Giovanni Mirabassi

Giovanni Mirabassi is a Paris-based Italian jazz pianist, born in Perugia, Italy. Self-taught, he learned by listening to Bud Powell, Art Tatum, and Oscar Peterson. He is strongly influenced by Enrico Pieranunzi. At seventeen, after a few important experiences in Italy (he played with musicians Chet Baker in 1987 and with Steve Grossman in 1988), he settled in Paris in 1992.

In 1996, he debuted his first album with Pierre-Stéphane Michel on the upright bass and Flavio Boltro on the trumpet, and obtained the “grand prix” and the best soloist prize at the Concours International de Jazz d'Avignon, presided by Daniel Humair.

In 2001, Giovanni Mirabassi released his first solo album, Avanti!, a collection of songs about revolutions, which he had been thinking of for years. This record was an important milestone in his career (Django d’Or of the best young talent and a Victoires du Jazz in 2002). Mirabassi began touring regularly, as part a trio or alone. He became very popular, especially in Japan.

At the end of 2005, he released a new CD, Prima o poi, as part of a trio and of a quartet, under the Minium label. A year later, he released another record of standards of French “chanson”, Cantopiano, which brought together his two preferred musical universes. Those two CDs, still saluted by public and media, anchored his unusual position in the world of jazz. Over a period of ten years, Giovanni Mirabassi produced a dozen CDs and DVDs (some of them concerts released only in Japan) and performed all around the world.

In 2008, the pianist released a new CD as part of a piano trio, Terra furiosa.

Discography

 * 1996, Dyade - En bonne et due forme
 * 1997, Cambaluc
 * 1998, Architectures — Trio with Daniele Mencarelli (bass) and Louis Moutin (drums)
 * 2000,Avanti! — a collection of songs about revolutions.
 * 2001, Dal Vivo
 * 2002, Giovanni Mirabassi & Andrzej Jagodzinski trio
 * 2003, (((air))) — trio with Glenn Ferris and Flavio Boltro, won best record of the year at the Académie du jazz.
 * 2003, DVD Live at Sunside! — Giovanni Mirabassi, Gildas Boclé and Louis Moutin, recorded 27 October 2003 at Sunset-Sunside.
 * 2004, More from Sunside
 * 2004, Léo en toute liberté (with Nicolas Reggiani singing songs by Léo Ferré)
 * 2005, Prima o poi
 * 2005, Live@Mokkiri-Ya
 * 2005, DVD Live in Japan
 * 2006, Lucky Boys
 * 2006, Cantopiano — solo piano album playing songs by Claude Nougaro, Agnès Bihl, Serge Lama, Serge Gainsbourg, Jeanne Cherhal, ...
 * 2007, Artero Brel — Patrick Artero, Giovanni Mirabassi and their interpretations of Jacques Brel.
 * 2008, Terra furiosa - Trio with Gianluca Renzi (bass) and Leon Parker (drums)
 * 2011  Adelante