Gianfranco Continenza

Gianfranco Continenza, guitarist and composer is born in Turin (Italy) on the 1st of february 1968, he started to play guitar when he was 8 years old thanks to his father Nino Continenza, jazz guitar player. He studied classical music for 5 years, then developping the study of the modern guitar (jazz, fusion, blues, rock...) and playing with local bands. He is graduated with 100% score at G.I.T. (Guitar Institute of Technology) in Hollywood, California in september 1992 specialized in many music styles (jazz, fusion, blues, R&B, latin, funky, rock…) studing with Joe Diorio, Don Mock, Scott Henderson, Ron Eschéte, Howard Roberts, Peter Sprague, Gary Willis, Jeff Berlin, Jamie Findlay, Jeff Richman, Tommy Tedesco, Mike Miller, ecc. On 1994 he founded the P.M.I. (Professional Musicians Institute) and later on 1998 the C.M.A. (Contemporary Music Academy – www.cma-school.com) in Pescara, with students coming from all the parts of Italy where he’s teaching jazz guitar. He played with many world famous artists like Bill Evans, Joe Diorio, Jeff Richman, Scott Kinsey, Jamie Findlay, Barrett Tagliarino, Richard Smith, John Stowell, Cathy Segal-Garcia… On april 2000 he recorded a live CD "Live at Kabala Jazz Club" with Pippo Matino on bass and Ernesttico on percussions. He’s doing lot of gigs in the jazz club around in Italy with the “Gianfranco Continenza Quartet” (Stefano D’Anna – sax, Maurizio Rolli – bass and Dante Melena – drums) playing original compositions and standards, this fall will be out a new CD of electric jazz of his compositions: “The past inside the present” for the italian jazz label “Wide Sound” with Bill Evans on sax and Scott Kinsey on piano. He's got a column of jazz guitar on the national site: jazzitalia www.gianfrancocontinenza.com