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Tommaso Cappellato

Italian hybrid drummer, producer and DJ Tommaso Cappellato is a musical maverick whose skills stretch from free- form electronics to hip hop beats and jazz improvisation. His unorthodox breadth of style is grounded in his own journey of musical discovery from building his jazz chops as a resident drummer in NYC, to hip hop excursions alongside Brooklyn MC’s, to traveling to Senegal to meld with local music masters, to collaborating with experimental electronica and techno artist Rabih Beaini, pianist, composer and live remixer Mark de Clive-Lowe and visionary Egyptian producer Maurice Louca.  These soulful influences enrich his live performances with Collettivo Immaginario, who have been captivating audiences from LA to Milan with their fresh blend of modern beats and 70s electronica.

Tommaso also leads his own award-winning spiritual jazz ensemble Astral Travel with whom he has just released a new album on Hyperjazz inspired by the poetry of Sun Ra, “If You Say You Are From This Planet, Why Do You Treat It Like You Do?” featuring Dwight Trible. This builds on his previous acclaimed releases such as “Aforemention” (Mashibeats/Ropeadope Records) and “Butterflying” (Mother Tongue Records). Cappellato has brought his music to audiences all over the world–whether live on stage at Jazz Cafe in London or at Low End Theory in LA; as an educator presenting his masterclass on hybrid drumming; or as a featured artist at NYC’s Winter JazzFest and on Gilles Peterson’s Worldwide FM.

Awards

2014 Best New Artist - Shuya Okino's JAJ Awards (Japan)

Mark de Clive-Lowe & Friends: Freedom: Celebrating The Music Of Pharoah Sanders

Read "Freedom: Celebrating The Music Of Pharoah Sanders" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
July 7, 2022

Albums by artists who are best known for their work outside jazz are best approached with caution. Keyboard player Mark de Clive-Lowe's Freedom: Celebrating The Music Of Pharoah Sanders is one such. Before moving to Los Angeles, Clive-Lowe lived in London, where he was prominent in the late 1990s/early 2000s broken beat movement, which, without getting too complicated about it, fused electronic dance music with a little jazz and funk. Clive-Lowe, however, is no wannabe jazz musician. ...

Album Review

Nicola Conte & Gianluca Petrella: People Need People

Read "People Need People" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
February 12, 2021

For over twenty years, the Italian producer, composer and guitarist Nicola Conte has pursued a resolutely independent path in jazz and jazz-related music. The Schema label, with whom he has almost exclusively partnered since his breakthrough album, 2000's acid-jazz masterpiece Jet Sounds, is based in the fashion-centric northern city of Milan. But Conte nearly always records at Sorisso Studio in his hometown, Bari, a seaport on the heel of Italy's boot on the country's southern Adriatic coast. This off-the-beaten-track location ...

Interview

Tommaso Cappellato: Spiritual Jazz, Club Culture, Harry Whitaker e molte cose ancora

by Angelo Leonardi
December 9, 2019

Batterista, produttore e compositore, Tommaso Cappellato è tra i pochi musicisti italiani in piena sintonia con le ultime tendenze del jazz, dove contenuti e spirito di questa musica si legano ad afrobeat, soul, hip-hop, house, elettronica e vari generi della Club Culture. Una scena musicale che ha il suo fulcro a Londra e pubblica le sue opere nella Brownswood Recordings di Gilles Peterson e nella Jazz re:freshed di Adam Moses e Justin McKenzie. Nel catalogo di quest'ultima etichetta Tommaso Cappellato ...

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Album Review

Tommaso Cappellato: Open

by Mark F. Turner
August 5, 2010

The demise of modern jazz has been greatly exaggerated. Countless musicians around the globe are contributing new chapters to the wonderfully complex idiom of composition and improvisation. One such example can be found in Open, the debut from drummer Tommaso Cappellato. His experience stretches from taking lessons with local drummers in Italy at 16; enrolling in the Drummers Collective in New York in 1996; studying with notables like Billy Hart, Jorge Rossy and Reggie Workman; and involvement in versatile works ...

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Album Review

Tommaso Cappellato: Open

by Bruce Lindsay
April 29, 2010

Italian drummer and composer Tommaso Cappellato drives a strong and intelligent quartet on Open, his first album as leader, to create a rewarding and eclectic set of tunes that borrow innovatively from hip-hop, free jazz and funk. The album showcases Cappellato's writing talents as well as his percussion skills, while his choice of some exceptional fellow musicians--he formed the quartet in 2008--augurs well for his future as a bandleader. The album's first track, “Nowhere, Now Here," finds ...

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Take Five With...

Take Five With Tommaso Cappellato

by AAJ Staff
July 24, 2009

Meet Tommaso Cappellato: Italian drummer and composer Tommaso Cappellato always strived to leave his mark as the founder and creator of numerous musical situations. His curiosity for different styles and continuous will for research led him to travel and explore various countries in the world to meet, learn from and collaborate with influential musical artists.

During his nine-year stay in New York Cappellato completed his education at the New School University where he studied with notable artists such as Richie ...

Recording

Tommaso Cappellato's Releases Album "Open"

Source: Michael Ricci
November 1, 2009

From Rush Hour Store: Open, the debut album from Italian composer Tommaso Cappellato delivers a stunning quartet studio session followed by two tours of live sessions at the best Italian jazz venues on the Elefante Rosso record label. Include Giovanni Guidi on piano and the Chicago born Joe Rehmer on bass. ELEFANTE ROSSO imprint, and including a studio version of The Knight. Open is a crossover view of today's jazz rooted in the panafrican origins and the Spiritual Jazz foundations, ...
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GILLES PETERSON (BBC6/WORLDWIDE FM): “Brilliant, amazing drummer!”

MARK DE CLIVE‐LOWE: “One man, live on stage, concocting wild sonic mash‐ups of the jazz and techno traditions”

CARLOS NIÑO: “Connecting deeply with his vision of time, texture, rhythm, space, and soul!”

TONY MINVIELLE (JAZZFM UK): “Tommaso has created a near perfect collection which mixes elements of fusion, spiritual and that extra something.”

THE WIRE: “A brave revival of jazz poetry counterculture, this album can stand with antecedents from Harlem and Beats to Gil Scott-Heron.”