Dado Moroni

Edgardo Dado Moroni, born in Genoa, Italy on October 20, 1962, was exposed to jazz music very early, thanks to his parents’ record collection and he started playing piano at age 4.

Basically self taught, Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum and Erroll Garner were his very first influences and Dado tried to learn their solos by ear until, at age 11, he met local pianist Flavio Crivelli who gave him a more formal training, also introducing him to the music of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell and more contemporary pianists such as Wynton Kelly, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner.

From age 14 Dado started playing professionally all throughout Italy with some of the most important Italian players like Franco Cerri, Tullio De Piscopo, Luciano Milanese, Gianni Basso, Sergio Fanni and Massimo Urbani and at 17 he recorded his first album in trio with Tullio De Piscopo and American bassist Julius Farmer.

In 1979 the encounter with Swiss trumpet star Franco Ambrosetti introduced Dado to the international jazz scene and since then he has performed and recorded with some of the most important musicians such as:
Dizzy Gillespie, Chet Baker, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, Joe Magnarelli, Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Randy Brecker, Freddie Hubbard, Fabrizio Bosso, Tom Harrell, Franco Ambrosetti, Till Bronner, Terrell Stafford, Harry Edison, Enrico Rava, Jon Faddis, Bert Joris, Fabio Morgera, Woody Shaw, Paolo Fresu, Flavio Boltro, Marco Tamburini, Clifford Jordan, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Johnny Griffin, Jim Snidero, James Moody, Bob Mintzer, Maurizio Giammarco, Chris Potter, Gary Bartz, Jed Levy, Robert Bonisolo, Zoot Sims, Stefano Bedetti, Al Cohn, Sam Rivers, Daniele Scannapieco, Eric Alexander, Seamus Blake, Rick Margitza, Arnett Cobb, Michael Rosen,  Joe Henderson, Jesse Davis, Steve Wilson, Lew Tabackin, Bobby Watson, Buddy De Franco, Rosario Giuliani, Frank Wess, Vincent Herring, Stefano Di Battista, George Robert, Slide Hampton, Curtis Fuller, Robin Eubanks, Gianluca Petrella, Peter Bernstein, Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Barney Kessel, Alessio Menconi, Martin Taylor, Lionel Hampton, Joe Locke, David Friedman, Terry Gibbs, Hendrik Meurkens, Lesa Terry, Ron Carter, Luca Bulgarelli, Buster Williams, Ray Brown, Jimmy Woode, Red Mitchell, Jimmy Haslip, Wilbur Little, Reggie Johnson, Ray Drummond, John Clayton, Marco Panascia, Darryl Hall, Isla Eckinger, Peter Washington, Dennis Irwin, Nilson Matta, Ira Coleman, Niels Henning Oersted Pedersen, Furio Di Castri, George Mraz, Bob Cranshaw, Pierre Boussaguet, Dieter Ilg, Paolino Dalla Porta, Ed Howard, Percy Heath, Giuseppe Bassi, Rosario Bonaccorso, Essiet Essiet, Joris Teepe, Hein Van Der Geyn, Kenny Clarke, Art Taylor, Billy Higgins, Lewis Nash, Billy Drummond, Leon Parker, Ben Riley, Adam Nussbaum, Byron “Wookie” Landham, Benjamin Henocq, Terri Lyne Carrington, Billy Hart, Eliot Zigmund, Connie Kay, Mark Taylor, Adam Cruz, Louis Hayes, Vernel Fournier, Peter Erskine, Billy Cobham, Wolfgang Haffner, Jimmy Cobb, Duduka Da Fonseca, Alvin Queen, Bill Goodwin, Daniel Humair, Jeff Hamilton, Sam Woodyard, Giampiero Prina, Shelly Manne, Fabrizio Sferra, Idris Muhammad, Roberto Gatto, Adrienne West, Carla Cook, Barbara Casini, Roberta Gambarini, Danila Satragno and many others, as well as duets with pianists like Kenny Barron, John Hicks, Enrico Pieranunzi, Andrea Pozza.

In 1987 Dado had the honor to be called to serve as a judge ( the others being Sir Roland Hanna, Roger Kellaway, Barry Harris and Hank Jones ) for the First Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, won by pianist Marcus Roberts and held at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. and in the same year he recorded his first New York album for the EMARCY label, RON CARTER PRESENTS DADO MORONI ( with Ron Carter – bass, Grady Tate – drums and Gene Bertoncini – guitar ).<p>

In 1988 as member of the Alvin Queen Jazz Sextet, he did a 5 week tour of Africa, organized by the U.S. State Department and in 1991, as member of the George Robert Quartet ( George Robert – altosax, Isla Eckinger – bass and Peter Schmidlin – drums ) he did a 5 month tour that included the U.S.A. , Canada, Hawaii, South East Asia, India and the United Arab Emirates. In that same year Dado moved to the U.S. and became part of the New York jazz scene appearing regularly at the most prestigious clubs like the Blue Note, Birdland, Bradley’s, Visiones, Sweet Basil, both as a leader and a sideman, as well as participating in several recordings.

