DESCRIPTION
MICHELE ARIODANTE in art MICHAEL WESTBOUND
Graduated in classical guitar at the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome, he has then dedicated himself completely to jazz by attending seminars with Jim Hall and Enrico Pieranunzi. He has been a disciple of the great guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, and has explored jazz guitar styles of the’ 20s and ’30s with groups such as the orchestra ‘The Ghosts of the Twenties’ by Red Pellini (dedicated to the repertoire of Bix Beiderbecke), the sextet ‘Chicago Rhythm Kings’ (with trumpeter Dick Sudhalter) as well as collaborations with American musicians such as the New Orleans clarinetist Evan Christopher, New York violinist Andy Stein and the leader of the ‘Quartet S.Francisco’, Jeremy Cohen.
He founded with violinist Mauro Carpi the ‘Acoustic Swing Trio’ and currently performs mainly in duo or quartet with clarinetist Luca Velotti. In more than thirty years he has played in dozens of jazz festivals both in Italy (Umbria Jazz Winter, Villa Celimontana, San Marino, Cagliari, Sori, Mosciano S. Angelo, Fano, Favignana, Lake Maggiore, Teramo, Benevento Ravello, Monteroduni, Rome House of Jazz – Guitar Festival, Rimini) and abroad (Ascona, Locarno, Berlin). He has had collaborated with musicians such as Franco Cerri, Lino Patruno, Gianni Sanjust, Michael Supnick, Giorgio Rosciglione, Paolo Innarella, Eddy Palermo. He has recorded twelve CD and composed music for theater and television.