Swing and blue, all through!

The Lorenzo Naccarato trio, comprising of Lorenzo Naccarato on the piano, Benjamin Naud on the drums and Adrien Rodriguez on the bass, is going on their first international music tour and the artistes have chosen our city first!

In a casual chat, the musicians share about their everyday live and their passion for music.  

“It was summer in Italy and I was 15 years old. I loved music, but never had the opportunity to play to an audience before —until when I played for my family in the village! That was my first musical concert and is close to my heart,” begins Lorenzo. With more than ten years of experience in the industry, he has now played piano for hundreds of jazz concerts. During the course of his musical study, when Lorenzo was getting serious about his career, he met Adrien and Benjamin and initiated the Trio project in 2012. “These two are extraordinary musicians and I’m lucky to play with them,” he adds.

Pursuing different professions like teaching, music research, writing orchestrations and making film music, the musicians make time to meet up and practice before every concert. Adrien who works in cine concerts, shares, “All three of us are students of musicology and also performers. I work in cine concerts for which we play live between the public and the screen. The goal isn’t just the music; it needs to match the movie. It is very different from the actual concert — but both are fun, as long as I’m with notes!”

Talking about their upcoming Chennai concert, the trio shares, “We will present the Label Laborie Jazz album and some fresh compositions we recorded last month. We call our music, the kinematic jazz, because of the way the musical compositions are built and  how we play them on stage. We want a mix of dynamism and emotion to free-flow while we play.”

When asked about their musical inspiration, Lorenzo answers, “Many musicians have impacted our lives a great deal. The recent exposure we got was to Bon Iver’s music. We love the atmosphere and the orchestration of his album 22, A Million. The most important thing for us is when someone listens to our music and our way of playing the piano, drum or bass — and recognise that it’s us! Though we love voice, instrumental music still manages to capture the feelings of public and we love that challenge.”

Recalling one of their best concerts, Benjamin shares, “Each time, we try to connect with the public, but the Langourla Jazz Festival (France) was out of the world. When people clap and cheer with a lot of vitality, you just don’t want to stop. It was more of an interaction that was happening there than a performance and we loved it. It is one of our favourites till date!”

Revealing more about their bonding, the friends say, “We threw ourselves into learning music, discovered in-depth jazz language and improvised. When everyone tries to listen to each other, understand and share emotions, it is a great jamming session — and that happens to us every time we practice.”

The instrumentalists conclude by saying, “We want to keep developing the story we share as a band and our first international tour takes us one step closer. We also look forward to releasing our next album during spring.”