‘Stick to Sticks’ is a project by Michele Pazzini that pays tribute to the music composed by drummers. Many drummers, in addition to their careers as sidemen, have also led bands and released their own compositions. However, this music is rarely performed and remains relatively unknown in the jazz world.
What makes these compositions stand out is their versatility: they are melodic, dynamic, rhythmically intricate, groovy, and appealing to a wide audience.
As a drummer and composer, Michele has spent recent years exploring the music of drummers. This journey inspired him to make these compositions more accessible to a broader audience. For this project, he has specially arranged these works for a guitar trio.
The trio performs pieces by legendary drummers such as Jeff “Tain” Watts, Victor Lewis, Ralph Peterson, Paul Motian, Tony Williams, and many others. With ‘Stick to Sticks,’ Michele Pazzini showcases the diversity of the musical world created by drummers.
The Michele Pazzini Quartet is born from the collaboration of four young and talented musicians who studied at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. The group has been collaborating since November 2018. The quartet has played in several venues and festivals in The Hague and its surroundings ever since.
Besides drumming, Michele has always had a strong interest in composing. The goal of this project is to play his original music written especially for this ensemble. The quartet is formed by Luka van de Pol on alto saxophone, Federica Lorusso on piano, Simon Kalker on double bass and Michele Pazzini on the drums.
Michele’s intent was to unite these four people based on their style, approach to the instrument and musical background. Their personalities and music influences, mixed together in this quartet, created an original sound. His music is considered as modern jazz and consists often of memorable melodies with a strong approach to swing and grove. The compositions are written using a melodic approach. However, since Michele is working on a research for his master studies about composing from the drum set, some of his compositions are getting more complex in terms of form, rhythm, harmony and melody.
The most important influences for Michele’s music are coming from hard/post bop and modern jazz, like artists as: Kenny Garrett, John Coltrane, Michael Brecker, Branford Marsalis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Christian McBride, Nate Smith, Joshua Redman, Brian Blade and many many others.
Michele Pazzini - Drummer, Composer and Teacher 