI
IMPOSSIBILI di Guglielmo Pagnozzi, KAOS ENSEMBLE by
Alfredo Impullitti, T.A.O. (+Paolo Fresu),.
Francesco Cusa's projects:
1) Francesco Cusa "66six" - Du Démon et d'autres
questions 2) Francesco
Cusa "SKRUNCH" 3)Francesco Cusa "Impasse"
- Su Jacques Prévert 4)
Francesco Cusa & Cristina Zavalloni "Impasse":
sonorizzazione di "Aurora"
di F.W.Murnau (una produzione originale del Teatro
Metastasio di Prato) 5)
Francesco Cusa "Per un pugno di dollari":
sonorizzazione live del noto film
di Sergio Leone 6)TRIONACRIA: Francesco Cusa/Gianni
Gebbia/ Roy Paci:
jazzcore from Sicily 7) Trinkle Tinkle: su
Thelonious Monk 8) CONJURA
"Extreme violence from Sicily": Francesco Cusa,
Roy Paci, Fred Casadei,
Ninni Morgia
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Discography
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T.A.O.
"Amaremandorle", yvp music 3041 (1994),
(feat. Paolo Fresu, Guglielmo Pagnozzi, Cristina
Zavalloni)
- DOMENICO CALIRI Q.ART.AEPTO
"Sicilia Jazz Collection, vol. 1",
SPLAS(H) records (audiocatalogo del jazz
siciliano)
- SPECCHIO ENSEMBLE
"Suite no. 1 per quintetto doppio",
caicai 005 (1995 Pierrot Lunaire)
- JORGE, C. ZAVALLONI "OPEN QUARTET",
TABULA RASA, T.A.O., SPECCHIO ENSEMBLE
"Catalogo Basse Sfere", (1996
autoproduzione)
- CRISTINA ZAVALLONI "OPEN QUARTET"
"Danse a rebours", yvp music 3053 (1996)
- JORGE
"L'inferno dei polli" SPLASC(H) Rec. CD
H 463.2 (1996)
- SPECCHIO ENSEMBLE
Compil. "Angelica 1995", caicai 007 (1996
Pierrot Lunaire)
- ALFREDO IMPULLITTI, KAOS ENSEMBLE e KENNY WHEELER
"La geometria dell'abisso", SPLASC(H)
Rec. CDH 638.2 (1998)
- JAZZIN'ENSEMBLE
"Najo", Ideasuoni IDE009, (1998)
- CRISTINA ZAVALLONI "OPEN QUARTET"
"Come valersi non servilmente di Bertolt
Brecht", CMC 9981-2 (1998) (feat. Michel
Godard, Kaos Ensemble)
- CONJURA
"Conjura", ETNAGIGANTE/WHYNOT? 001 (1999)
- TRIONACRIA
"The best revelation", Curva
Minore, 001 (1999)
- As a leader:
- FRANCESCO CUSA Impasse
"su Jacques Prévert" SPLASC(H) Rec.
CDH609.2, (1997)
- FRANCESCO CUSA "66six"
- Du Démon et d'autres questions - BASSESFEREC
002 - (1999)
- Next news: Specchio Ensemble, Gli Impossibili
"Turiddu Fetu", F.Cusa
"66six" new project,
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