CD review: Massimiliano Calderai Trio – Starlights 2019: Videos, CD cover

Outside Starlights, the new album by Massimiliano Calderai Trio, an ambitious artistic project by pianist and composer Massimiliano Calderai undertaken together with musicians Marco Benedetti and Bernardo Guerra, published by the Bolognese label Areasonica Records.

Massimiliano Calderai’s career begins after his diploma, brilliantly honored, at the Luigi Cherubini conservatory in Florence under the guidance of Maestro Marco Vavolo. In 1996 the first important recognition arrives: the victory of the First Prize in the soloist jazz category at the National Festival of Young Promises of Taranto. Massimiliano’s training path continues with various courses in piano improvement, arrangement and jazz improvisation, including the one with the illustrious Maestro Enrico Pieranunzi at the Roman Academy of Music.

Each of Massimiliano’s artistic experiences enriches his career and develops his already incredible versatility, leading him to investigate and experiment, musically speaking, through numerous different genres, from classical to gospel, from pop to jazz. Over the years he has participated in various festivals, both as a soloist and in Big Band, quartet, trio and duo, receiving numerous awards: during the Third Edition of the International Composition Competition “Maurice Ravel” arrives at the semifinals in the “Live Small Group” category with the song “Fly Away”; in 2017 he received the artistic merit report at the XII Savona Piano Composition Competition with the song “Il Viaggio di Pauline”. He currently has over 200 concerts.

For over twenty years he has also been a music teacher, initially at the Municipal School of Greve in Chianti and in the Sound schools, currently at the C.A.M. of Florence, the G. Verdi Municipal School of Prato and the Municipal School of Poggio a Caiano (PO).