Valentina Piccioni
Born in Rome, Valentina Piccioni began her musical studies under her father, Piero Piccioni the jazz musician and composer.
His works include over 300 soundtracks for films directed by, amongst others, Rosi, Visconti, Antonioni, Bertolucci, Scola and Sordi.
Working alongside her father, she sang, played the piano and prepared music items for television and radio.
In Florence, where she grew up, she studied first pianoforte and then singing with Liliana Poli and Benedetta Pecchioli.
After winning a scholarship to study at Rutgers University, New Jersey (U.S.A.), she graduated summa cum laude in Modern Arts majoring in Music and Performing Arts, with Mario Bortolotto, in Rome, with a thesis on Louis Moreau Gottschalk and the origins of Afro-American music.
In New York, where she lived for three years, she sang Jazz-Brazilian music in well-known clubs, and took part in recordings with American jazz musicians.
Since 2004 she has collaborated with the jazz quintet of Rogério Botter Maio, Brazilian composer and doublebass player.
She recorded on Rogério Botter Maio’s latest cd, “Prazer da espera”, and took part in his Brazilian and European tours (including The Hague, Zurich, Basel and Paris).
In São Paulo, in Brazil, where she lived for four months, she also recorded pieces by her father and Brazilian composers.
At present she is working with her quintet on a project re-proposing melodies by her father in a jazz setting.
Others involved are Rogério Botter Maio, who is also working on the arrangements, Claudio Corvini on trumpet, Gianni Savelli on saxophone, Alessandro Galati on piano and Alessandro Fabbri on drums.