Biography
Pianist Roberto Magris entered the world in Trieste, Italy, on June 19, 1959. Among the pianists whose approaches continue to echo in his own playing are Wynton Kelly, Tommy Flanagan, Bill Evans, Kenny Drew, Jaki Byard, Randy Weston, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hill, Paul Bley, and Steve Kuhn. His entry into professional jazz occurred during the final years of the 1970s. Early sideman engagements placed him alongside Kai Winding, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Sal Nistico, while guest solo appearances also found him with the Traditional Jazz Studio bands from Prague. During the 1980s he directed the jazz trio Gruppo Jazz Marca, and in 1987 he assembled a quartet whose activities remained confined to Europe. The year 1998 saw him establish the Europlane Orchestra under sponsorship from the Central European Initiative.
In 2003 he joined forces with U.S. expatriate alto saxophonist Herb Geller to document his first major-label release, Il Bello del Jazz, issued by the Italian Soul Note imprint; the recording featured his multinational Europlane quintet and included the tapping electric guitarist from Croatia, Darko Jurkovic. That same year he initiated an ongoing association with Hungarian saxophonist Tony Lakatos and Austrian saxophonist Michael Erian that produced the Soul Note album Check-In. A new partnership with bassist Art Davis began in 2006, and the following year drummer Jimmy "Junebug" Jackson came aboard for the Soul Note session Kansas City Outbound. Additional collaborations have linked Magris with Franco Ambrosetti, Philip Catherine, Bill Molenhof, the acid jazz group DMA, Alfabeats, Gabriele Centis, Rudi Engel, Robert Balzar, Fulvio Zafret, Florian Bramböck, Frantisek Uhlir, Ines Reiger, Richie Buckley, Janusz Muniak, and Ricardo Cavalli. He has also presented programs for jazz piano, orchestra, and strings alongside the Big Band Ritmo Sinfonica from Verona and the Orchestra Giovanile del Veneto.
In 2003 he joined forces with U.S. expatriate alto saxophonist Herb Geller to document his first major-label release, Il Bello del Jazz, issued by the Italian Soul Note imprint; the recording featured his multinational Europlane quintet and included the tapping electric guitarist from Croatia, Darko Jurkovic. That same year he initiated an ongoing association with Hungarian saxophonist Tony Lakatos and Austrian saxophonist Michael Erian that produced the Soul Note album Check-In. A new partnership with bassist Art Davis began in 2006, and the following year drummer Jimmy "Junebug" Jackson came aboard for the Soul Note session Kansas City Outbound. Additional collaborations have linked Magris with Franco Ambrosetti, Philip Catherine, Bill Molenhof, the acid jazz group DMA, Alfabeats, Gabriele Centis, Rudi Engel, Robert Balzar, Fulvio Zafret, Florian Bramböck, Frantisek Uhlir, Ines Reiger, Richie Buckley, Janusz Muniak, and Ricardo Cavalli. He has also presented programs for jazz piano, orchestra, and strings alongside the Big Band Ritmo Sinfonica from Verona and the Orchestra Giovanile del Veneto.
Albums
