Classical rigor, jazz freedom, one cello. Trained on the instrument by János Starker and in jazz by David N. Baker — and published, since, by a 250-year-old classical house.
“Improvisation never left classical music — it was written out of it. Lucio Amanti wrote it back into the cello: real improvisation, held to the rigor of the concert hall, not loosened for it.”
Photography: Fabio Calvelli — Stand by picture
Meet Lucio Amanti
Two trainings, one instrument
Lucio Amanti was trained twice over. On the cello, in the class of János Starker; in jazz, under David N. Baker at Indiana University — where, in 2006, the two of them co-arranged Coltrane's "Afro Blue" for Baker's own ensemble. That double lineage became a single idea: that real improvisation belongs inside the classical cello repertoire, held to the same rigor as everything else in it.
With János StarkerDavid N. Baker
He has spent the years since proving it on paper. His scores are published by Schott and distributed by Hal Leonard; Germany's authors' society files works like the Jazz Suite, Genesis and ReSolUtIo under Ernste Musik — "serious" concert music, not light entertainment. ReSolUtIo, written for the Cuarteto Casals, has been played at the Philharmonie Berlin and Wigmore Hall. And his pages have crossed back over the line they were meant to blur: the Jazz Suite is now studied and performed in universities across three continents — from Pretoria to California to Portugal — and catalogued at the Library of Congress.
Classical rigor, jazz freedom, one instrument. No compromise on either side.
Schott Music
11 published works, distributed by Hal Leonard
Starker & Baker
Classical cello and jazz studies, Indiana University
Cuarteto Casals
ReSolUtIo at the Philharmonie Berlin & Wigmore Hall
In the academy
Studied in university theses on three continents
Screen
Cello on the score of Babylon Berlin
Scores & Publications
Published by Schott
From the solo Jazz Suite to ReSolUtIo, written for the Cuarteto Casals — a catalogue of works for cellists who want to cross into improvisation without leaving the standards of the concert hall behind. Distributed worldwide by Hal Leonard. Click a cover to look inside.
His composition "Dawn" — drawn from the Second Jazz Sonata — appears in the score of the series Babylon Berlin, recorded with Kristjan Järvi's Absolute Ensemble. His sound-branding work includes Siemens, in collaboration with MetaDesign (Berlin).
Sound branding
A modern incarnation of the Leitmotiv — the German Ohrwurm. Remarkably effective at sharpening a brand's identity from day one.
Film scores
Original music only, no ghost-writers, fair licences for everyone involved. Earlier work includes Rob Chiu's short film Fear/Love (2010), with Ben Lukas Boysen.
Lectures and masterclasses at the UdK Jazz Institut Berlin, Indiana's Jacobs School of Music, the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam and the University of Pretoria. The same thread runs through his venture Sir Cello A Lot: giving the next generation of classically trained cellists a way across — into improvisation and a living tradition.
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