Umberto Petrin

Italian pianist and composer Umberto Petrin joined the Italian Instabile Orchestra in 1997 and maintains membership in the Jazz Chromatic Ensemble while maintaining an ongoing partnership with trumpeter Guido Mazzon, one of Italy’s original free jazzers. Although he began piano studies in the early ’70s, Petrin waited more than ten years before entering jazz, first through a trio whose debut recording appeared in 1987 and later through a quartet; during the same period he also began occasional work with the Milan-based Rai’s Big Band. By 1990 he had moved into free-jazz terrain, renewed his association with Mazzon, and started exploring ways to blend his longstanding interest in poetry—an art form he had practiced since his late teens—with his musical activities. Petrin has issued two poetry collections, Perimetri and Miles, contributed to several literary reviews, and worked as a teacher. He has released several albums under his own name on Splasc(h) Records and has performed with fellow Instabile members Gianluigi Trovesi and Enrico Rava as well as with Steve Lacy, Lee Konitz, and additional leading figures.