Stefano Battaglia

Stefano Battaglia, a refined pianist from Italy, has earned acclaim for an atmospheric and richly textured approach that fuses jazz with classical traditions. His style builds upon precedents set by Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, and Cecil Taylor. Emerging to notice during the 1980s, Battaglia has worked alongside an array of jazz figures ranging from Kenny Wheeler and Lee Konitz to Barre Phillips and his regular partner, bassist Paolino Dalla Porta. Beyond the jazz repertoire, he has interpreted pieces by classical composers such as Bach, Scarlatti, Händel, and Ligeti. Frequent appearances at European festivals have accompanied his steady recording activity for Splasc(h) and ECM, which yielded Unknown Flames: Live in Sienna in 1995, Raccolto in 2006, and Pelagos in 2017.

Born in Milan during 1965, Battaglia began piano studies at age seven and later completed his training at the Conservatory of Milan. A 1981 tour with the European Youth Orchestra in Barcelona preceded wider recognition in 1986, when he received the best new pianist of the year award at the J.S. Bach Festival in Düsseldorf. His first outing as leader arrived the following year with the Splasc(h) release Things Ain't What They Used to Be. More than fifteen further albums for the label encompass solo settings, among them Baptism and the Swiss Radio Tapes releases, as well as the sixteen-piece ensemble Theatrum, documented on three 1997 recordings including Gesti. That same year brought the Brussels National Radio Award for best young European pianist.

Separate from his primary projects, Battaglia maintains duo collaborations with pianist Enrico Pieranunzi and drummer Tony Oxley while participating in the trio ALA alongside cellist Chico Marquez and clarinetist Gabriele Mirabassi. Releases from the 2000s include The Book of Jazz, Vol. 1, issued by Symphonia in 2001, plus Raccolto and Re: Pasolini, both on ECM in 2006 and 2007. A shift occurred in 2009 when he documented duets on piano and prepared piano with percussionist and electronic musician Michele Rabbia; ECM released the results as Pastorale the next year. Also in 2009 Battaglia reconvened his trio, completed by double bassist Salvatore Maiore and drummer Roberto Dani. Recorded at Lugano’s Auditorio Radiotelevisione Svizzera under producer Manfred Eicher, the ten tracks drew inspiration from mythical locales and aimed to bypass contemporary musical language in favor of earlier eras. The trio delivered The River of Anyder in 2011 and followed with Songways in March 2013.

Additional work as soloist, guest, and bandleader has appeared on multiple imprints. That year saw the Evil Rabbit album Bartleby the Scrivener, based on Herman Melville’s novel and featuring bassist Fiorenzo Bodrato, guitarist Andrea Massaria, and drummer Massimiliano Furia, together with Three Open Rooms on Caligola alongside bassist Roberto Caon and drummer Marco Carlesso. In the subsequent year his Triosonic group, comprising drummer/percussionist Michele Rabbia and bassist Giovanni Maier, issued the ballad collection Anything Your Little Heart Says on Parco Della Maria. The privately released double-length In Memoriam arrived in 2015 from Battaglia, Rabbia, and guitarist/electronicist Evivind Arset. Pow-bee on Leo presented the pianist in a quartet with saxophonist Andrea Buffa, bassist Bodrato, and drummer Dario Mazzucco. A productive 2016 brought the Enja Yellowbird duo album Little Peace Lullaby with German reedist Ulrich Drechsler, the Klopotec duo set Winds with guitarist Samo Šalamon, and a Splasc(h) reissue of his debut trio recording Things Ain't What They Used to Be, performed with bassist Piero Leveratto and drummer Gianni Cazzola and containing covers associated with Stevie Wonder, the Gershwins, Henry Mancini, and additional composers.

ECM issued Battaglia’s seventh album for the label in 2017: the double-length solo outing Pelagos. Performed on acoustic and prepared piano, sometimes simultaneously, the program combined compositions and improvisations with two renditions of the traditional Arabic song “Lamma Bada Yatathanna.” Concert and intimate studio takes captured at the Fazioli Concert Hall in Sacile, Italy, were subsequently shaped by producer Manfred Eicher, who, in Battaglia’s words, instilled them with “a new fantastic form, based on a totally renewed dramaturgy.” A 2019 pairing with clarinetist Mirco Mariottini produced Music for Clarinets and Piano.