Pianist and composer Francesco Crosara led a quartet of top-tier Northwest musicians in the KNKX studios, celebrating a new album with the Italian native’s new Northwest friends.
Crosara was raised in Rome, Italy, by a mother whose broadcasting connections and love of jazz brought legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Chick Corea, Duke Ellington and more who inspired the budding musician.
“I had the pleasure to basically see and interact with these giants at the kitchen table,” Crosara said.
His musical talent was further developed at USC in Los Angeles, and he later moved on to the Midwest and Hawaii before landing in Poulsbo, Washington, in 2017.
Crosara joined the Music Discovery Center, a non-profit in Bremerton focused on music education and support in the Western Puget Sound. He was excited to help underserved music lovers of the Kitsap Peninsula and to have opportunities to play with young music students, saying, “I’m not hoity-toity.”
The new album Circular Motion collects 40 years of Crosara’s compositions, from new songs like the jazz fusion of “One Day Honey, One Day Onions” to songs that he’s updated.
“I certainly was not happy with the way that 21-year-old Francesco wrote a samba. It was a little immature,” he said.
Over his life as a composer, Crosara has written music influenced by his many travels. Circular Motion visits Argentina with “Julia’s Tango” and Japan with “Kurama,” as well as the Middle Eastern sound of “Maktoub” and a Spanish tinge of “Preludio Flamenco.”
Circular Motion also circles through three different sets of the Puget Sound area’s best bass players and drummers.
The elder statesmen Clipper Anderson and Mark Ivester form what Crosara said is his “acoustic group,” while the popular Farko Dosumov and D’Vonne Lewis make up his “fusion trio.”
Finally, Crosara’s “world trio” features Osama Afifi and Xavier LeCouturier, the youngest of the groups.
In this exclusive performance in the KNKX studios, Crosara was joined by Dosumov, Lewis, and saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev. Crosara even lamented, half-joking, “Had I met him (before he recorded Circular Motion), I would have said, let’s do a quartet!”
Extended versions of three great tunes from Crosara’s new album show that his music is constantly changing, always connected to the moment he shares with his fellow musicians and audience.
Look for Crosara’s terrific trio album and the talented pianist in a variety of musical settings around Western Washington – including the hungry jazz fans away from the city lights.
Musicians:
- Francesco Crosara - piano, keyboards
- Alexey Nikolaev - saxophones
- Farko Dosumov - bass
- D'Vonne Lewis - drums
Songs:
- Preludio Flamenco
- Julia's Tango
- One Day Honey, One Day Onions
