Lello Molinari - On a Boston Night - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

I was born and raised in Naples, Italy in1962. There wasn't much music in my life growing up...I was very involved with soccer... still my father was a Glen Miller fan and my mother had studied classical piano early on. My brother was the first to pick-up an instrument (drums) and form a band. That's when I decided to do the same. I played a little piano, and I had a drummer friend...so we started looking for a bass player. We found a piano player with more experience... and they decided I should play bass. My first bass was a Hofner like Paul's with the early Beatles. We played by ear, the repertoire was Yes, Genesis, and various English Pop. After a going through a few bands and a few bass lessons, the music moved toward Funk, Earth Wind & Fire, The Average White Band, etc.. The bass by then was a Fender Jazz. After more lessons I started to mingle more and more with a jazz crowd . The fender jazz was traded for an Ibanez fretless, and I started playing standards. In 1982 at the age of 20 I moved with my family to Milano. There I decided to go back to school. I bought an upright bass and enrolled in the Scuola Civica di Sesto San Giovanni. I studied classical music for 3 years, and then joined my first professional jazz band. That band was the Italian Vocal Ensemble; 2 vocalist guitar bass and drums. We won third prize (out of a few hundred) in what was called Coppa del Jazz 1995 (a competition much like a soccer tournament). In the qualifying rounds we were performing on national radio and television, as well as in jazz festivals. Such good placement led to more concerts Pompei Jazz, Pescara Jazz, as well as to a recording contract. We then recorded Chiaroscuri for Red Records with Mike Melillo on piano as special guest. While recording the album I applied and received a scholarship from the Berklee College of Music and moved to Boston in 1986.      While at Berkle