We are happy to introduce the last part of our programme. This year the Italian Fusion Festival hosts, for the first time, a Jam Session.
A jam session is an informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To “jam” is to improvise music without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements, except for when the group is playing well-known jazz standards or covers of existing popular songs.
One source for the phrase “jam session” came about in the 1920s when white and black musicians would congregate after their regular paying gigs to play the jazz they could not play in the “Paul Whiteman” style bands they played in. When Bing Crosby attended these sessions, the musicians would say he was “jammin’ the beat,” since he would clap on the one and the three. Thus these sessions became known as “jam sessions.”
The jam sessions in Dublin started about 9 years ago, organised weekly, to play jazz standards in a relaxed atmosphere and to create a community of musicians in Dublin. The person who came up with the idea is an Italian, Marco Santaroni, who from the beginning involved some musicians in the organization (including Marco Francescangeli who is looking after the session at the festival). It was initially at the Grand Social, later moved to various other places (International Bar, Music café, Bohemian bar in Phibsboro, Hot Spot in Greystones). The jams are free, and very inclusive and accessible. Find musicians of all levels: professionals, hobbyists, and students. There is a Facebook page and a Meetup group to promote/organise the jams.
Here are the musicians who take part in the jam session at the Italian Fusion Festiva: Marco Francescangeli, Luisa Annibali, Riccardo Marenghi, Dario Rodighiero, Graham Wood, Maciej Blizinski, Johannes Aspman, Ken Hall, Andy Smith, Marion Smith, Mary Murphy, Enid Conaghan.
The Jazz & Pizza edition Lineup 2022 in 12 Videos
/in Blog, Music /by IFF7PM – Almonte & Molina – A Guitar Duologue
8PM – Luisa Annibali Band
9PM – Maja Elliott Ensemble
10PM Antoni O’Breskey – Nomadic Piano Project
11:30PM – Jam Session
Winner Short Video Competition 2022
/in Blog, Video /by IFFA Decent Proposal by Cathal Feeney is the winner of the Short Video Competition at the Italian Fusion Festival 2022.
All videos are been projected on the 2nd of July during the Italian Fusion Festival. The winner was announced during the event and was awarded with a plaque and a small cash price.
Motivation: “‘A decent proposal’ encompasses the true spirit of the Italian Fusion Festival as it really represents a fusion of the Italian and the Irish culture with members of the cast and the crew coming from both countries. The cinematic language develops through the use of a wide range of different shoots creating the right pace for the physical acting that characterizes this work. The storyline unravels through the tale of two voices over and is truly delivered by the original score able to grasp the light and refreshing sense of the urban comedy of the video.”
Cathal Feeney started filmmaking when he joined the Dublin Filmmakers film club in Dublin in 2011. In the intervening period, he has worked on numerous short films in various roles, although mainly as a writer and director. The Interview was his first film followed by Oh. Oh was made as part of a 72-hour challenge at the Offline film festival in Offaly where it took first place. His filmmaking style would lean toward comedy.
Shame by Chiara Provenzano, with 51,88% of the votes, won the Audience Award
Photos Jazz & Pizza Edition 2022
/in Blog /by IFFCredits: Maurizio Pittau
Credits: Gaia Garofalo
Credits: Felice Luca Maglione
Credits: Shauna Donnelly
TV programmes at the festival
/in Blog, Press /by IFFThe Italian Fusion Festival will host a TV crew of the Italian TV program “Little Big Italy” this evening. The TV crew interviewed the festival coordinators at the Italian Institute of Culture this morning. The scenes recorded at the festival and the interviews will be part of the TV show and more precisely of the section of the TV show “Italians in the city”, where events and activities of Italians abroad are shown. Little Big Italy is an Italian television program produced by Magnolia and broadcast by Nove (part of Warner Bros. / Discovery). The TV program is led by restaurateur Francesco Panella, who visits a different city for each episode in search of the best Italian restaurant.
At the festival, we will host also Declan Cassidy and his crew. Cassidy is making a television documentary about the Italian community in Ireland. The director of the festival Maurizio Pittau was interviewed by Declan as well at the Near FM radio studios.Declan Cassidy is a director and producer in Irish film and television. A founding member of the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA Awards), Declan Cassidy began his film career in the documentary genre and in 2021 Cassidy founded EurAV European Audio Visual CLG, a not-for-profit company that works to promote media literacy, climate action and social inclusion through community media provision and training.
