About
Orchestra Jazz Siciliana represents the first and only public jazz orchestra in Italy. Founded by Ignazio Garsia in the early 1970s with the name of Brass Group Big Band, Orchestra Jazz Siciliana played an intense and continuous concert activity under the guidance of some of the most prestigious orchestra conductors in the world.
In 1990 the Orchestra Jazz Siciliana it was the cornerstone of the "International Review of Soul Music" in Palermo and in 1991 he performed, in European premiere, "Epitaph" by Charles Mingus, under the direction of Gunther Schuller. While, for the execution of pages of the contemporary repertoire, the OJ participated in 1994 in the review Sounds of the twentieth century promoted by the E. A. Teatro Massimo of Palermo and in the same year, directed by Clark Terry, the ensemble inaugurated the Summer Concert Season with a concert dedicated to Duke Ellington on the twentieth anniversary of his death.
In February 1996, at the invitation of the Italian Society for the Study of African American Music, the JSS inaugurated the review "The African American Cultured Music", with the first live world performance of the transcription of the suite "Porgy And Bess" by George Gershwin / Gil Evans, again directed by Gunther Schuller, soloist Paolo Fresu.
Giuseppe Costa, Vito Giordano, Antonino Pedone, Pietro Pedone, Fabio Riina, Domenico Riina, Salvatore Pizzo and Salvatore Pizzurro for over 20 years have guaranteed an orchestral sound characterized by their own recognizable sound. They were joined by Gaetano Agrò, Silvio Barbara, Valerio Barrale, Salvatore Bonafede, Francesco Buzzurro, Sergio Cammalleri, Rita Collura, Stefano D'Anna, Gianni Gebbia, Massimo Greco, Pino Greco, Mimmo La Mantia, Francesco Marchese, Orazio Maugeri, Sergio Munafò, Salvatore Nania, Riccardo Randisi, Mauro Schiavone, Gaetano Tucci, Giuseppe Urso ...