Piero Borri

Born in Firenze in 1958, I started to play drums when I was 12 years old, learning my first rudiments from my father, who was also a drummer during the second world war in some domestic jazz band ; since the age of fifteen I was playng in the best known Italian jazz Clubs such as the Music Inn in Rome, the Swing Club in Turin or the Capolinea in Milan, in different groups Conservatorio, Bakunin Jazz Quartet, Aestesis Quartet, or with Massimo Urbani,Nico Vernuccio, Francesco Macianti, Roberto Della Grotta , Luca Flores, Patrizia Scascitelli, Giancarlo Maurino, Rita Marcotulli and Danilo Rea, who are people of my age and older jazzmen like Franco Cerri, Oliver Berney, Romano liberatore or on the free jazz side Mario Schiano and Gaetano Liguori.I also ripened several meaningful experiences in those days playng also with some great American jazzmen such as Tony Scott, Curtis Fuller, Sal Nistico and Chet Baker during their journeys in Italy. In the second half of the '70s I attended the conservatory "L. Cherubini" in Florence where I studied trumpet and then at the consevatoiry "G.Verdi" in Milan where I studied percussions with Franco Campioni. When I was 17 years old I become friend with the American drummer Marvin "Bugalu" Smith and percussionist Karl Potter, with their aid I went deeply into the study of jazz languages, and after a short while I also teached with them in the new-born school of jazz at St.Louis Club in Rome. I was not yet twenty when I attended courses at the Berkley College of Music in Boston and at the Drummer Collective in New York City. In Florence I have been one of the founders of the first jazz school in the city: Centro Attività Musicali "Andrea del Sarto" (CAM) ’76 ; in this structure I developed an intense activity of teaching and educational research both as a teacher untill 1988 and as drummer in the orchestra of the school that, with Bruno Tommaso's direction, played in various Italian cities and realized a series of recordings for RAI , the Italian radio and television company . In the '80s with the musicians listed below I partecipated many international festivals in Italy and I played concerts in Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and USSR; I also had a short, but intense, experience as producer opening my records company (A Tempo), unfortunately we could just publish three CDs ... anyhow these were realized using the best available technological resources of those days, it was actually the first italian DDD production for jazz , this was a project for the promotion of Italian jazz abroad, in which, along with double-bass player Furio di Castri and the journalist Marco Magrini, took place also the American musicians Paul Motian and the great Joe Lovano, the Swedish Anders Jormin and Anders Kjellberg and the Italian jazz stars Franco D'Andrea, Rita Marcotulli and Enrico Rava , who recorded "Toucan" with the group "Giochi Proibiti" were I was the drummer. In the ‘90s I continueed with passion my study of rhythm and time according to different perspectives: historical, ethnical, philosophical , psycological, mathematical and physical, in addiction to the musical aspect. Time and rhythm are my main intellectual interest since I was a boy so along with the musician work as free-lance drummer which I allways did as much as I could mailly in the jazz cyrcles, I have teached drums percussion and estabilished Rhythm Tranning classes in the school where I worked regurarly, from ’93 till 2005 the Accademia Musicale di Firenze.I have been often invited for drum or jazz workshops in differerent locations in Tusacny where I also realized many educational enterprises either as organizer, or producer assistant for a number of percussionists collegues and friends like : Roberto Gatto, Cristian Meyer, Roberto Faenzi,Giuseppe Bonanno ,Alessio Riccio, Walter Calloni, Naco, Candelo Cabezas, Karl Potter, Billy Cobham, Will Calhoun, Mike Portnoy, Simon Phillips e Trilok Gurtu. Addicted lover of drums and percussions I own a collection of drumsets and snare drums mainly Ludwig, Gretsch and Slingerland , and of course Zildjians cymbals A’s and K’s comprehending pieces from the beginning of the last century; in this drums and cymbals harem, as I call it, pre 1980's pieces only are allowed. However should I have a standard harem it would be different. So I spent some free time restoring ,fixing and caring old instruments. Since more than 30 years I have been friendly collaborating with the UIFP company in Pistoia, which produces cymbals and percussion instruments as an advisor and product specialist; I have designed an original model of drumset named "Maffy", wich has been produced and commercialized by the Qdaila of Rome for a while. I am actually endorsing with great satisfactions Sonor drums, Istambul cymbals, and Promark sticks.Discography: Giochi Proibiti - " Stoparding" (Splasc(h) Records) Tiziana Simona - "Coriandoli" (Splasc(h) Records) Giochi Proibiti con Enrico Rava - " Toucan" (A Tempo) Luca Flores Trio - "Sound and Shades of Sound" (Splasc(h) Records) Aldevis Tibaldi quatrtet - "Refuso" (Silence) Gianmarco Scaglia Trio - “Blue in Green” (Ram Records) Roberto Della Grotta Ensemble - “Ode a Charlie Mingus” (People) Giulio Stacciati Trio - “After Start” (le carrozze) Interesection 5 - “Stolen Moments” (Tom Tom Records) Marco Masini - “ Il Mio Cammino” (Universal) Giulio Stracciati Trio - “Tira Akkampa..” (Music Center) Giulio Stracciati Trio - “Free Three” (Philology) BalKan Damar - “ Maladù“ (Amiata Records) Michela Lombardi Quintert - “So April Hearted” (Lush Tales) Michela Lombardi Quartet + Nico Gori e Marco Tamburini - “Swingaholic” (Philology) William Tatge Trio - “ Mutable Enclosure“ (Reflexio)Productions : A Tempo Records (1988) Rita Marcotulli - Anders Jormin - Anders Kyellberg "Oslo Party" Recorded at Rainbow Studio in Oslo, sound engeneer Jan Erik Kongshaug Furio Di Castri - Franco D' Andrea - Joe Lovano - Paul Motian "Unknown Voyage" Giochi Proibiti con Enrico Rava (Stefano Cocco Cantini, Riccardo Bianchi, Lello Pareti, Massimo Colombo, Piero Borri) "Toucan"..

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