Thomas Dobler (CH): vibraphone
Furio Di Castri: double bass
Dado Moroni: piano
Enzo Zirilli: drums and percussion
For the first show of the 16th edition of our prestigious RadioLondra jazz festival, an unmissable quartet of top-class musicians! When the great vibraphonist/percussionist Thomas Dobler meets three of the most representative musicians of the European scene — bassist Furio Di Castri, drummer Enzo Zirilli and pianist Dado Moroni — something magical always happens! These four artists, united by an almost boundless knowledge of the languages of jazz, also share a curiosity for every form of music, without limits, managing to create an infectious mix that explores every facet of that wonderful diamond: Music in its total sense. “Vibessence” is a project of fusion and exploration of different scenarios and moods, with roots firmly anchored in tradition but with steps and vision always looking forward, between contemporaneity and the future. The dreamy sound of Dobler’s vibraphone, Moroni’s colorful harmonies, Di Castri’s profound, dreamlike notes and Zirilli’s rhythmic palette will lead the listener on a journey through ever-changing and captivating atmospheres. Absolutely unmissable!
Thomas Dobler was born in Zurich in 1978. After studying classical percussion at the Hautes Écoles de Musique in Strasbourg and Zurich and jazz studies in Paris, he specialized in the vibraphone as his main instrument. Thomas benefits from vast experience as a symphonic orchestra musician. From 1996 to 2007, he worked with several Swiss symphony orchestras, including the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, under the direction of famous conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Georg Solti, Charles Dutoit, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Armin Jordan, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Fedoseyev, David Zinman, with whom he recorded numerous CDs. During the same period, he performed with many chamber music ensembles, as a specialist of vibraphone and marimba. Of note is his collaboration with Collegium Novum Zürich, working with prominent contemporary composers such as Luciano Berio, György Kurtág, Heinz Holliger, Wolfgang Rihm, and Pierre Strauch. As a jazz musician and bandleader, he has carried out numerous tours and recordings over the last 20 years. Most of his projects are situated between classical and jazz, in interdisciplinary fields and stylistic fusions, such as the ensemble ClassXXX from 2005 to 2010 with Daniel Schnyder (saxophone), Daniel Pezzotti (cello), and Georg Breinschmid (double bass), and in particular with his ensemble Thomas Dobler’s New Baroque since 2014. Another important pillar of his work is American jazz: the Great American Songbook, 1930s swing, and bebop. Thomas has performed with many important jazz musicians such as Reggie Johnson, George Robert, Sangoma Everett, and many more. From 2009 to 2014 he toured extensively in Europe in a duo with American pianist Kenny Drew Jr. Since 2003, he has also performed as a classical soloist with symphony orchestras including the MDR Leipzig Orchestra, the Zürcher Kammerorchester, the Düsseldorf Festival Orchestra, the Camerata Bern, the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, and the Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Furio Di Castri. Born in 1955, his long career is filled with prestigious collaborations and equally important personal projects, making him one of the leading jazz double bassists in the world. Among the most prominent names he has worked with are Joe Henderson, Richard Galliano, Enrico Rava, John Taylor, and Michel Petrucciani.
Dado Moroni. Born in Genoa, he is one of the most sought-after Italian jazz pianists in Europe and America. He made his debut at 17 with Tullio De Piscopo, Franco Ambrosetti and the late Franco Cerri. In 1987 he was invited to Washington as the only European, alongside pianists Hank Jones, Barry Harris, and Roland Hanna, to be part of the jury of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. In 1988, he embarked on an important tour across seven African countries with Alvin Queen’s sextet. In 1991, he collaborated with Clark Terry and George Robert on the world tour organized by the Swiss government to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation, achieving great success and unanimous acclaim from the international press. Together with classical pianist Antonio Ballista, in 1995 he created the project Two Pianos One Soul, under the patronage of Ferrara Musica, achieving notable success in several national and international theaters. In the same year, he took part in a recording for the American label Concord and an important tour in Japan. To date, he has recorded over 50 CDs for major record labels such as Sony, Concord, Contemporary, Telarc, Mons, TCB Record, and Enja. Dado is one of the very few Italian musicians whose biography is included in Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler’s authoritative Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. He boasts prestigious and ongoing collaborations with major jazz stars such as Dizzy Gillespie, Wynton Marsalis, Freddie Hubbard, Tom Harrell, Zoot Sims, James Moody, Johnny Griffin, as well as Ron Carter, Ray Brown, Lewis Nash, Buster Williams, Billy Cobham, Grady Tate, Niels Pedersen and many, many others. A musician of strong personality, with vast international experience, Moroni is endowed with exceptional musical sensitivity, technique, energy, and creativity, enabling him to adapt brilliantly and naturally to different musical contexts, always expressing great class, the highest professionalism, and remarkable imagination.
Enzo Zirilli is considered one of the most creative and versatile drummers/percussionists of recent generations. Gifted with great musicality, which has led him to absorb and personalize every form of contemporary music, he has performed and recorded as a sideman worldwide with major Afro-American, Italian, and European musicians in jazz, world music, and pop, including Enrico Pieranunzi, Bob Mintzer, Charlie Mariano, Steve Grossman, Eddie Gomez, Antonio Forcione, James Moody, Tom Harrell, Ira Coleman, Rossana Casale, Marco Pereira, Ivan Segreto, Peppe Servillo, Flavio Boltro, Ares Tavolazzi, Larry Nocella, Randy Brecker, Gloria Gaynor, Fabrizio Bosso, Rosario Giuliani, Furio Di Castri, Emanuele Cisi and many more. Born and musically raised in Turin, in 2003 he moved to London, where he quickly established himself as one of the most in-demand musicians and began collaborating with some of the iconic figures of British and international jazz such as Jim Mullen, Stan Sulzmann, John Etheridge, Liane Carroll, Ian Shaw, Omar LyeFook, Hamish Stuart (for 10 years alongside Paul McCartney), as well as other musicians of younger generations such as John Parricelli, Gilad Atzmon, Alex Garnett, Brandon Allen, Quentin Collins, and Ross Stanley. He is also a Professor of Drums in the Jazz Department of the Turin Conservatory.
