Paolo Fresu

Born in 1961 in Berchidda, Sardinia, Paolo Fresu established himself from the 1980s in Italian and European jazz with a trumpet and flugelhorn approach centred on nuance, silence and melody. Trained at the Cagliari conservatory, he developed a musical language that moves between contemporary jazz, Mediterranean lyricism, chamber music and openings toward world music, contemporary creation and electronics. His career has unfolded both as a leader and as a sideman, across several hundred recordings and collaborations with musicians such as Carla Bley, Ralph Towner, Uri Caine, Omar Sosa and Richard Galliano. Fresu also built a lasting collective dynamic with his quintet, active since the mid‑1980s, while pursuing duo, trio and cross‑disciplinary projects for film, theatre and dance. Deeply attached to his native Sardinia, he has directed the Time in Jazz festival in Berchidda since 1988, which has become a meeting point for jazz, sound creation and the local territory.