Eugenio Colombo

Eugenio Colombo performs on saxophones and flutes, drawing together ancient Mediterranean traditions, African-American sources, and free improvisation in his work as both improviser and composer, guided by an exceptionally versatile musical intellect and a singular wit. Though grounded in jazz, his activities encompass interpretations of pieces by Scelsi and Berio as well as repeated partnerships with folksinger and ethnomusicologist Giovanna Marini. Starting in 1977 he ranked among the first European champions of saxophone quartets, appearing with I Virtuosi di Cave and Fratelli Sax. Colombo wrote material for jazz soloists and brass band in the Banda Sonora project and belonged to the rarely documented Fortuna Quartet with Massimo Nardi, Bruno Tommaso, and Ettore Fioravanti. Recordings have placed him alongside Giorgio Gaslini, Mario Schiano, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Martin Joseph, Alvin Curran, and Misha Mengelberg. He concentrates especially on solo recitals that display his personal methods, including the simultaneous use of two saxophones in the style of Roland Kirk, and the broad spectrum of sonorities he produces from the instruments; examples appear on the album Summertime (Splasc(h), 1987) and a track from Italian Instabile Festival (Leo, 1998). His established quartet issued Giada on Splasc(h) in 1999. Tales of Love and Death (Leo, 2000) presents “Giuditta” and “Toxon,” singular compositions for three female operatic voices and jazz quartet drawn from biblical tales and The Odyssey, together with an improvised flute-and-bass duet. The album counts among the most distinctive European jazz statements of the 1990s. Italian operatic lineage and Middle Eastern music intersect inside the pliable setting of jazz composition, uniting an uncommon range of instrumental colors and vocal textures as the music returns to its Mediterranean origins after American cross-pollination. Colombo helped establish the Italian Instabile Orchestra, whose programs regularly include his composition “Scongiuro.”