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Luca Alemanno

Currently based in Los Angeles (originally from Lecce, Italy), upright/electric bassist Luca Alemanno is considered by critics “among the finest young modern jazz musicians that currently Italy has to offer.”

Touring, recording and performing at festivals and clubs in Europe, Asia and North and South America, Luca has appeared with international jazz artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, Miguel Zenón, Mark Turner, Walter Smith III, Greg Osby, Bob Mintzer, Joe Lovano, Logan Richardson, Esperanza Spalding, Gerald Clayton, Stanley Jordan, Kenwood Dennard, Maria Schneider, Jerry Bergonzi, Mark Giuliana, Dave Koz, Jason Lindner, Enrico Pieranunzi, Fabrizio Bosso, Flavio Boltro, Rosario Giuliani, Anne Ducros, Kim Plainfield, Magnus Lindgren, Nicola Conte, and many others. An alumnus of the world-renowned Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance (2018), Luca studied and performed with jazz legends including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Chris Potter, Danilo Perez, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Jimmy Heath, Billy Hart, Billy Childs and many more. Previously, Luca also earned diplomas in Classical Double Bass at the T. Schipa Conservatory of Music (Lecce) and Jazz Electric Bass at the G. Martucci Conservatory of Music (Salerno).

In 2017, Luca won first place in the jazz division of the International Society of Bassists Performance Competition held in Ithaca, New York. Additionally, he won first prize at the 2009 European Bass Day. He is currently part of several other projects with artists including Cyrille Aimée, Simon Moullier, Anne Ducros, Stanley Jordan and Nicola Conte.

In addition to his appearances as a sideman, Luca is also active as a bandleader, with his debut album I Can See Home From Here coming in 2019.

Awards

Alumnus at Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance (2018). First place Jazz division International Society of Bassists Performance Competition 2017 New York. First prize at the 2009 European Bass Day.


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Album Review

Bevan Manson featuring Tierney Sutton with The Hollywood Studio Orchestra: Talking to Trees

Read "Talking to Trees" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


Bevan Manson is an artist who has a creative duality. As a pianist, composer/arranger and educator, he's been successful in classical and jazz environments. With Talking to Trees, Manson provides an array of both originals and jazz standards, most with an arboreal tint, as the title indicates. The work is a validation that his pen, guiding the talents of vocalist Tierney Sutton and L.A.'s premium players, can make the familiar fascinating and the novel intriguing. Miles Davis' ...

Album Review

Simon Moullier Trio: Inception

Read "Inception" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Il giovane vibrafonista vincitore dell'ultimo Critics Poll di Down Beat nella categoria rising star, torna al trio e agli standard con cui aveva pubblicato nel 2021 Countdown. Ritroviamo quindi Luca Alemanno al contrabbasso e Jongkuk Kim alla batteria che avevano lasciato spazio al quartetto di Isla dove Simon Moullier presentava molte sue composizioni. Inutile ribadire che il trentenne francese -con studi al Berklee College of Music e oggi residente a Brooklyn-è l'astro nascente del vibrafono, tanto quanto lo ...

1
Album Review

Julie Kelly: Freedom Jazz Dance

Read "Freedom Jazz Dance" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello


Freedom Jazz Dance from Los Angeles singer, Julie Kelly offers an interesting array of selections that emanate from that musical road less traveled. And, as in life, sometimes that road yields nuggets of delight that would most likely never make it to the tried and “true way." Peter Nero and Carroll Coates' “New York on Sunday" opens things and is a lilting snap on 2 and 4 groove with Kelly joyously covering it and Josh Nelson slickly ...

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Liner Notes

Josh Nelson: LA Stories: Live at Sam First

Read "Josh Nelson: LA Stories: Live at Sam First" reviewed by Robert Petersen


Josh Nelson's LA Stories: Live at Sam First was recorded in February 2022 at Sam First, which has quickly become the heartbeat of L.A.'s jazz community. With this album, Nelson continues a love letter to Los Angeles he began with his 2017 release, The Sky Remains, which was part of his Discovery Project multimedia series. In a city where history is too often forgotten, Nelson puts it center stage. In “Tiburcio," Nelson conjures the life of the 19th ...

1
Album Review

Michael Ragonese: Stracci

Read "Stracci" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


It would probably be a hyperbole to say that young jazz pianists are “a dime a dozen." Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that there are some stellar younger jazz pianists working today, such as Emmet Cohen, Kenny Banks Jr., and Paul Cornish, and that if you are going to play in this league, you must have a style which sets you apart from the rest. Michael Ragonese possibly falls into that category as evidenced by his latest ...

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Album Review

Michael Ragonese: Stracci

Read "Stracci" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Pianist Michael Ragonese is called Rags, a nickname given to him in childhood that stuck. His sophomore effort is entitled Stracci which means rags in Italian--a more musical sound than its English equivalent. It is a piano trio outing, a top-notch one. Ragonese's musical backstory is a common one. He began in classical studies and after a time felt constrained. He was introduced to jazz via a Bill Evans album--no better place to start--and he switched his focus. ...

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Album Review

Giuseppe Magagnino: After The Rain

Read "After The Rain" reviewed by Neil Duggan


With a background in both jazz and classical music, Giuseppe Magagnino brings us his second album, After The Rain. This follows on from My Inner Child (2021, GleAM Records) and showcases the Italian pianist's artistic evolution in solo, trio and orchestral formats. His classical background is particularly strong having performed with the Prague String Orchestra, the Rome Philharmonics and the String Quartet of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. On the jazz side, he founded the Mag Trio and has ...

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“His technical control, accuracy and facility on the bass are terrific. With his music he creates new directions where the tradition is a springboard.” Herbie Hancock

“Luca’s music is Art on the highest level. It’s poetic and has vision into the future.” Jerry Bergonzi

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Freedom Jazz Dance

Laurelwood Records
2025

buy

Talking to Trees

Tiger Turn Records
2024

buy

Black, Brown, and Blue

Smoke Sessions Records
2023

buy

After The Rain

GleAM Records
2023

buy

Umoja

Far Out Recordings
2023

buy

Stracci

Self Produced
2023

buy

But Not For Me

From: After The Rain
By Luca Alemanno

Peace

From: Black, Brown, and Blue
By Luca Alemanno

A Long Journey

From: My Inner Child
By Luca Alemanno

Lilac Hill

From: Lilac Hill
By Luca Alemanno

I can See Home From Here

From: I can See Home From Here
By Luca Alemanno

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