Pietro Paris

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After earning a bachelor’s degree in Physics in 2005, he decided to devote himself entirely to music. He studied at the Francesco Morlacchi Conservatory in Perugia under Maestro Daniele Roccato for three years, after which he turned his attention fully to jazz and improvisational music.

During this period, he was actively involved in concert performances with ensembles such as the Terni Jazz Orchestra and the Tetraphonic Project, playing at festivals like Grey Cat Jazz Festival, Terni in Jazz, Summertime (Casa del Jazz), Gezziamoci a Matera, and Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival, alongside musicians such as Michael Rosen and Maurizio Giammarco.

In 2014, he began studying at Siena Jazz University under Silvia Bolognesi and Ferruccio Spinetti, earning a first-level diploma in jazz double bass with top honors in 2018. Alongside the double bass program, he found great inspiration in improvisation courses led by Stefano Battaglia and ensemble music courses taught by Maurizio Giammarco, Achille Succi, Alfonso Santimone, among others.

He attended the Siena Jazz International Summer Workshops in 2015, 2016, and 2017 — two of which were offered free of charge by the Association in recognition of his talent. These experiences allowed him to collaborate and perform with numerous national and international artists, including Gilad Hekselman, Marcus Gilmore, Matt Mitchell, Kenny Werner, Franco D’Andrea, Paolino Dalla Porta, Furio Di Castri, Walter Smith III, Shane Endsley, and Lage Lund. During this time, he was selected among the most promising students to represent the institute at various European events, alongside Siena Jazz faculty members.

In August 2017, he collaborated with David Krakauer as part of the group Krak’s Action during the Chigiana International Festival, organized by the Accademia Chigiana, serving as accompanying maestro. This marked the beginning of key artistic partnerships and collaborations.

He co-founded the sextet The Sycamore, featuring Leonardo Radicchi, Lorenzo Bisogno, Lorenzo Brilli, Alessio Capobianco, Andrea Angeloni, and Ruggero Fornari, composing and performing original music together. He also began working with artists such as Manuel Magrini, Evita Polidoro, Mirco Rubegni, Cristiano Arcelli, Francesco Panconesi, and Luca Sguera.

He has performed in prestigious international venues including the Budapest Music Center, the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris, the Amsterdam Conservatory, and the Aaron Copland School of Music in New York, as well as across the Italian jazz scene. In 2017, he was a finalist in the Conad Jazz Contest at the Umbria Jazz Festival with The Sycamore.

In 2019, the collective released its debut album Seamless on Emme Record Label. That same year, he enrolled in the second-level Jazz Double Bass program at Siena Jazz University, studying with Demian Cabaud and Joe Sanders. In this context, he also studied and/or performed with Greg Hutchinson, Jonathan Avishai, Jim Black, Ziv Ravitz, Fabrizio Puglisi, Seamus Blake, and Logan Richardson.

In 2020, he won the A.I.R. residency grant from MIDJ (Italian Jazz Musicians Association), which took place in Lisbon in October 2022. In November 2021, he earned his second-level jazz double bass degree from Siena Jazz University with full marks.

The following month, his debut album as a bandleader, Underneath, was released by Encore Music. In December 2023, Encore Music also released Trinta, an album born from his Italian–Portuguese collaboration during the Lisbon residency. His latest work, Folk Traffic, was released in May 2025.