Stockholm-based Italian bassist/composer Ilaria Capalbo is a fast rising star on the international jazz scene. Equally at ease building hard-swinging lines and improvising on the whole spectrum of the instrument, she is gifted with a nuanced musicality which makes her a sought-after session musician. Her rich bass tone, nimble phrasing and thoughtful melodicism are the foundations on which she builds up a sound of her own. She is also a composer who tirelessly explores different creative avenues, from solo to orchestras.
Aside from leading her own band, a larger ensemble that expands from quintet to septet, she is a member of Blue Note/Verve pianist Chihiro Yamanaka’s European Trio, one of the co-leaders of Italian trio KÓSMOS and bass player with Fredrik Nordström’s DOLORES. She has so far shared the stage with Norma Winstone, Stefano di Battista, Cassie Kinoshi and SEED Ensemble, Susanna Risberg, Karin Hammar, Andreas Hourdakis, Thomas Backman, Tobias Wiklund among others and performed original work at Royal Albert Hall, Auditorium Parco della Musica, Casa del Jazz, Blue Note Milano and at prominent clubs and jazz festivals in Italy and Europe. She has composed on commission for Nobel Museum, for Sweden’s leading contemporary dance company Cullberg and for the festival Explorations of Now. In 2018, she performed for Wayne Shorter at KMH’s Auditorium in a tribute to his music on occasion of his Polar Prize.
Her latest project as a leader, critically acclaimed Karthago, was released in January 2022 and has been described as “a mature sounding, seductive work of immediacy, depth and beauty” (I. Patterson). The band gives life to music with a narrative depth, as though outlining a story. The tunes are crafted at the intersection between free improvisation, rock riff-building and echoes of contemporary classical repertoire and the band delivers them through a cohesive and fearless sound.
Ilaria lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
“Warm character, vintage feel, crystal clear tone: Markbass is the perfect complement to my sound on double and electric bass”.
—ILARIA CAPALBIO—
photo: ©Antonio Baiano
“CAPALBO’S WRITING IS LUSH […] HER RICH BASS TONE, DELICATE TOUCH, AND THOUGHTFUL MELODICISM TIE IT ALL TOGETHER INTO A COHESIVE SOUND. A STUNNING DEBUT.”— KEVIN JOHNSON, NO TREBLE
“IT IS ALWAYS A JOY TO ENCOUNTER FOR THE FIRST TIME A MUSICIAN WHO SOUNDS SO FRESH AND ORIGINAL AND WHOSE MUSIC IS SUCH A DELIGHT. […] IT BOLSTERS ONE’S FAITH IN THE FUTURE OF JAZZ.”— CHRIS MAY, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
“ITALIAN BASSIST ILARIA CAPALBO IS A FAST RISING STAR, BOTH ON THE SWEDISH JAZZ SCENE AND INTERNATIONALLY.”
— SVERIGES RADIO P2, JAZZKATTEN SPECIAL, 2021
“ILARIA CAPALBO IS RAPIDLY EMERGING AS ONE OF ITALY’S MOST BRILLIANT BASS PLAYERS.” — EUGENIO MIRTI, JAZZIT
