Stories of Light and Dark Emanuele Pellegrini

• 1 For Solace 04:51
• 2 The Cassian Veil - intro 01:39
• 3 The Cassian Veil 05:51
• 4 A Simple Way 06:29
• 5 Promise Everything 08:39
• 6 Lullaby of Birdland 07:47
• 7 The Words It Takes to Say I Love You 04:02
• 8 The Words It Takes to Say I Love You - outro 01:00
• 9 Archimedes Screw (Live) 08:07
• 10 All the Things You Are (Live) 10:51
• Total Runtime 59:16

Info for Stories of Light and Dark

“Stories of Light and Dark” is the new album by Italian pianist and composer Emanuele Pellegrini (currently based in Amsterdam) and his trio. It traces a path through shifting landscapes of sound—where silence breathes, and melody emerges like memory. Each piece is a quiet exploration, a dialogue between clarity and mystery, light and shadow—a journey that unfolds without haste, yet never strays from its course.

Italian pianist and composer Emanuele Pellegrini moved from the countryside of Umbria to study at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. There, he developed a distinctive style marked by a preference for minimalism and intricate soundscapes, eventually leading to his album Stories of Light and Dark (ZenneZ Records).

The music centers on a spacious, meditative sound that simultaneously engages in a “creative conflict” with the jazz tradition. While the trio remains rooted in jazz, they constantly question and challenge its conventions to explore new musical territories.

It is a surprising combination of styles that fuels the creativity of this trio.The background in the tradition of jazz music is certainly the pivot that get things moving around, however the music that this band gives birth to each time, sounds like a contradiction to that. A "creative conflict" with Jazz is indeed deeply rooted in the soul of Emanuele, Alessandro and Nick. A conflict that manifests into the questioning every aspect of what a Jazz piano trio is expected to sound like. This process launched the band into uncharted musical territories made of dynamics and colours. A sonic expedition that invites the audience into an expressive journey through spacious landscapes, where each note unfolds a new chapter of storytelling. The trio got together in the midst of the Covid pandemics, recording their first album "Gadgets".

Emanuele Pellegrini, piano
Alessandro Fongaro, double bass
Nick Thessalonikefs, drums

Emanuele Pellegrini
Pianist, composer and teacher Emanuele Pellegrini grew up in Casteltodino, an Italian countryside village in Umbria, Italy. From early age he showed remarkable interest and talent for music, starting from simple improvisations at the piano.

Soon he started his pianistic studies, first with the local teacher, then starting his academic path in the Conservatorio A.Casella in L'Aquila. At the same time his early career as a pianist was taking shape in a series of collaborations, with the Terni Jazz Orchestra, with Quarteto do Sol and with AQ-PD Crossing Quartet, all leading to discographic works and live performances.

After receiving his Bachelor in Jazz Music he moved to Amsterdam and started studying at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam where he had the chance to deepen his pianistic skills. His teachers of choice were Karel Boehlee and Harmen Fraanje. After moving to the Dutch city his artistic identity has enriched from the wide spectrum of inputs given by the surroundings. At the same time his musical view reached a new level of maturity and solidity showing a remarkable taste for minimalism, decontextualization of sounds and detailed soundscapes.

In Amsterdam he received his Bachelor and Masters in Piano Jazz, with a research titled "Non-narrative music" investigating the possibilities of musical texture in improvisation.

In the same years he also collected a series of collaborations (Lorenzo Buffa Quintet, I Molluschi, Texture Collective, Orchestrina Meraviglia) of which some led to a number of studio albums (Limpida - Sara Fattoretto 2019; Cozy - Stefano Cosi 2020; Here and now - Nick Kerkhoff 2020; Ambergris - Nicolò Ricci 2021) and major live appearances ( TJO and poet Jack Hirshman live at Miami Bandshell in 2018; CLOD live at BIMHUIS in 2020; IRIS live at BIMHUIS in 2020) His first album as bandleader, "Gadgets" was recorded during the first Covid-19 lockdown and released in June 2022.

In 2021 he was one of the 5 candidates selected for the new class of the Conservatorium van Amsterdam Master Programme in Composition for Film and he's currently exploring the fields of sound synthesis, composition and DAW production.

This album contains no booklet.