BIO
Francesco Crosara is a Seattle-based Italian jazz pianist, composer and educator routinely performing in a variety of formations. Crosara’s original music melds an impressive mix of jazz improvisation, a romantic vein from his classical Conservatory training in Rome, bouncy lyrical expression along with strong Latin influences. His main jazz piano influences are Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, and Herbie Hancock.
Crosara stands among the European-bred jazz greats, performing over the years with the likes of Lionel Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Hargrove, Richie Cole, Bobby Shew, Ira Sullivan, Don Menza, Von Freeman, John Heard, Gabe Baltazar, Mayuto Correa, Bruce Forman, Barbara Morrison, Earl Palmer, Lilian Terry, and more. His recordings have featured a multicultural and international array of musicians. He has performed at festivals and venues across the USA, Japan, Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, and Italy.
ABOUT CIRCULAR MOTION
From a lifetime of music creation, Francesco Crosara selected 10 of his compositions from the last 40 years with the idea of highlighting the nexus between early work, with its simplicity and youthful appeal, to later works where he expressed richer harmonic textures and possibilities. Always close by are the influences from his early mentoring in Rome from Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie, through his move to the US and the program at USC. Three different rhythm sections bring his music to life, each adding varied sonic textures and rhythmic vitality to the whole. Bassist Clipper Anderson and drummer Mark Ivester swing and float; the vibrant grooves of electric bassist Farko Dosumov and drummer D’Vonne Lewis lend a modern momentum; and the youthful eclecticism of bassist Osama Afifi and drummer Xavier Lecouturier adds yet another dimension.