Nicola Guazzaloca
Appears on:-
KONGROSIAN
The Exit Door Leads In -
GUAZZALOCA | MONTAGNE | MONGELLI
Cups, Glasses and Tanks -
NICOLA GUAZZALOCA
Tecniche Arcaiche Live at Angelica -
MEZEI | TREVOR-BRISCOE | GUAZZALOCA
Cantiere Simone Weil -
HIC SALTA
Chinese Whisper -
TELL NO LIES
Anasyrma -
TELL NO LIES
Hide Nothing
Born in 1975 in Bologna (Italy), Nicola Guazzaloca blends a variety of influences, pushing beyond conventional language boundaries to express a sincere and direct musical vision. His journey began in the late 1980s within Bologna’s underground scene and evolved through a wide range of musical experiences and approaches. In the 1990s, he transitioned to the jazz and experimental scene, developing a highly personal approach to composition, organization, and improvisation, crafting a unique piano language. He has performed at international festivals and exhibitions across Italy, Germany, England, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Austria, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium.
He has released over thirty recordings on labels such as Leo Records, Rai Radio3, FMR, Amirani Records, Not Two, Setola di Maiale, Stella*nera, Aut Records, Klopotec, Fonterossa, and Rudi Records, many of which have received special recognition. His solo piano album Tecniche Arcaiche (2013) was listed among the best Italian records of the year by the influential magazine Musica Jazz, as was Live in Rome 2005 with the Comanda Barabba quintet, recorded at the Rai Radio3 studios for the programs Battiti and Radio3 Suite. His discography primarily documents high-level live performances, including concerts in Russia, Portugal, Belgium, the UK, and Austria. Recent releases include A Pearl In Dirty Hands (featuring Portuguese and Uruguayan musicians), recognized by Jazz Portugal as a key record in Portugal’s avant-garde scene; Tell No Lies (2018), listed among the best albums of the year by All About Jazz; and En Portugal! (2018), a production supported by UNESCO. His album Anasyrma (2020) was named among the best records of the year by Il Giornale della Musica, Musica Jazz, Bandcamp, The New Noise, and Controradio.
Guazzaloca was a member of the Fete Foreign ensemble led by bassist Barre Phillips and has collaborated with various groups under cellist Tristan Honsinger, both of whom had a significant influence on his improvisational approach. Attending masterclasses in the early 2000s with Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, and William Parker further shaped his personal compositional and conceptual vision. He has also composed and performed music for film, theater, dance, and multimedia, earning awards such as Prima Aziz (2003), Favolando (2004), and Interculture Map (2005). His collaborations include work with choreographer Brigel Gjoka (Forsythe Company), the BilBolBul comics festival, Cantieri Meticci theater, and the Leggere Strutture Factory dance company.
Since 2006, he has been collaborating with the Ivan Illich Popular School of Music in Bologna, an institution recognized by the Emilia-Romagna Region, where he has developed an inclusive, participatory, and creative approach to laboratory teaching. Over the years, he has been invited to lead seminars and workshops in Italy and abroad. Since 2010, he has been conducting workshops focused on the creation and interpretation of unconventional scores.
Guazzaloca has recorded and performed with numerous musicians, including John Russell (UK), Barre Phillips (USA), Tim Trevor-Briscoe (UK/IT), Satoko Fukuda (JP), Francesco Guerri (IT), Szilárd Mezei (SR), Gianni Mimmo (IT), Hannah Marshall (UK), Ricardo Tejero (ES), Gabriele Di Giulio (IT), Tristan Honsinger (USA), Edoardo Marraffa (IT), Silvia Bolognesi (IT), Sabir Mateen (USA), Nils Gerold (DE), Luis Vicente (PT), Vasco Trilla (ES), Roger Turner (UK), Christian Ferlaino (IT), Lee Noyes (NZ), Piero Bittolo Bon (IT), Anna Kajsa Holmberg (SE), Luca Bernard (IT), Gaetano Alfonsi (IT), Paul Flaherty (USA), Luciano Caruso (IT), Paulo Chagas (PT), Marcello Magliocchi (IT), Stefano Giust (IT), Carlo Mascolo (IT), Rocco Casino Papia (IT), Lol Coxhill (UK), Eugenio Sanna (IT), Edoardo Ricci (IT), Matthias Boss (CH), Andrea Grillini (IT), Daniel Studer (CH), Ermanno Baron (IT), Frantz Loriot (CH), Roberto Bellatalla (IT), Davide Lorenzon (IT), Maresuke Okamoto (JP), Alex Ward (UK), João Pedro Viegas (PT), Taylor Ho Bynum (USA), Carlos Zingaro (PT), Álvaro Rosso (UY), Harri Sjöström (SE), Phil Minton (UK), Luo Chao-yun (TW), Thollem McDonas (USA), Maryclare Brzytwa (USA), John Hughes (DE), Péter Ajtai (HU), Szilveszter Miklós (HU), Helena Espvall (SE), Alfred Lorinius (SE), Martin Öhman (SE), Ahmed Tambouz (PS), Federico Eterno (IT), Antti Virtaranta (DK), and Adrian David Krok (PL), among many others.
He has performed at festivals and venues such as Angelica Festival (Bologna, IT), Bimhuis (Amsterdam, NL), Long Arms Festival (Moscow, RU), APositzia Festival (St. Petersburg, RU), Ujbuda Jazz Festival (Budapest, HU), Kanjiža Jazz Festival (Kanjiža, SR), Cerkno Jazz Festival (Cerkno, SL), Mopomoso (London, UK), Impronedjeljak (Zagreb, HR), Kaleidoskop Kulture (Novi Sad, SR), Free Sounds Festival (Leuven, BE), MIA Encontro de Música Improvisada (Atouguia da Baleia, PT), Rai Radio Tre – Battiti Series (Rome, IT), Jazz and Wine of Peace (Cormons, IT), Festival des Musiques Insolentes (Puget Ville, FR), Limmitationes (Heiligenkreuz im Lafnitztal, AT), MibNight Jazz Festival (Bremen, DE), Area Sismica (Meldola, IT), Italian Jazz Rebels Festival (Bologna/Meldola, IT), Kune (ES), International Jazz Festival (Nizhny Novgorod, RU), Orsara Jazz Festival (Orsara, IT), Bologna Jazz Festival (Bologna, IT), Avantgarde Jazz Festival (Imola, IT), Scatola Sonora Festival (Alessandria, IT), Massa Sonora Festival (Massalombarda, IT), Improvvisamente Festival (Milan, IT), Bè Festival (Bologna, IT), MamBo – Modern Art Museum (Bologna, IT), SPM Ivan Illich (Bologna, IT), Bordighera Jazz & Blues (Bordighera, IT), Ceglie Jazz Open Festival (Ceglie, IT), Monash University – Metastasio Festival (Prato, IT), Ivan il Terribile (Bologna, IT), Free Flow Festival (Gravina, IT), Valdapozzo Spettacolare (Quargnento, IT), UNESCO International Jazz Day (Bologna, IT / Pisa, IT), Lucca International Composers Festival (Lucca, IT), Noise Delivery (Turin, IT), Urbino Plays Jazz Festival (Urbino, IT), Ground Music Festival (Franciacorta, IT), Torrione Jazz Club (Ferrara, IT), Firenze Jazz Festival (Florence, IT), Pisa Jazz Festival (Pisa, IT), and MITO Torino Milano Festival (IT).