Music breaks all barriers ~ this was apparent when the Alliance Française de Delhi, in collaboration with ICCR, presented a performance by the Lorenzo Naccarato Trio under the umbrella of the International Jazz Festival. Founded in 2012 with Adrien Rodriquez and Benjamin Naud, the Lorenzo Naccarato Trio became popular, on the emerging jazz scene through music festivals.
The Trio won the Jazz Festival in Oloron in 2015 and at Paris in 2013; they were twice finalists at the jazz festivals in Baie and Vannes. Their first album was released on 11 March 2016 under the label Laborie Jazz.
So, how did the group come about? After studying classical piano for 10 years, Lorenzo Naccarato began studying musicology at a university in Toulouse in 2007. Specialising in jazz and improv music, he conducted a research project on Thelonious Monk and took part in Master classes under Laurent Cugny, Franck Avitabile, Kenny Barron, Enrico Pieranunzi and Claude Tchamitchian, who became a determining influence on his approach to composition.
The story of Benjamin Naud, on the drums, is somewhat similar. After a Bachelor’s degree in classical musicology, Naud entered the jazz section of Toulouse conservatoire, in 2007, to study drums.
He participated in improvisation workshops by Richard Calléja and then completed his studies with Christian Salut, at the Dante Agostini school. Between 2009 and 2012, he became the drummer of the blues band Mannish Boys and gave more than 150 concerts in Europe. Passionate about the South American repertoire, he recorded an album with Brazilian author, composer and interpreter Carlos Papel in 2011.
Looking for ensembles providing more space for improvisation, he discovered the compositions of Lorenzo Naccarato. Their musical affinity confirmed, they decided, in 2012, to form a trio with double bassist Adrien Rodriguez. In Delhi, the concert’s concept of kinematic jazz, in that the notion of movement lies at the heart of its musical exploration, was an aspect keenly appreciated by the audience and received with curiosity and intrigue