Paolo Fresu (born 10 February 1961) is an Italian jazz trumpet and flugelhorn player, as well as a composer and arranger of music.

Career

Born in Berchidda, Sardinia, he picked up the trumpet at the age of 11, and played in the band Bernardo de Muro in his home town Berchidda. Fresu graduated from the Conservatory of Cagliari in 1984, in trumpet studies under Enzo Morandini, and attended the University of Bologna School of music and performing arts in Bologna. He made his debut in 1985, with the release of his first album Ostinato. He has taught at the Siena Jazz National Seminars, as well as jazz university courses in Terni, and is the director of Nuoro Jazz Seminars in Nuoro, Italy. Fresu composes music for theatre, poem, dance, radio, television, and film. In 2007, he recorded and toured with Carla Bley's quartet, the Lost Chords. In 2011, he released Mistico Mediterraneo, which featured him, Daniele di Bonaventura and five other members playing bandoneons in A Filetta style. In 2012, his quintet performed at the Sirifort Auditorium, New Delhi, India, to celebrate 10 years of the Italian culture center there. In 2015, Fresu was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College of Music.

Partial discography

The complete official discography of Paolo Fresu can be found on his official website (more than 600 tracks).

As leader

Paolo Fresu 5et Paolo Fresu Devil Quartet Paolo Fresu

As sideman

With Joe Barbieri With Carla Bley With Daniele di Bonaventura With Uri Caine With Lars Danielsson With Peter Gabriel With Aldo Romano With Ralph Towner