Vittorio Nozza is an Italian Jazz guitarist and composer. Currently, he lives in Paris where he maintains a rigorous performance schedule as leader of his own musical projects. He is a truly versatile musician whose style spans from Be-Bop to Cool-Jazz, from Fusion to Free-Groove and from Nu-Jazz to Contemporary. His combination of influences as diverse as Charlie Parker, Pat Metheny and Steve Coleman, yield music that is energetic and captivating. Nozza is a modern guitarist with a solid touch, a fluid sense of improvisation and the gift of wizardly technique.
His experience as a free-lance musician has included Jazz festivals like Paris Muzik et Jardin, concerts in clubs, gigging in Parisian Jazz venues, Nu-Jazz performances in night clubs, and private events such as art expositions.
Vittorio Nozza was born in Bergamo (Italy) on September 21st, 1973. He was drawn to music at an early age. Starting with voice, then percussion, pianola and flute, switching to guitar at age 13. Other than the music lessons during primary and secondary school, he was largely self-taught, learning the popular music of the day from song books and radio. At the age of 17, he was inspired by Mike Stern's album “Jigsawâ€, to explore his musical interests through formal Jazz training. In 1991 he received a full scholarship to attend the private school CDPM Bergamo. In addition to his studies, he and a group of friends formed a band and began playing at the local venues and musical events. He continued his studies at Siena Jazz Seminar from 2001 to 2003 where he played at his school concert with Paolo Fresu.
Vittorio Nozza moved to Paris in January 2001. This began a period of intense musical experience. The city would be a source of new encounters, with people in arts and music from all horizons. La Ville Lumière offered ample opportunity to play and Nozza start gigging regulary. He worked his way through setting up his own groups with an endless permutation of formations. He performed through the Parisian venues with his trio (bass and drums) and duo (with bass) collaborating with musicians such as: Joe Goose, Dominique Shloker, Massimo Piccoli, Stive Belvilous, Eric Ford, Michel Rochiglione, Jean-Jaque Moreac, LeGoas, Fabio Accardi, Mauro Gargano, Frederique Delestre, Giuseppe Lapusta, Francesco Pastacaldi, and many others. Inspired by the works of artists like John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussean, combining elements of Jazz and ethnic African music during 2003 and 2004 he has a duo with percussionists from Mali, Chris Foly. In same period he formed, with the Algerian conga-player Fouad Abrie, a Spanish Jazz duo, revisiting Jazz classic standards on Latin rhythms. He also worked in a combo group for several concerts with clarinetist Paolo Cartamandiglia and he has gigged with alto saxophonist Stephan Mercier in different contexts (trio, duo). Occasionally, Nozza was part of the singer and alto saxophonist player Petra Pettilla quartet for cocktails/bars in hotels. In the summer of 1999, he and body painter Inka created the show “Living Colorsâ€, Nozza produced the Nu-Jazz music and Inka the choreography, which was presented in various Italian Night clubs. From 2003 he perform in guitar solo and in Juin 2006 he was invited by Eglise Saint Eustache de Paris to present his project “Jazz Lounge Guitar Soloâ€.
After spending most of the past 15 years concentrating almost exclusively on learning from the giants of Jazz and listening to music from many varied sources, he approaches composion and performance in a style that is as accessible as it is advanced.