Keyboardist and Italian pianist who's been busy working with visiting American musicians and cutting free and jazz rock dates since the '60s,
Franco D'Andrea's earliest sessions came with Nunzio Rotondo and
Gato Barbieri. Then he recorded with
Franco Ambrosetti,
Giorgio Azzolini, and
Giovanni Tommaso, plus
Gianni Basso and
Enrico Rava.
D'Andrea formed the Modern Art Trio in 1968 and four years later, played with the jazz-rock group
Perigeo. He worked with a host of visiting American jazz greats, including
Dexter Gordon,
Slide Hampton,
Max Roach, and
Lucky Thompson and has recorded with
Lee Konitz,
Conte Candoli, and
Johnny Griffin. He joined
Rava's quartet in 1979, and formed his own group in 1983. ~ Ron Wynn