Filippo Bianchini Luca Mannutza Duo

Filippo Bianchini and Luca Mannutza seek a continuous dialogue, a musical interaction that develops expansive sounds, sometimes very strong and powerful, almost unthinkable for an ensemble like the duo.

Thanks to their technical and musical talent, they take the music to very high, intense levels, as if playing with a larger ensemble.

They also blend in softer, calmer moments, depending on the music's demands.

All this within a musical exploration that tells, in various ways, varied stories.

Rhythm, energy, and melody are the foundations of this musical exploration. The repertoire includes original pieces by both performers, but also by other great musicians such as Seamus Blake, Brad Mehldau, Enrico Pierrannunzi, Toots Thielemans and others.

Filippo Bianchini - Saxophonist:

Filippo Bianchini was born in Orvieto, Italy, but grew up in Rome.

Thanks to his father's record collection and a family friend, he began studying music at the age of 7.

At 10, he began playing the tenor saxophone. Shortly after, he began his first saxophone lessons with Mauro Verrone, who introduced him to the great music of Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Massimo Urbani, and many others.

He graduated in 2007, receiving the highest grade (10/10) from the Perugia Conservatory.

In September 2007, he moved to Holland, where he earned a Master's degree in Jazz Saxophone from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. (AJA)

He had the opportunity to study with such greats as John Ruocco, David Liebman, John Ellis, Barry Harris, Simon Righter, Max Ionata, Ramberto Ciammarughi, Rosario Giuliani, Bob Mover, Tivonne Pennicott, Mike Manieri, Teddy Charles, Greg Hutchinson, Gilad Hekselman, Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Chris Cheek, Reggie Workman, Billy Harper, Joel Frahm, Donny McCaslin, Udo Van Boven, Erik Doelman, and many more. He released four albums under his own name:

Disorder at the Border (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtjaBbqwPpA&t=41s

Le Voyage (2017)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmIxJimOT6Y

Sounds of Beauty (2019)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv3XgehHg5Q

A tu per Tu (2022)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yb7Sq-ulU0

Mood Indigo September 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1cyKUp-IOw

All produced entirely by the Belgian label "September". 

He performs at major festivals and venues such as:

North Sea Jazz Fest, The Hague Jazz, Umbria Jazz, Terni in Jazz, Duke Jazz Festival, Peperonciono Jazz Fest, Grey Cat Jazz Fest, Casa del Jazz in Rome, Tuscia in Jazz, Fara Jazz, Grand Tour Jazz Fest, Macerata Jazz Fest, Victoria Jazz Festival, Gezzziamoci in Matera, Pinocchio Jazz Club, Urbino Jazz Club, Sounds Jazz Club, Music Village Jazz Club, Padova Jazz Festival, Italian Jazz Festival in Brussels, Alexanderplatz Jazz Club in Rome, and many others.

He has performed in Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Finland, New York, the United Kingdom, and Croatia.

He has won numerous awards, including the 2012 European Jimmy Wood Award for Tuscia at Jazz Fest - Best for Best Saxophonist and Best Band. He reached the finals of the 2012 Rotary Jazz Award and the 2009-2011 Fara Sabina Jazz Competition. COLLABORATIONS

Among the most important collaborations there are musicians such as:

Steve Grossman, Andy Gravish, Reggie Workmam, Billy Harper, Ack van Rooyen, Eric Ineke, John Ruocco, Bert Joris, Jean Louis Rassinfosse, Nicola Andreoli, Jean Paul Estievenart, Peter Vermeersch, Erik Dooelman, Daniele Tittarelli, Francesco Satolli, Carlo Atti, Mauro Verrone, Joe LaBarbera, Armando Luongo, Domenico Sanna, Rosario Giuliani, Igor Spallati, Ugo Alunni, Rodolfo Neves, Daniele Cappucci,

Lorenzo Agnifili, Angelo Lazzeri, Antonello Sorrentino, Enrico Zanisi,

Pietro Cincaglini, Alessandro Bravo, Nicola Sergio, Marco Collazzoni, Gwilym Simcock, Norma Winstone, Sid Jacobs, Marco Tamburini, Rosario Bonaccorso, Adam Pache, Vincenzo Florio, Marco Bardoscia, Mario Raja, Maurizio Giammarco, Claudio Filippini, A. Cohen, Roberto Gatto, Andrea Rea, Riccardo Fassi, Pietro Iodice, Antonello Salis and many others.

