The origins of my music: a cassette player and a small bedroom
I first became interested in music during my secondary school years. My school has always been
very keen to ensure that children and teenagers grow up engaging with the world through
different perspectives: intellectual, practical and artistic. I joined the school choir and orchestra,
starting out on the flute. At the age of fourteen, I held a saxophone in my hands – an alto
saxophone that wasn’t quite in tune – and from that moment on, I’ve never put it down. My high
school years were decisive: I attended the music school in my small town and was able to pursue
this passion alongside new friends with whom I tried to change the world. Perhaps we succeeded
in part, but we certainly never stopped trying.
I was looking for something new: I wrote music and used whatever instruments I had to hand.
Composition was always the starting point, and I’d bring it to life with the sax, the flute or various
other flutes, singing and experimenting with different percussion instruments, which for years
were a great passion of mine. I played world music; I didn’t have a specific genre in mind; I drew
inspiration from here and there. I recorded in my bedroom using a small radio with a built-in
cassette player. Alone, with a few friends, or sometimes with the band. We’d write, decide on a
rough outline, or choose to improvise something. Once I pressed the red ‘Rec’ button, the
performance would begin. I think it all started right then and there. Some of those cassettes are
still at my house and at a few old friends’ homes.
My encounter with jazz, classical music, and jazz once again
It was only towards the end of my high school years that I picked up a CD with just a few words
written on it: “Parker and Dizzy”. It was at that moment that I thought: “Wow, can you really play
the saxophone like that?” It was Charlie Parker’s music filling the room. That music had grabbed
me.
In those days, I began to ask myself questions about music and the instrument: questions that
found answers over time, generating just as many about life and people. My listening shifted
towards a specific genre: jazz! Although it was almost all-consuming at first, over the years it has
allowed me to rediscover and listen to all musical genres with an interest and a light-heartedness
that remind me of my earliest listening experiences. Ah, that first nameless record! Years later, I
would discover it was the 1947 live recording at Carnegie Hall. The very one featuring Parker’s
iconic four bars at the start of his solo on ‘Night in Tunisia’. Curiosity, a thirst for knowledge and the
need to communicate the emotions I had developed over the previous years drove me to
definitively choose the path of music.
After leaving school, I enrolled at the “Civica Scuola di Jazz” in Milan under the guidance of
Maestro Giulio Visibelli, and the following year at the “G. Verdi” Conservatoire in Milan, where I
studied classical saxophone with Maestros Marco Bontempo, Mario Marzi and Daniele Comoglio,
graduating six years later with top marks. During these years, I was privileged to play in orchestras,
performing as a tenor saxophonist in several performances of Ravel’s Boléro with the Milan
Conservatoire orchestra and other orchestras in northern Italy, and as an alto saxophonist in two
operas by Sciarrino. At the same time, the aspect that I continued to pursue with the greatest
dedication was jazz music, which brought about the formation of various groups and my
participation as lead alto saxophonist in several big bands. I finally began to make my mark on the
Italian jazz scene, meeting various musicians who are still by my side today and specializing myself
through numerous masterclasses and seminars. The Siena Jazz seminars in 2014 and 2015 with
great musicians such as Mark Turner, Ben Wendel, Walter Smith III and Ambrose Akinmusire, and
Ramberto Ciammarughi’s advanced jazz training courses in 2016 were crucial moments that gave
me the right motivation to leave Italy and move to Barcelona. Ramberto remains one of my
mentors, one of the most important ‘musical fathers’ I have ever met, who understood me and
guided me. Thank you!
Barcelona and the ‘Yellowland Collective’
My time in Spain was a unique and formative experience, allowing me to engage with a vibrant
global scene – one that was incredibly sunny (which is the reason I chose Barcelona) and of the
very highest standard. Meeting the young talents on the city’s scene led to great friendships and
the formation of one of my groups, to which I remain very attached. “Yellowland Collective” was
born right there, and partly it’s down to those legendary yellow trousers of mine that I used to
wear every other day. I wrote “Yellow Loud Things” in 2017 for my Master’s Degree thesis in jazz
performance at ESMUC under the guidance of Lluis Vidal, one of my favourite composers and
arrangers, and another person who is fundamental to me: the saxophonist Gorka Benitez, to whom
I dedicated “Room 303”, a track on the album.