Jam Session
/in Blog, Music, Performance /by IFFWe are happy to introduce the last part of our programme. This year the Italian Fusion Festival hosts, for the first time, a Jam Session.
A jam session is an informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To “jam” is to improvise music without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements, except for when the group is playing well-known jazz standards or covers of existing popular songs.
One source for the phrase “jam session” came about in the 1920s when white and black musicians would congregate after their regular paying gigs to play the jazz they could not play in the “Paul Whiteman” style bands they played in. When Bing Crosby attended these sessions, the musicians would say he was “jammin’ the beat,” since he would clap on the one and the three. Thus these sessions became known as “jam sessions.”
The jam sessions in Dublin started about 9 years ago, organised weekly, to play jazz standards in a relaxed atmosphere and to create a community of musicians in Dublin. The person who came up with the idea is an Italian, Marco Santaroni, who from the beginning involved some musicians in the organization (including Marco Francescangeli who is looking after the session at the festival). It was initially at the Grand Social, later moved to various other places (International Bar, Music café, Bohemian bar in Phibsboro, Hot Spot in Greystones). The jams are free, and very inclusive and accessible. Find musicians of all levels: professionals, hobbyists, and students. There is a Facebook page and a Meetup group to promote/organise the jams.
Here are the musicians who take part in the jam session at the Italian Fusion Festiva: Marco Francescangeli, Luisa Annibali, Riccardo Marenghi, Dario Rodighiero, Graham Wood, Maciej Blizinski, Johannes Aspman, Ken Hall, Andy Smith, Marion Smith, Mary Murphy, Enid Conaghan.
Short Video Competition 2022 Finalists
/in Blog, Video, Visual Art /by IFFWe are happy to present the finalists of the Short Video Competition 2022. All videos will be projected on the 2nd of July during the Italian Fusion Festival. The winner will be announced during the event and will be awarded with a plaque and a small cash price.
The Plait by Chiara Viale
Chiara Viale is an Italian born writer, director and producer based in Ireland. After obtaining a degree in English as a Foreign Language and Literature in Milan, she went on studying screenwriting in Dublin and began making independent films. Since then she has written, directed and taken part numerous short films. In 2017 she started her first Independent Feature Film ‘The New Music’, which has reached completion in 2019. She is also co-founder of the Dublin based independent production company Built To Fail Productions.
Shame by Chiara Provenzano
Born and bred in Italy, Chiara has cultivated a love for cinema since the age of 11, when she first saw The Lord of the Rings, and she was left in awe. After moving to Dublin 5 years ago, she hasn’t stopped editing: from short films to documentaries to weddings, she loves all art forms. Editing is her true passion!
Stage Fright by Giuseppe Mirabella
Giuseppe Mirabella was born in Naples in 1985. He currently lives in Dublin where he plays in two bands Skakki Blues and Locanda a jazz manouche project. He shot ‘Stage fright’ during the KinoD: an event in Dublin during which filmmakers are asked to create a short movie in 48 hours.
A Decent Proposal by Cathal Feeney
Cathal started film making when he joined the Dublin Filmmakers film club in Dublin in 2011. In the intervening period he has worked on numerous short films in various roles, although mainly as a writer and director. The Interview was his first film followed by Oh. Oh was made as part of a 72 hour challenge at the Offline film festival in Offaly where it took first place. His film making style would lean towards comedy.
Uberman by Alois J.L. Steinmacher
Alois J.L. Steinmacher is 37 and grew up in Kaiserslautern. Being a true faustian spirit he set off to study Philosophy and Law but he eventually graduated from acting school and also medical school after living a while in a French monastery. He started writing and directing mostly comedy shorts and won his first award for his slapstick spy shorts “Styler und Gyler”. “Uberman” is his first Drama on screen and was written during a creative break in Cinque Terre, Italy – a pilot version was shot 2021 with an Italian cast in Dublin. The background idea was to artistically explore the growing pressure of capitalism and migration on human relationships. He currently works at ICU in order to complete his emergency physician training this year. After this he wants to go dead serious about the arts once and for all. His dream is to become the German Adriano Celentano. He lives in Berlin whith his wife and their children.
Vote your favourite video!