He has recorded several albums as a sideman in different projects.

LUCA MANNUTZA

was born in Cagliari in 1968. He began his musical career at a very young age, thanks to his father, who gave him his first lessons when he was only 4 years old.

Classical studies began at the age of 6. In 1979, he enrolled at the "G.P. da Palestrina" Conservatory in Cagliari, graduating with excellent grades at the age of 18.

After years of diverse experience, including with progressive rock and fusion bands, he turned to jazz in 1990, emphasizing a natural predisposition for improvisation and creativity.

The intensity of his musical activity in this field began to grow two years later, when he began playing with Argentinian saxophonist Hector Costita and met New York trumpeter Andy Gravish, with whom he continues to collaborate.

In 1993, he also began performing alongside the best Italian jazz musicians, including Paolo Fresu, Emanuele Cisi, Maurizio Giammarco, and Bebo Ferra. Among the significant recognitions he received in the jazz competitions he participated in early in his career, he notably won the Ennio Porrino Prize (1981), the Special Jury Mention at the Barga Jazz Competition (2000), First Prize at the Massimo Urbani International Prize (2002), and the Audience Award at the Tramplin Jazz International Competition in Avignon, France, as a member of saxophonist Max Ionata's quartet (2002). Furthermore, in 2002 in Paris, he qualified for the final round of the Martial Solal International Competition, the most prestigious jazz competition dedicated to jazz. In addition to playing solo piano, he plays in a duo with saxophonist Max Ionata and drummer Lorenzo Tucci (Lunar duo), and in a trio with Luca Bulgarelli and Nicola Angelucci. He also co-leads the Sound Advice quintet with Andy Gravish, which includes Marcello di Leonardo, Luca Bulgarelli, and Max Ionata, and leads a sextet, Sound Six, with Max Ionata, Andy Gravish, Paolo Recchia, Andrea Nunzi, and Renato Gattone. Since 2002, he has been part of many important projects of drummer Roberto Gatto, with whom he has performed in numerous international concerts, making recordings for several albums. Since 2002, he has collaborated continuously with Fabrizio Bosso, as organist and pianist. He is part of the High Five, the group that most represents the success of Italian jazz worldwide, with the best-selling albums Five for Fun (Blue Note/EMI Italia 2007) and Handful of Soul (Schema 2006) with Mario Biondi.

He collaborates with American trumpeter Jeremy Pelt.

Luca Mannutza combines his intense live activity with that of arranger for various artists and record projects, including Mario Biondi, Rosalia de Souza, Filippo Tirincanti, and Lorenzo Tucci. Luca Mannutza has performed in the most important Italian jazz clubs (Torrione Jazz Club, Cantina Bentivoglio, Alexanderplatz, Blue Note Milano, Pinocchio Jazz Club, and many others) and around the world (Blue Note Tokyo, Blue Note Osaka, Sunset and Sunside Paris, Bimhuis Amsterdam, Pizza Express London, Smoke New York, Fat Cat New York), and has participated in numerous events and festivals hosted by prestigious institutions such as Casa del Jazz (Rome), Umbria Jazz, Villacelimontana Jazz, Moncalieri Jazz, Pescara Jazz Festival, Ancona Summer Jazz Festival, Rome Jazz Festival, Form and Poetry of Jazz (Cagliari), Bologna Jazz Festival, Padova Jazz Festival, Grey Cat Festival, Odio Summer Festival, Vicenza Jazz, Crossroads Festival, and many others in Italy and around the world (Italian Jazz in New York, Shanghai 2010, Jakarta Jazz). Festival, Dubai Jazz Festival, Parc Floral Paris, Italian Jazz in Beijing).

He has performed with the most important Italian and international jazz musicians:

(Rava, Fresu, Bosso, Boltro, Tamburini, Amato, Scannapieco, Cisi,

Giammarco, Bonisolo, Giuliani, DiBattista, Gatto, Sferra, Bonaccorso,

B. Casini, Ferra, J. Pelt, J. Frahm, S. Grossman, J. D. Allen, G. Cleaver,

D. Burno, B. Hart, C. Cheek, A. Pinciotty, E. Zigmund) and many others. Many newspapers and major specialized magazines (Jazzit, Musica Jazz, Swing Journal, Jazz Magazine, All About Jazz) have reviewed his work, with record labels highlighting their expertise.