Back to Italy: new creative paths
On my return to Italy, I found a new atmosphere, which has fostered key encounters and the
forging of lasting bonds and stable bands. I currently lead the projects Gianluca Zanello Mòmo,
Gianluca Zanello Ùmia and Yellowland Collective. As a co-leader, I collaborate on the projects I am
a fish and Corner of Roses (together with Simone Locarni, Marco Rottoli and Stefano Grasso). As a
sideman, I am part of various ensembles, including: the Giovanni Falzone Quintet, Stefano
Zambon’s MutatuM, Federico Calcagno’s Dolphians, Francesca Remigi’s Archipelagos, Tino
Tracanna’s Panorchestra, and Vittorio Gravagna’s Rosmarino.
I have had the pleasure of sharing the stage and collaborating with leading figures on the national
and international jazz scene, such as Steven Bernstein, Jonathan Finlayson, Fabrizio Bosso,
Ramberto Ciammarughi, Alfonso Santimone, Pino Iodice, Walter Ricci, Natanael Ramos, Paola Folli,
Attilio Zanchi, Massimo Colombo, Ferdinando Romano, Francesca Remigi, Anais Drago and Yuri
Goloubev.
This period has been marked by significant recognition in prestigious competitions, including the
Chicco Bettinardi Award, the Barga Jazz Competition, Nuova Generazione Jazz, the Jazz Juniors
Contest, the Milan Conservatory Award (Category E – Jazz) and the one-off composition prize with
a scholarship dedicated to Maestro Federico Ermirio.
My concert career has taken me to perform at internationally recognised festivals and events: from
the Blue Note in Milan to the Jazz Book in Bucharest, via Bergamo Jazz, the Edinburgh Jazz Festival,
Pisa Jazz, La Grande Notte del Jazz at the Teatro Grande in Brescia, the Casa del Jazz in Rome,
Macerata Jazz, the Jamboree Jazz Club, the Nova Jazz Cava in Terrassa, the NOSPR Theatre in
Katowice and the UNESCO International Jazz Day at the Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi.
Despite my numerous artistic commitments, on my return to Italy my desire to deepen my
knowledge remained undiminished. Having overcome the social and professional stagnation
caused by the pandemic, in 2023 I obtained a master’s degree in Jazz Saxophone with top marks
from the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Milan, under the guidance of Maestro Tino Tracanna.
This achievement motivated me to embark on a new course in Composition and Arrangement in
Genova with one of my long-standing artistic mentors, Maestro Paolo Silvestri. These three years
were filled with composition, deep reflection and new perspectives that consolidated my creative
identity. On 16 March 2026, I concluded this wonderful experience by graduating with 110 cum
laude.
My research led to the creation of a new suite for Big Band, which will be added to the discography
of my Mòmo project. For the occasion, the music was performed by the Mòmostrokes project,
which toured various jazz clubs and theatres in Northern Italy in March 2026.
Teaching: a social commitment
Alongside my concert career, I have cultivated a passion for teaching for many years and currently
hold the title of Professor of Jazz Saxophone at the “G. Nicolini” Conservatoire in Piacenza. I
believe that teaching and performing are two inseparable worlds: they feed off one another,
helping me to maintain a firm focus on the social and cultural commitment of my personal and
musical journey.
Thanks to the experience I have gained with students of all ages, I have developed my own method
for introductory music lessons and a saxophone method (to be published shortly), aimed
specifically at children aged between 4 and 10. In addition, I am refining a method for learning jazz
and improvisation, which I am already applying successfully with my students at the Conservatory.