The Italian Fusion Festival 2022 is now Sold Out
/in Blog, Tickets /by IFFWe’re delighted that this edition of the Italian Fusion Festival has sold out! Thank you to everyone who has bought tickets. We can’t wait to see you at the fifth edition of the Italian Fusion Festival.
We cannot promise to accommodate all requests, but you can request to add your name to our waiting list by sending an email including your name and surname to info@italianfusionfestival.com We will contact you the day before the event to confirm if we have a space for you.
If you want to receive updates and information about the next edition of the Italian Fusion Festival join our Newsletter.
Maja Elliott Ensemble
/in Blog, Music /by IFFWe are happy to introduce the Ethereal Jazz part of our lineup. This year the Italian Fusion Festival presents Maja Elliott Ensemble.
Maja Elliott’s music takes you on an ethereal journey through Debussy-inspired landscapes infused with classical improvisation, nordic modern jazz, ethnic rhythms and Irish overtones. Maja Elliott is a pianist, singer and composer. Her music incorporates classical, modern jazz, ethnic music and improvisation. She has been featured on Lyric FM on the Blue of the Night. She toured and recorded for 10 years with the performance poet David Tibet of Current 93 and performed alongside Will Auldham and Anohni who wrote, “Maja’s piano playing has touched me. She is so expressive, holding notes in fearless witness to subtle emotions.” She has written music for film soundtracks and co-composed music and played the piano for the film Native with Patrick Bergin.
Ben Prevo was born in Manhattan N.Y. and has been playing gigs and writing and recording songs and sounds for forty-plus years. Guitarist and vocalist Ben brings the integrity and emotional honesty of The Blues to his genre-hopping repertoire of original songs and covers. Known for his quirky style and use of dynamics, Ben has played at many festivals and venues thru the years – The Dublin Temple Bar Blues Festival, Monaghan Harvest Time Jazz Festival, Cork Jazz Festival, The Clifden Arts Festival… and more. Ben has played prestigious venues such as the Ulster Hall, the Gaiety, and the Apollo Theatre; and cities from Munich to San Diego to Woodstock New York. He’s also featured and performed on national and regional Irish radio & TV and Regional New York and Polish TV. He has released four albums—two studios and two lives—and has appeared on several compilations.
Petar Krivitsky is a Bulgarian multi-instrumentalist playing electric guitar, double bass and bass guitar. Currently, he is studying at DCU in Jazz and Contemporary music studies and performing both guitar and double bass.
Info: majaelliott.com
Authentic Italian pizza at the festival
/in Blog, Food /by IFFDeep-pan and soft, thin and crunchy, classic or gourmet, with or without a stuffed crust… however it comes, pizza is a true Italian institution and a symbol of the country the world over.
Italians eat pizza on Saturday or Sunday evenings, after doing sports or watching a game with friends, to celebrate birthdays when as a child – in short, pizza is an integral part of life in Italy from the cradle to the grave and it’s part of the 2022 edition of the Italian Fusion Festival.
A woodfire pizza van will welcome you outside the concert venue to keep you going during this exciting evening of music! With an extra 10€ you can have an Italian automatic pizza with 2 toppings. Delight your hearing and your taste with the special festival entry+pizza ticket to make the most from this experience!
A Limited Standard Ticket + Pizza will be available until the 27 the June 2022 or until sold out.
Italian Fusion – A Visual Art Show
/in Blog, Figurative Art /by IFFThe Opening of the Exhibition “Fusion – A visual Art Show” took place at the Italian Institute of Culture, Dublin yesterday Thursday 16th June.
The exhibition shows works by Giulio Vesprini and Shane O’Driscoll, both street artists, art designers and urban art curators.
The exhibition was introduced by the director of the Italian Institute of Culture, Marco Gioacchini, the director of Radio Dublin and of the Italian Fusion Festival Maurizio Pittau, the curator of the exhibition Cristina Ciampaglione and the street artists Giulio Vedprini and Shahe O ‘Driscoll were present.
The initiative, organised by Radio Dublino is the third exhibit in “The Art of Italian Illustration 2022” series and is part of the Italian Fusion Festival 2022.
The exhibition will be open to the public until 2nd July, Mon-Fri from 10am to 1pm and from 2.30pm to 4.30pm.
Download here the pdf brochure by clicking HERE.