Rita Marcotulli (born 10 March 1959) is an Italian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

pianist and composer.

Career

Born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Marcotulli is the daughter of a sound engineer who collaborated with

Nino Rota Giovanni Rota Rinaldi (; 3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979), better known as Nino Rota (), was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visco ...

and

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

, among others. She started playing piano at five years old and graduated in classical music from the

Santa Cecilia Conservatory The Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia is a state conservatory in Rome. History The institution has its roots dated back to the Congregazione de' musici di Roma named after Saint Cecilia in 1565 (now Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia). Sinc ...

. Marcotulli began her professional career in the early 1980s and made her first recording in 1984. Thanks to a series of prestigious collaborations, including Richard Galliano,

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Enrico Rava Enrico Rava (born 20 August 1939), is an Italian jazz trumpeter. He started on trombone, then changed to the trumpet after hearing Miles Davis. Career He was born in Trieste, Italy. His first commercial work was as a member of Gato Barbieri's ...

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he was also active ...

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the drum ...

, and Steve Grossman, in a few years she established herself as an important figure in the contemporary jazz scene. In 1987 Marcotulli was nominated for the Best Young Talent Award in the NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. In 1988 she toured in the U.S. and in Europe with

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was indu ...

, also appearing in Cobham 's album ''Incoming''. In 1996 she duetted with

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

at the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

. She has also had a long-term musical relationship with

Dewey Redman Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader and with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played ...

. Marcotulli's style largely relies on improvisation, and her influences include Brazilian music, African music and Indian music. Also active as a composer of incidental music and musical scores for films, in 2010 Marcotulli won the David di Donatello for Best Score as well as the

Ciak d'oro ''Ciak'' is a popular Italian film magazine published in Milan, Italy. It is the most popular film magazine in Italy. The title is the Italian word (also spelled ''ciac'', for a film clapperboard. History and profile ''Ciak'' was established in 1 ...

and the

Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

in the same category for the score of

Rocco Papaleo Rocco Antonio Papaleo (born 16 August 1958) is an Italian actor, film director and singer. Born in Lauria ( Basilicata), he moved to Rome to study math at university but left soon to attend the theatre school. He made his theatrical debut in 19 ...

's ''

Basilicata Coast to Coast ''Basilicata Coast to Coast'' is a 2010 Italian comedy film directed by Rocco Papaleo. A South Korean remake named '' Blue Busking'' was released in 2017. Plot Nicola Palmieri ( Rocco Papaleo) is a high school math teacher with a passion for ...

''.

Discography

* ''The Woman Next Door'' (Label Bleu, 1998) * ''Triboh'' (Polo Sud, 2000) * ''Koiné'' (

Le Chant du Monde Le Chant du Monde is a French music publishing house. It was created in 1938 by Léon Moussinac and was supported in the beginning by classical composers Georges Auric, Arthur Honegger, Charles Koechlin, Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Albert ...

, 2002) * ''Oslo Party'' (

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affiliate ...

, 2003) * ''L' Amico del Vento'' (Egea, 2005) * ''The Light Side of the Moon'' (Le Chant du Monde, 2006) * ''On the Edge of a Perfect Moment'' (Incipit, 2007) * ''Zapping'' (Egea, 2008) * ''Variazioni Su Tema'' (S'ARD, 2011) * ''Basilicata Coast to Coast'' (Alice, 2011) * ''La Conversazione'' (Abeat, 2013) * ''Paolo & Rita'' (2015) * ''TrioKala'' (

Nicolosi Nicolosi ( scn, Niculùsi) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northwest of Catania. Nicolosi borders the following municipalities: Adra ...

, 2016) With

Gianmaria Testa Gianmaria Testa (17 October 1958 – 30 March 2016) was an Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist. Testa began musical performances in 1990 and in the early 1990s, he won two consecutive top prizes at the Recanati Festival. His first album "Mon ...

* ''Lampo'' (1998) * ''Altre Latitudini'' (Le Chant du Monde, 2003) With Michael Benita * ''Preferences'' (Label Bleu, 1990) * ''Soul'' (Label Bleu, 1993) With others * ''Nauplia'', Maria Pia de Vito (Egea, 1995) * '' In London'',

( Palmetto, 1998) * ''Incoming'',

(1989)

References

External links

*
Rita Marcotulli
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcotulli, Rita 1959 births Living people Musicians from Rome Italian jazz pianists Italian women pianists David di Donatello winners Nastro d'Argento winners Italian film score composers Women jazz pianists Italian women composers Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni Label Bleu artists Pony Canyon artists