BIOGRAPHY
PRESS
It’s great to discover the avant-garde pianistic art of Joseph Nowell.
Mario Gamba, Il Manifesto
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With 'Sketches', pianist Joseph Nowell reveals a promising pianistic wealth of ideas. A powerful debut.
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Bernard Lefèvre, Jazz halo
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Club Telex also has an interesting program on the second Late Night. The EOS Trio with pianist Joseph Nowell opens with lyrical improvisations
Cyriel Pluimakers, jazzenzo.nl
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BIO
Joseph Nowell was born in England in 1994, half Italian. He started playing piano when he was 4 and studied at Pimlico Academy, London, with trips and concerts in Paris and Prague. At the age of 14 he moved to Siena (Italy), winning the third prize in the “G. Burrini” classical music competition a year later. He studied classical piano at Conservatorio “Rinaldo Franci” in Siena, completing his Master of Arts in 2015. Meanwhile, he studied jazz piano at Siena Jazz, completing the 5-year diploma course and participated in the 2016 International Summer Workshops with teachers like Aaron Parks and Ben Monder, winning a full grant to participate in the following edition. In 2019 he obtained a Master of Arts magna cum laude in Jazz Piano at Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen (Belgium), during which he had the chance to play in the Jaffa Jazz Festival in Tel Aviv, as part of a group with musicians from various European conservatories coached by Tia Fuller (Berklee College of Music), and with the Antwerp Jazz Orchestra directed by Bert Joris. In 2021 he was a finalist of “Concorso per Solisti Jazz” - Premio Marco Tamburini (Rovigo), and in 2022 he participated in the final of Umbria Jazz's "Conad Jazz Contest" with Emanuele Marsico's Momò Ensemble. In 2024, he was shortlisted for Jong Jazztalent Gent with Haroun Iqbal's "Iqnovara" + Asad Qizilbash, one of the top three bands out of 40 applicants.
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BANDS
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He is part of the collective trio “Katharsis” with Michele Bondesan and Giuseppe Sardina, whose debut album “People and Places” was released in 2022 for Aut Records and received a positive response from Italian and international press, and has a trio in his name with Brussels-based musicians Manolo Cabras and Gaspard Sicx, whose album “Sketches” was released in September 2022 for Off Record Label, with positive reviews from Le Soir, Jazz’Halo, etc.
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Joseph is also part of INCLUSTER-Brussels Improvisers, a collective orchestra featuring many Belgian and international improvisers. He plays frequently as a sideman/co-leader of various Belgian and Italian bands, such as Damien Brassart "Plume", Guillaume Delbarre's LOA Collective, Iqnovara, Shenanigans, Giovanni Nardiello "Perspectives", his own solo project, "The Gerswhin Project" with Diana Pavlidi and Vasilis Stefanopoulos, Marco Simoncelli Harmonica 4tet, and many others.
Joseph’s projects, collaborations and concerts in Italy and in Belgium feature a wide variety of musical styles, ranging from classical music and free improvisation to jazz and rock. He has collaborated with Manolo Cabras, Gaspard Sicx, Emanuele Parrini, Tony Cattano, Amedeo Verniani, Mauro Rolfini, Silvia Bolognesi, Pierluigi Foschi, INCLUSTER, Tobia and Michele Bondesan, EOS trio, Emanuele Marsico, Giuseppe Sardina, Katharsis, Erik Bogaerts, Camilla Battaglia, Vigdis Hansa Elst, Diana Pavlidi, Borrkia, Danny Bronzini, Finaz, Jesse Dockx, Emanuel van Mieghem, Haroun Iqbal, Asad Qizilbash, etc.
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EXPERIENCE
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He has played at Umbria Jazz, Pistoia Blues, Festival Symphonique d’El Jem (Tunisia), JZ Club (Hangzhou, China), Jaffa Jazz Festival (Tel Aviv), Gouts de Gand, Brussels Jazz Weekend, Footprints Jazz Festival (Gent), Roskot Festival (Aalst), Citadelic (Gent), Vivi Fortezza (Siena), Teatro Sociale di Rovigo, Teatro Persio Flacco (Volterra) and dozens of other venues, clubs and festivals in Italy and Belgium.
