LUCA AQUINO JAZZ BIKE TOUR – Wheels not Walls
From next July, musician Luca Aquino will start his “Jazz Bike Tour”, a road trip with his bike and his trumpet, riding all the way from Benevento to Oslo stopping off at the most important Jazz festivals and the most beautiful places in Europe.
A route through the streets of the Old Continent, from South to North, beyond walls and barriers that currently make the migration of people difficult, when not impossible and dramatic; a journey in the sign of music and its cohesive and edifying power, able to draw cultures nearer and shorten distances between human beings. “Wheels not Walls” is, indeed, the subtitle which goes along Aquino’s project.
In about seventy days, the Samnite jazz musician will cover over 3000 Km on his bike, exploring the distance between his land of origin and the capital of Norway, a musical location that is particularly relevant to him.
“Riding is like blowing in the trumpet – says the musician – and while I am riding the bike I feel the same sensations that I feel when I play my trumpet: you wear your helmet, take a deep breath and suddenly a sense of calm and freedom invades your soul and your body. The bike is like a Miles Davis’ break in the middle of a solo, on a breathtaking fast ”.
Furthermore, to serve as a soundtrack to the “Jazz Bike Tour” there will be Luca Aquino’s new record, titled “ “Aqustico volume 2”.
After the success of “Aqustico”, released in 2013, the trumpet player has chosen to renew is collaboration with accordionist Carmine Ioanna in this new project for the Riverberi label :
nine tracks, all new releases from Luca Aquino with the exception of one signed by Carmine Ioanna, and a Charles Aznavour cover.
On the cover, “Aqustico volume 2” exhibits a work from the artist Mimmo Palladino: on the white background of the cd case, the black trait of the Transadvantgarde master draws a bike.
An ideal reference to the musical tour on two wheels that Aquino will take on up to Oslo.
The idea
Music, nature, cultural heritage and sport: these are the keywords to the “Jazz Bike Tour”.
The project, originated from an idea by Luca Aquino, combines his love for jazz and the passion for landscapes, artistic assets and bike riding. On a journey over 3.000 km long, from Benevento to Oslo, Aquino will ride his bike through places that represent the heart of Europe and, stop after stop he will give life to concerts, show-cases, presentations and collaborations with other musicians, artists, athletes, nature lovers and just plain curious bystanders. Every stop will be followed by a film crew and a press office in order to recount the bike tour moment by moment..
The bicycle
The bicycle is the symbol of sporting values and sustainable tourism. It is a “green” environment friendly passion that facilitates the appreciation of landscapes and the historical and artistic features of the places that are encountered along the journeys on two wheels.
Whether in the city or in the countryside, it represents a healthy habit that, at any age, does not stop arousing enthusiasm. The “Jazz Bike Tour” represents an opportunity to put adults and children in contact with cycle tourism, with the possibility of travelling in a non-ordinary manner, discovering unknown places whilst respecting nature.
The places
The central aspect of the “Jazz Bike Tour” is the development, through music, of the historical and cultural identity of the places within the itinerary of the project.
Every stage features a concert by Luca Aquino, along with collateral initiatives created from time to time in cooperation with the participating municipalities, with due regard for the places that host the stages of this musical-cycling tour. Indeed, the “Jazz Bike Tour” is made up of a series of site-specific projects designed by the municipalities and the local cultural organizations so as to allow participants to know and deepen the typical features of every hosting center.
The sound: underlying principle of this initiative Trait d’union of the entire project is the schedule of concerts lead by Luca Aquino.
The trumpet player and composer from Benevento, born in 1974, is amongst the most appreciated Italian jazz musicians within the international context. The taste for experimenting and expressive freedom have taken him a long way, since when, hardly in his twenties, he started his musical journey as self-taught artist. The traveler’s spirit is a perfect metaphor of his artistic journey and it is the expression of his signature style. Furthermore, the passion for sound experimenting and recordings in unusual places constitute two aspects that are largely recognized by the trade press, which describes Aquino as a “contemporary sound explorer”; at the same time, foreign critics see in him that peculiar Italian trait that, in the international imagination, recalls the journey, the creativity, visionary flair and the beauty.
Luca Aquino’s world tours do not interfere with the love that the musician feels for his country, but they do reflect the fate of any traveler, therefore, after every departure toward the unknown that attracts, there is always a return home with new and valuable experiences and, in the case of Aquino with new sonorities.
The places of the world and their history acquire a special value for the Benevento trumpet player and represent the core of some of his best projects. One example is the festival of which he is the artistic director , “Riverberi”, characterized by concerts in places normally foreign to music, exploiting the natural acoustics of the spaces and making it a central element to the performances. “Riverberi” is also the name Luca Aquino gave to his young recording label.
Many of the trumpet player’s albums have been recorded in unusual places, using their natural sonorities: “Amam” (2009) has been realized in the ancient hammam of Skopje, in Macedonia; “The Skopje Connection” ( 2009) in a Dutch church; “Icaro solo” (2010), with the sole use of trumpet and electronics in the deconsecrated church of Saint Augustine in Benevento. The latest extraordinary project signed by him is the album recorded in the archeological site of Petra, in Jordan, in collaboration with the Jordan National Orchestra and with the involvement of the Unesco Amman Office, of the Petra Development and Tourism Authority and the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization – an unprecedented initiative promoted within the World Campaign “Unite for Heritage”, launched by Unesco to defend the artistic and cultural heritage against terrorist crimes.
The objectives Luca Aquino’s creative impulse aims to involve, with the “Jazz Bike Tour”, a growing group of people and to make it become a reference event in the schedule of the national and international initiatives devoted to the enhancement of the natural and cultural heritage through music and sport.
Sponsors and Recognitions
Wilier Triestina has adhered with great enthusiasm to the “Jazz Bike Tour” supplying Aquino with a Gtr Team bike, which the musician will ride during his tour all the way up to Oslo.
As for the clothing, the project is supported by Tiralento, a brand specializing in cycling and historical apparel, and Drunkmunky, the street style California brand .
Lastly, to support the initiative within international settings, there are the Europe Jazz Network, the largest network of Jazz Festivals in the old continent, and the EU, for which Luca
will hold an important musical project linked to environmental sustainability entitled “Take the Green Train” .
Management
The European Agency
Andrea Scaccia
+39 339 298 0936
info@theeuropeanmusicagency.com
Luca – info@lucaaquino.com
