| Franco Ambrosetti was born in Lugano, Switzerland, on December 10th, 1941. His father is Flavio Ambrosetti, an alto-saxophonist, bandleader and BeBop pioneer of the European jazz scene in the 1940’s. He studied classical piano for nearly 9 years, then switched to trumpet at the age of 17, completely self-taught.
He made his professional debut in Rome in 1961 with the quintet of Romano Mussolini, a leading Italian pianist. A year later, he enrolled at University of Zurich, then moved to Basel where he eventually earned a master’s degree in Economics. During this time, he also worked as a professional musician, leading his own groups mainly in Zurich and Milan, while also being a member of his father’s quintet. Between 1962 and 1966 he played at nearly all European Festivals - Comblain la Tour, S. Remo, Pori, Warsaw, Prague, Stockholm, Zurich, Lugano, Milano, Paris, Bologna, etc. – and recorded two albums as a leader and soloist (see discography). During this time he also worked with musicians such as Gato Barbieri, Daniel Humair, George Gruntz, Kenny Clarke, George Joyner, Pierre Favre, Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson, Woody Shaw, Louis Hayes, Sam Jones, Donald Bird and many others. In Milan he had the opportunity to play in many jazz clubs like Intra’s Derby Club, a landmark that gave birth to most of the cabaret artists of our time. Jazz was an important part of the program which gave him the opportunity to meet and play with leading Italian musicians like Franco Cerri, Enrico Intra, Giorgio Azzolini, Franco D’Andrea, R. Dino Piana, Gianni Basso, Oscar Valdambrini, Renato Sellani, Enzo Jannacci, etc. In 1966 he won the 1st prize for trumpet at the Vienna International Jazz Competition directed by Friedrich Gulda, one of the most important classical and jazz musicians of the last century. The jury was composed of Cannonball Adderley, Art Farmer, Jay Jay Johnson, Joe Zawinul, Ron Carter and Mel Lewis. Nearly 500 musician from all over the world took part in the competition, including Miroslav Vitous, Eddie Daniels, Fritz Pauer, Randy Brecker, Claudio Roditi, Jan Hammer, Joachim Kuehn, George Mraz, etc. The international media coverage and the incredible following of the event suddenly lifted Franco Ambrosetti among the top European players, thus opening the doors to an international career.
1967 saw his debut in the U.S.A. where he appeared on the stage of the Monterey Jazz Festival with his father’s quintet and Jean-Luc Ponty.
In the 70s he focused on his quartet, playing with other Swiss musicians such as George Gruntz (p), Daniel Humair (dr) and several bass players among whom are Ron Mathewson, J.F. Jenny Clarke or Henry Texier. He also continued leading other groups (The Swiss Leaders) both in Switzerland and Italy. During this time he performed as a leader or special guest at nearly all the main European festivals: the JazzFest in Berlin (with Arnie Lawrence in 1977 and with Michael Brecker and Hal Galper in 1978), the Montreux Jazz Festival (1970/1979), Umbria Jazz (1975), Camden Festival (1978) and many others. Franco Ambrosetti was a founding member of the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band (formerly "The Band") established in 1972, as well as associate musical director until 1985. He has participated in several European and American tours, still enthusiastically collaborating with the project up to this day. In 1974 he carried out a special project with George Gruntz by recording Trumpet Machine, an LP released by MPS with Woody Shaw, Jon Faddis, Palle Mikkelborg, Kenny Wheeler, Mike Zwerin and others. 1979 was a lucky year, as Franco Ambrosetti joined ENJA, a leading international record company located in Germany, with which he has exclusively recorded ever since. After the success of the first album Close Encounter, Franco released 14 more albums under ENJA (see discography).
Since 2004 he has steadily collaborated with bassist Miroslav Vitous, performing in duo, trio or quartet as a special guest. The music is highly innovative, as shown in Vitous’s Remembering Weather Report (ECM). Among the latest highlights, it is worth mentioning his appearance as a soloist at the Montreux Jazz Festival Gala Night celebrating Quincy Jones’ 75th Birthday. Today, Franco Ambrosetti regularly performs with George Gruntz, Dado Moroni, Antonio Farao’, Enrico Intra and frequently teams up with Uri Caine’s trio or duo, as well as with symphonic orchestras. Also worth mentioning is his 25-year-long collaboration with MINA, the leading Italian singer and a true icon of Italian music, and her son Massimiliano Pani.
Franco has recorded 26 albums as a leader, performing next to outstanding musicians such as Michael Brecker, John Scofield, Geri Allen, Phil Woods, Hal Galper, Tommy Flanagan, Howard Johnson, Greg Osby, Steve Coleman, Gato Barbieri, Dave Holland, John Abercrombie, Miroslav Vitous, Billy Hart, Mike Richmond, Don Sebesky, Eddie Daniels, Ron Carter, Buster Williams, Grady Tate, Kenny Barron, Viktor Lewis, Billy Drummond, Uri Caine, Clarence Penn, Drew Grass and, of course, his friends Gruntz and Humair. He is featured as a special guest on over 50 albums. Franco Ambrosetti’s musical career stands out as being different than any other jazz career. For over three decades he juggled between an intense professional activity in the music field and his role as an executive in the family business. Comprising of two companies, one in Italy and one in Switzerland, Ambrosetti Industrial Group produced steel wheels for vehicles and landing gears for airplanes, counting 600 employees. Franco joined the family company in 1973 as Vice President, then became CEO and later Chairman. In 2000 he sold the business in order to concentrate on his musical career, thus intensifying his presence on stage from 20 concerts a year up to 50-60, although he is still involved in the economic field as a consultant and a writer. |