Joseph is a resident artist of Settimana Musicale di Murlo since 2015, where he gives a solo piano recital every year, and in 2022 he played in Festival Symphonique d’El Jem (Tunisia) with OIDA (Orchestra Instabile di Arezzo). In the same year he took part in the residency in preparation of Dave Burrell's jazz opera with “Windward Passages Orchestra” directed by Tobia Bondesan, with many leading figures in Italian jazz and improvised music such as Tobia Bondesan, Camilla Battaglia, Filippo Orefice, Giulia Barba, Luca Perciballi, etc.
Joseph has studied extensively with Erik Vermeulen, Stefano Battaglia, Alessandro Giachero, Emanuele Parrini, Antonello Palazzolo, Nicolas Thys, Frederik Leroux, Bo Van Der Werf, Matteo Addabbo, and has participated in workshops with artists such as Matt Mitchell, Aaron Parks, Achille Succi, Chris Potter, Theo Bleckmann, Jeff Ballard, Ben Monder, Dave Kikoski. He has studied both classical music and jazz, having completed a master degree in each.
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Joseph also teaches piano, privately and in music schools. He currently works as an accompanist in Academie Berchem Muziek Woord for musical, classical, jazz and pop music.
DISCOGRAPHY
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Joseph Nowell Trio: “Sketches”
Off Record Label, 2022
With Manolo Cabras, Gaspard Sicx
Katharsis: “People and Places”
Aut Records, 2022
With Michele Bondesan, Giuseppe Sardina
Amedeo Verniani: “Due.”
Fonterossa Records, 2018
With Amedeo Verniani, Emanuele Parrini, Tony Cattano, Pierluigi Foschi
Bluering-Improvisers: “Bluering Vol 1”
Rudy Records, 2018
Featuring Tobia Bondesan, Camilla Battaglia, Luca Sguera, Michele Bondesan, Francesco Panconesi, Francesco Fiorenzani and others
Borrkia Big Band: “Pausa Caffè”
Vrec Music Label, 2017
Featuring Borrkia (Stefano Toncelli), Danny Bronzini, Finaz and others
AWARDS/COMPETITIONS
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2009 - 3rd prize “G. Burrini” competition for young classical musicians (Siena)
2016 - Grant for 2017 Siena Jazz International Summer Workshops
2019 - Chosen to play at Jaffa Jazz Festival (Tel Aviv), coached by Tia Fuller (Berklee)
2021 - Finalist in “Concorso per Solisti Jazz” - Premio Marco Tamburini (Rovigo)
2022 - Finalist in “Conad Jazz Contest”, Umbria Jazz (Perugia) with Emanuele Marsico
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2023 - Finalist of "Premio Nazionale Isio Saba" with Giovanni Nardiello "Perspectives"
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2024 - Shortlisted for "Jong Jazztalent Gent" with Haroun Iqbal "Iqnovara" + Asad Qizilbash
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FESTIVALS
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Umbria Jazz, Perugia (Italy)
Pistoia Blues, Pistoia (Italy)
Festival Symphonique d’El Jem (Tunisia)
Now Music Festival, Siena (Italy)
Brussels Jazz Weekend (Belgium)
Vivi Fortezza, Siena (Italy)
Kwaadham Sessions, Gent (Belgium)
Footprints Jazz Festival, Gent (Belgium)
Now Music Festival, Siena (Italy)
Inside Belgian Jazz Late Night, Gent (Belgium)
Jaffa Jazz Festival, Tel Aviv (Israel)
Mammut Jazz Festival, Arezzo (Italy)
Settimana Musicale di Murlo, Siena (Italy)
Chianti Festival, Siena (Italy)
Roskot Festival, Aalst (Belgium)
JazzMi, Milan (Italy)
Citadeli, Gent (Belgium)
Gouts de Gand (Belgium)
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VENUES
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Sounds Jazz Club, Jazz Station, The Music Village, Roskam, L'Archiduc (Brussels, Belgium)
JZ Club (Hangzhou, China)
Teatro Sociale Rovigo (Italy)
La Cantina Bentivoglio (Bologna, Italy)
Teatro Persio Flacco (Volterra, Italy)
La Corte dei Miracoli (Milan, Italy)
Lokerse Jazzklub (Lokeren, Belgium)
Sonar, Bottega Roots (Colle val d’Elsa, Italy)
Un Tubo Jazz Club, Fortezza Medicea, Bottega Roots, Cacio e Pere, Corte dei Miracoli (Siena, Italy)
De Muze Jazz Cafè, De Hopper, Cafe Cabron, Witzli-Poetzli (Antwerp, Belgium)
Headroom Venue (Turnhout, Belgium)
Hot Club, Club Telex (Gent, Belgium)
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