AO5 Jazz and Exile: Mario Fragiacomo, That Tin Trumpet from Italy’s Eastern Border

The Italian jazz trumpeter Mario Fragiacomo first came to

prominence in the 1970s in Trieste and then in Milan, soon

establishing himself as one of the most innovative voices in the

Italian jazz scene and carving out a unique niche for himself in

contemporary European music. His synthesis of jazz, academic

music, and Eastern European folk traditions, in particular Jewish

klezmer music, has led him to work in the broader cultural

landscape of Mitteleuropa, understood as a crossroads between

East and West. It has also let him to use jazz as an entry point into

the realm of multimedia, particularly into the intersection of

music and literature, improvisation and poetry, all the while

paying particular attention to his own Istro-Venetian roots and to

the theme of exile that has so beleaguered the region.

To better illustrate the theme of exile, this volume also

includes seven testimonies by artists and writers from the Istrian

exodus (Luigi Donorà; Marisa Brugna; Mario Fragiacomo; Piero

Tarticchio; Lino Vivoda; Regina Cimmino) and from one of the

rimasti (Laura Marchig).

The volume comes with a CD with an anthology of musical

pieces by Mario Fragiacomo, and liner notes

Advance Praise

This is a detailed and loving account of Italian trumpet artist

Mario Fragiacomo. His musical beginnings are sewn through his

early life in Eastern Italy during turbulent and dangerous years in

Europe. His organic development is artistically described from his

childhood passion for Italian folk music to his love of swing and

traditional jazz, and then completing the cycle with his connec-

tions to Klezmer music and open improvisation. This account

beautifully describes the thread that pulled his musical life

through each and every style as one of soulful honesty.

Clay Jenkins, Eastman School of Music, University of

Rochester

The story of trumpet/flugelhornist Mario Fragiacomo and his

music is deeply intertwined with the history of the Trieste region

and the writing offers a detailed, personal and heartfelt recounting

of that history. Mario’s music will take on a new life and deeper

meaning for readers in light of the history and deeply moving

stories told on these pages.

Jim Lewis, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto

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Luigi Maria Guicciardi (Milan, 1923–2015) was a film and jazz

critic, columnist, writer, and poet.