In 1994 bass legend Ray Brown invited Dado to join fellow pianists Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Benny Green and Geoff Keezer for the recording of a Cd for the TELARC label entitled ” SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE…THE PIANO PLAYERS” and Dado’s rendition of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” caught the critics’ attention. In 1995 Dado was invited to perform at the Concord/Mount Fuji Jazz Festival during a three week tour of Japan which also featured the Ray Brown Trio, the Modern Jazz Quartet and the Concord All Stars. Ten years later, in 2005 Dado returned to Japan to be part of the 9th edition of “100 Gold Fingers” a Japanese production dedicated to the piano, which featured Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron, Junior Mance, Ray Bryant, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Cyrus Chestnut, Don Friedman, Benny Green and Eric Reed, along with bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Grady Tate.

In 2006 it is important to remember the exhibition of Dado’s Trio at the famous New York club, Birdland, with Peter Washington (cb) e Lewis Nash (drums).
In 2007 Dado started a new wonderful collaboration with Tom Harrell, that produced two recordings for Abeat label, “The Cube” in sextet and “Humanity” in duo that received several prizes.
In 2009 Dado recorded a piano solo album, “SoloDado”, that earned him the Top Jazz Award, as best pianist of the year.
In 2010 two other productions were made: “La vita è bella”, Abeat Records, with Bob Mintzer, Riccardo Fioravanti e Joe La Barbera, “Shapes” Tcb Records, with Peter Washingotn and Enzo Zirilli, “Stepping on stars”, Egea, with Joe Locke and Rosario Giuliani. In the same year, in October, Dado performed at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York, with his quintet, formed by Joe Locke at the vibraphone, Jed Levy at the sax and flute, Peter Washingotn at the bass and Billy Drummond at the drums. Later that year, Dado became Professor of Piano at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin.
In 2011 he signed a recording contract with Resonance Records, which published his album “Live in Beverly Hills”, with Marco Panascia on bass and Peter Erskine on drums.
In 2012 Dado, in duo with tenorist Max Ionata, recorded “Two for Duke”, produced by Via Veneto Jazz / Jandomusic, and in May of the same year he was invited to the Vicenza Jazz Festival, with fellow pianists Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Barron, for a tribute to the music of Theloniuous Monk. In July, pianist Eric Reed was added to the formation and they performed at San Sebastian Jazz Festival, in Spain.
In 2014 Dado made a tribute to John Coltrane’s music with a CD titled “Five for John”, Via Veneto Jazz / Jandomusic, with Joe Locke on vibes, Alvin Queen on drums, Marco Panascia on bass and Max Ionata on sax. This project was presented with a two weeks tour all over Europe. In the same year, the same producers, Via Veneto Jazz and Jandomusic, published an other Moroni / Ionata duo project, this time dedicated to Stevie Wonder’s music, titled “Two for Stevie”. The Duo performed in Japan and in Hong Kong.
From August 2014 Dado is teacher in the Nuoro Jazz’s summer seminars.
In 2015 Abeat produced the CD Barbershop, with Franco Cerri, Riccardo Fioravanti and Stefano Bagnoli.
Since 2015 Dado has been prerforming also in a duo setting with pianist Kenny Barron with appearances at many important European festivals and theatres.
Dado also has been working with artists who normally would seem far form his genre, such as Lucio Dalla, Tiziano Ferro, Eros Ramazzotti, Mietta and Ornella Vanoni with always interesting results. With Mietta, he conceived the project “Quando il Jazz fa Pop” with Furio Di Castri on bass, Enzo Zirilli on drums and actor Alessandro Bergallo,with many live performances, including a special production realized in 2013 with Swiss television.
In December of 2015 Dado began to collaborate with singer Karima Ammar, together with Stefano Bagnoli and Riccardo Fioravanti.

Dado has performed all over the world in clubs, festivals, concerts, TV/Radio shows touring the U.S., Africa, Asia and Europe and recording more than 60 albums/cd’s , 14 as a leader and ventured outside jazz for collaborations.
Dado’s current projects are “The Cube” ( quintet with Andrea Dulbecco: vibes, Riccardo Fioravanti: bass, Enzo Zirilli: percussions/drums and Stefano Bagnoli: drums ), “Two for You” with Max Ionata: tenor sax, “Talking Strings”, with Luigi Tessarollo: guitar, “The Magic of Children”, with Riccardo Fioravanti: bass and Nicola Angelucci: drums, “The Bert Joris / Dado Moroni quartet”, with Bert Joris: trumpet, Philippe Aerts: bass and Drè Pallemaerts: drums and “Dado Moroni Trio” with Riccardo Fioravanti: bass and Stefano Bagnoli: drums.