Who’s Pino Minafra
MinAfric Orchestra’s leader: Pino Minafra
Trumpet, flugelhorn, megaphone, didjeridoo.
Born in Ruvo di Puglia (Bari) in 1951. When he was very young, he took part in a holy music choir.
Afterwards he devoted himself to studying music and the trumpet, with a rich training in the most disparate musical contexts, from the traditional town Banda to pop music, from early, opera and symphonic music to jazz and improvisation. He took a degree in Trumpet from the “N.Piccinni” Music Conservatory in Bari, which was directed by Professor Nino Rota at that time.
Since 1977 up to the present day he has formed several ensembles, such as Praxis, Pino Minafra Quintet, Italian Instabile Orchestra, Sud Ensemble, Meridiana Multijazz Orchestra, Canto General and the “Banda”, achieving wide recognition and performing in the most prestigious international festivals. He played on several occasions with several distinguished jazz musicians, both from Italy
(Gianluigi Trovesi, Bruno Tommaso, Giorgio Gaslini, Guido Mazzon, Gianni Gebbia, Mario Schiano, Enrico Rava, Daniele Cavallanti, Tiziano Tononi, Paolino Dalla Porta, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Antonello Salis, Sandro Satta, Franco D’Andrea, Paolo Damiani, Carlo Actis Dato, Eugenio Colombo, Michele Lomuto, Lucilla Galeazzi, Stefano Maltese, Roberto Ottaviano)
and from all over the world (Gunther Sommer, Han Bennink, Ernst Reijseger, Anatoly Vapirov, Serghey Kuryokhin, Tony Oxley, Muhal Richard Abrams, Misha Mengelberg, Glen Ferris, Karl Berger, Charlie Mariano, Ernie Watts, Yves Robert, Michel Godard, Jean-Luis Matinier, Jasper Van’t Hof, Dieter Ilg, Okay Temiz, Rodney Holmes, Ray Anderson, Evan Parker, Willelm Breuker, Peter Kowald, Martin Joseph, Carlo Rizzo, Maggie Nichols, Paul Lovens, Radu Malfatti, Keith Tippett, Paul Rutherford, Louis Moholo, Cecil Taylor).
He worked in partnership with the poet Vittorino Curci, with whom he founded and directed the “Europa Jazz Festival” in Noci (Bari) from 1989 to 1993. During the 1990 edition of this Festival,
he founded the Italian Instabile Orchestra and a few years later, in 1993, he founded the “Talos Festival” in Ruvo di Puglia.
In 1994 he released a CD that documented the traditional music of the Holy Week rites in Ruvo di Puglia by recording some compositions by the brothers Antonio and Alessandro Amenduni performed by the “Banda Città di Ruvo di Puglia”. With this ensemble he took part in the “Donaueschinger Musiktage 1996”, on which occasion a double CD was recorded by Enja including some pieces from the traditional Italian opera as well as some original compositions for Banda and improvising soloists written by M.Godard, W.Breuker and B.Tommaso. During the following years the Banda performed in some famous festivals, such as the Saalfelden Festival in Austria, the Jazz Festival de la Villette in Paris (2000-2001), the London Jazz Festival (at the Queen Elisabeth Hall) and the International Jazz Festival in Mǘnster (Germany).
In 1999, carrying out a project of the National High Conservatory in Paris and the Jazz Festival de la Villette, he and G.Trovesi conducted a Big Band composed of young European students, playing some original compositions by Trovesi and himself.
In 2000, on the occasion of the Carnavalcade in Saint-Denis (Paris), he conceived a theatrical and musical project based on the character of the puppet Pinocchio, writing and conducting some original compositions.
In the same year, during the eighth edition of the Talos Festival in Ruvo di Puglia, he arranged
a musical meeting between the Italian Instabile Orchestra and Cecil Taylor for the first time,
thus marking the tenth anniversary of the orchestra’s birth. For this very special event Taylor wrote a new composition, “The owner of the river bank”, dedicated to the Orchestra and recorded on a CD released by Enja Records.
In 2001, during the “Puglia Festival Bande” in Conversano (Bari), the Pino Minafra Sud Ensemble performed with the “Banda Roncati” from Bologna, the “Titubanda” from Rome, the “Banda Ottoni a scoppio” from Milan and the “Express Brass Band” from Munich: a project involving as many as 130 musicians!
In 2002, on commission from the American choreographer Karole Armitage for the Dutch theatre company “Introdans”, he and his son Livio wrote and performed some compositions based on the character of the puppet Pinocchio.
After his previous releases “Colori” (1984) and “Sudori” (1995), his last piece of work, “Terronia”, dedicated to every South in the world, was recorded by the German record label Enja in 2005.
In this recording, which also includes some lyrics by Pablo Neruda, Vittorio Bodini, Rocco Scotellaro and Vittorino Curci, the Pino Minafra Sud Ensemble was joined by the poet and musician Vittorino Curci, the female choir “Faraualla” and the Meridiana Multijazz Orchestra.
Minafra performs regularly with his own group, the Sud Ensemble, as well as with the Italian Instabile Orchestra, the “Banda Città di Ruvo di Puglia”, the Meridiana Multijazz Orhcestra,
Canto General and United Front, an ensemble led by Eugenio Colombo. He also played with Gianluigi Trovesi’s Octet and Keith Tippett’s Tapestry and took part in some original projects such as “Oltre Napoli, la notte” by Bruno Tommaso and “Castel del Monte” by Michel Godard and
Lucilla Galeazzi.
With “Terronia” and the Pino Minafra Sud Ensemble he has won the important prize “Top Jazz 2005” with the Italian Magazine Musica Jazz as the best cd and the best group of the year.
In 2007 he created with his son Livio a new group called MinAfric Orchestra.
His music has been released by the following record labels: Splasc(H) Records, ECM, Victo, Enja, Soul Note, Leo Records, Red Records, Rai-Audiobox, Bellaphon, Leo Lab, MusicaImmagine, Modern Times, Ava Records, Alpharecord, Imprint Records, Ethnoworld.
He is trumpet teacher at the “N.Piccinni” Music Conservatory in Bari.
