Naked Kekko Fornarelli

• 1 The Flame 05:26
• 2 I Can't Sleep 02:20
• 3 28 Days 05:53
• 4 S.U.D. 04:34
• 5 Naked 03:50
• 6 Ask The Dust 05:59
• 7 Playing in my Head 03:19
• 8 Bitter Blood 02:25
• 9 Once Upon a Time 02:15
• 10 Fairy Lullaby 05:46
• Total Runtime 41:47

Info for Naked

18 years after the release of his first album, Kekko Fornarelli returns live in 2023 with a new album, NAKED.

After a long and acclaimed international journey that led him from jazz, to its electronic contaminations, to the crossover, up to the successful orchestral projects and the movie-soundtracks compositions of recent times, with Naked, Kekko Fornarelli "undresses" to reunite with his essence, with his beloved piano and its purest dimension.

A journey that will retrace some of the most loved songs of his record production, up to the themes of his soundtracks, and new unmissable originals, interpreted in the deepest lyricism of his pianism, at the same time eclectic, muscular, profoundly current but strongly connected with the its more classical roots.

“I love being raptured by music. I am a tool in its hands, but at the same time music lets me express my life with an authentic language made of cells, muscles, emotions, a language able to translate my silence too. My curiosity is a never-ending journey, that takes me beyond any shapes, surprising my breath every time in a different way, always worth living and telling.” (Kekko Fornarelli)

With eight albums released and more than 400 concerts in over than 60 countries around the world over the past ten years, Kekko Fornarelli is one of the most original artists on the international contemporary scene.

He has developed a unique style, characterized by the attempt to create music to observe, more than just to listen to. A peculiar and personal way to tell stories, to express emotions and paint situations. His music is a mellow combination of modern northern European ideas and neoclassical lyricism, altered by a sight on the most contemporary rhythmics styles and, naturally, by his warm and extremely personal Mediterranean background.

“Fornarelli is a skilful instrumentalist with classical roots and a subtle improviser’s mind. After 10 minutes, it was evident that this classy threesome had very different stories to tell [...] It was resoundingly obvious why this close-knit, thoughtful and viscerally exciting new trio are winning acclaim across Europe” (John Fordham, The Guardian)

“A near-perfect balance of tension and freedom. Fornarelli’s music has a pared-down yet catchy style that draws on his classical roots, with infuences from pop to trip-hop to gospel” (Alison Gunn, Financial Times)

“An incredibly personal and introspective release that with the brilliance of Kekko’s harmonic movement takes one to places that can touch your heart and set your hair on re, often at the same time. Italy is a variable gold mine for improvisational music. Kekko Fornarelli is a master but more so, he is an artist” (BrentBlack, criticaljazz.com)

Kekko Fornarelli, piano

Kekko Fornarelli
is one of the most widely appreciated young pianists internationally. His unique ways of balancing an endless research with universal usability, and his ability to draw the profanes up to that foreign thing called jazz makes him one of the most eclectic and pervasive artists in the current international music scene. His unique style is characterized by its attempt to create music to observe, more than just to listen to. A way to tell stories, emotions and situations.

Kekko Fornarelli was born in Bari (Italy) in 1978. He began learning classical piano at the age of three, first through private tuition and later at the Conser­vatorio Piccinni in Bari. Fornarelli’s love for jazz music began at the age of 18. From there on, Kekko has immersed himself in the study of the instrument, the style, and the music, a life journey which has led him to travel worldwide creating opportunities for meeting a great number of artists and developing his skills. Rosario Giuliani, Flavio Boltro, Michel Benita, Francesco Bearzatti, Luca Bulgarelli, Yuri Goloubev, Benjamin Henocq, Nicolas Folmer, Jerome Regard, Manhu Roche, Andy Gravish, Eric Prost, Marco Tam­burini, Jean-Luc Rimey Meille are only some of the artist he has worked with.

Fornarelli’s first album, Circular Thought, released by the record label Wide Sound in 2005, was critically acclaimed as one of the best Italian jazz projects of the year. He moved to France in the same year, where he spent three years pursuing his studies towards his personal idea of music. The collaborations with different artists, such as Manhu Roche, Flavio Boltro and Rosario Giuliani, led him to publish the second album in 2008, A French Man in New York, also released by Wide Sound and distributed by Egea. The album is an innovative project taking inspiration from French pianist Michel Petrucciani.

This album contains no booklet.