Biography

Born in Foligno 1985,  meets Enrico Rava during a Workshop in Siena. Rava notices his talent and decides to include him in “Rava Under 21” project, that would become  “Rava New Generation” after a little time. With this group Guidi will record two CDs , in 2006 and in 2010, for “ESPRESSO” magazine.
At the moment  he runs several projects:  the duo SOUPSTAR  with Gianluca Petrella, the duo with bandoneon  virtuoso Daniele Di Bonaventura,  the  trio  THANKS FOR THE FIRE  co-leaded with Luca Aquino and Michele Rabbia, his quartet  with Mirco Rubegni on trumpet, Joe Rehmer on bass and Fabrizio Sferra on drums, the trio , where he plays fender rhodes , with Joe Rehmer and Fabrizio Sferra.
He took part to a very large number of important  jazz festivals all around the world. We may mention Umbria Jazz, Vicenza New Conversation, Zurich Nu Jazz, Umbria Jazz Balcanic Windows, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Paris Jazz Festival,  Stavanger Mai Jazz, Jazzlandia, North Sea Jazz Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival, Molde Jazz, Portland Jazz Festival, Jakarta Jazz Festival, and many others. Moreover , he performed in many clubs and theatres in New York, San Paolo, Rio De Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Salvador De Bahia, Berlino, Parigi, Londra, Monaco, Dublino, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong.
His first album as a leader  is“Tomorrow Never Knows” , recorded by the Japanese label VENUS, receiving  five stars  in a review  by the “Swing Journal” magazine.
After that he released other four albums for CAM JAZZ label: “Indian Summer” and “The House Behind This One”   recorded with his quartet, “The Unknown Rebel “ with a band of ten elements and “We Don’t Live Here Anymore” recorded in New York  with Gianluca Petrella, Michael Blake, Thomas Morgan and Gerald Clever.
His first album as leader released by the prestigious ECM label is dated 2013: “City of Broken Dreams”, recorded in trio with Thomas Morgan and Joao Lobo.
Guidi had just recorded previously two other labums for ECM: “Tribe” and “ On The Dance Floor”, both by Enrico Rava.
Guidi won, moreover, several awards, such as  the “TOPJAZZ “ award by “ Musica Jazz” magazine. In that occasion the young pianist is been named by a 58 members giury the best talent of 2007. On TOP JAZZ 2015 Giovanni is among the first 10 best Italian jazz musicians.

After “This is the day”, released in 2015, with Thomas Morgan and Joao Lobo, on September 2016 was released the new ECM album “Ida Lupino” with Gianluca Petrella , Louis Scalvis and Gerald Cleaver.

About him:

Enrico Rava

“Every now and then, the jazz world gets a wonderful surprise, and this year, his name is Giovanni Gudi. Actually, it's no surprise to me, I've known him since he was a child, and I've watched his irresistible passion grow day by day. I watched him spend days at the piano, followed his musical growth almost daily, observing his limitless curiosity and the constant refinement of his musical taste. At this point, in spite of his young age, Giovanni is without a doubt one of the most interesting and original pianists on the Italian scene. Knowing him as I do, and having the good fortune to perform with him regularly, I'm certain that this is merely the beginning of an extraordinary career.”

"When I notice the gifts of a young musician, I immediately involve him in my groups. This is not motivated by altruism, I simply love playing with young musicians. As I continue to develop, I need to be surprised, and Giovanni Guidi is like (Stefano) Bollani and (Gianluca) Petrella: he astounds me every time."

Aldo Gianolio (Musica Jazz)

“In spite of his young age, Guidi has the appearance of a very experienced pianist; without hesitation, he goes right for the hard stuff, with a harmonically refined pianism and a crystalclear melodic sense.”

Thomas Conrad (Jazz Times)

"I heard Giovanni Guidi performing at Umbria Jazz and he litterally knocked me out with his very personal mix of creativity and natural risky research."

“Guidi’s young quartet transformed the original compositions from his CD Indian Summer, filling them with new energy: an excellent example of just how relevant jazz can be.”

Sergio Pasquandrea (Jazzit)

“Guidi is simply one of the finest talents to emerge in Italy in the last few years. It’s been a while since we’ve heard a debut of such maturity.”

Vincenzo Roggero (AllAbout Jazz)

“Giovanni Guidi is a stands out in the Cosmic Band with a breathtaking solo, starting from a blues which he gradually transforms into a composition of metaphysical beauty. One hears the influence of Monk, Tristano and Chopin in a constant narrative tension, executed with a delicate touch and an abundance of ideas.”

Giuseppe Vigna (La Nazione)

Of particular note among the many groups at Umbria Jazz 2008 is the Giovanni Guidi Quartet, which channels the energy of important modern jazz groups like Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett and Old & New Dreams to produce young, fresh, collective interpretations.

Luigi Onori (Il Manifesto)

An outstanding performance at Umbria Jazz 2008 was given by 23 year-old pianist Giovanni Guidi with his highly interactive quartet, uniting a passion for Ornette Coleman with a poetic element which draws inspiration from rock music and film scores. Above all, this is no Real Book jazz; they are really stretching the possibilities, helped by the originality of Dan Kinzelman.

Paolo Russo (La Repubblica)

"...A virtuoso in the highest and broadest sense of the term, gifted with impressive versatility and musicality, Guidi is maturing at a vertiginous pace, overflowing with ideas and personality."

Paulo Barbosa (Jazz.pt)

Giovanni Guidi is playing some serious piano. And he i's bringing a contemporary, "today and now" approach to the music that''s very good for the ensemble. He is structurally perfect, which makes his improvisations sound like real-time composition, with a perfect balance between a "down to earth" feel and abstraction

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Renato Magni (L’Eco di Bergamo)

“Guidi's quartet was one of the highlights of this year's edition of Clusone Jazz, evoking the finest qualities of freely improvised music. The tension is maintained through a feverish expressive force which unites the contributions of all the musicians, passing from furious energy to moments of seductive introspection and intelligent lyricism, with nods to Coltrane, Jarrett and Coleman.”

Paolo Carradori (Il Giornale della Musica)

“Giovanni Guidi, exemplary at the piano, introverted and with a dry, minimalist approach leads us on a circuitous journey full of delightful surprises.”

Alain Brunet (La Presse)

"Giovanni Guidi. Retenez aussi le nom de ce dernier : technique phénoménale au clavier, agilité extrême, précision en haute vélocité, maîtrise de tous les référents jazzistiques, du swing polyrythmique le plus rigoureux au free le plus sauvage."

Richard Williams  (thebluemoment.com)

“Of all the current piano trios, this one: Giovanni Guidi Trio,   completed by the Portuguese drummer João Lobo, is my favourite: not the most blatantly adventurous, by any means, but a collective marvel of touch, precision, empathy and lyricism, the threat of sentimentality in something like their wonderful version of “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás” held at bay by Lobo’s unpredictable colouristic interventions (a repertoire of mysterious tapping, scraping and scratching).”