Band Au Neon DUO - Italian jazz at its finest from two musical equilibrists, great playmates and friends.

We have invited the fabulous resident Sicilian pianist, composer and accordionist, Francesco Calì, to come and play a duo concert with Paolo.

Paolo and Francesco have been playing together in Paolo’s Trio, Band Au Neon for many years, performing many concerts around Europe and have released 3 albums.

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BAND AU NEON was born originally as a trio in 2003, under the leadership of Italian-born and Copenhagen-based piano and bandoneon player and composer Paolo Russo, featuring two Denmark-resident Italian musicians: Fabrizio Mandolini on saxophone and Francesco Calì on piano and accordion. The trio experienced a blooming live activity across Scandinavia for many years and released their first album ”Oltretango” in 2005. Later on, Nico Gori on clarinet replaced the saxophone adding an even deeper tone to the sound of the band. The trio Band Au Neon then released two more albums, live recordings from concerts in Denmark: ”Il segreto” and ”Fellini Goes Jazz” (this last one extended to a quintet, featuring Emanuele Cisi on tenor sax and Jesper Bodilsen on contrabass).

On this occasion, it will be presented as a more intimate duo format, where Francesco Calì and Paolo Russo will interpret the music from their successful albums, as well as recently composed original tunes and classical evergreens from the Italian and Latin jazz repertoire.

About Francesco Calì:

Francesco Calì is an Italian composer, pianist and accordionist based in Copenhagen (Denmark) since 2003. He began his professional career at the age of 12 playing the accordion and after some years he entered the Conservatory V. Bellini in Catania (Italy) graduating both in Classical Piano and Classical Composition, all the while also performing as a jazz pianist and accordionist. In 2000 he won the international competition Pépinières Européennes pour Jeunes Artistes, obtaining a residency in Copenhagen, where he attended classes at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory. As a composer and arranger, Francesco Calì has written works for a wide variety of instrumental and vocal combinations. He is a member of several Copenhagen based jazz projects and features on more than 70 albums during his long career.