Short Bio
Alessandro d'Episcopo is an Italian jazz pianist from Naples, now based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Known for his inventive voice and lyrical, spacious approach to improvisation, his music draws on the traditions of Monk, Ellington, and Keith Jarrett, the melodic colors of southern Italy, and subtle shades of Impressionism.
He has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz and MIDEM in Cannes, and collaborated with artists including Toots Thielemans, George Robert, Benny Bailey, Phil Wilson, Scott Hamilton and Peter Appleyard. After early classical studies, he immersed himself in jazz in Milan before undertaking long-term study with improvisation teacher Charlie Banacos in Boston.
Active as both a soloist and ensemble musician, he has led his trio for more than two decades, performing repertoire that ranges from the Great American Songbook to original compositions and Neapolitan songs. His music is marked by warmth, clarity, and a quietly expressive sense of joy. As Jazz Podium wrote: "not a single filler note — a vibrant, swinging substance."
Long Bio
Born in Naples and now based in Lucerne, Switzerland, Alessandro d’Episcopo is an Italian jazz pianist whose music reflects a lifetime of listening, collaboration, and deep engagement with the jazz tradition.
He began his musical path through classical piano studies in Naples, but his imagination was soon drawn toward jazz. Growing up in southern Italy, he encountered big band and American jazz recordings circulating in the city — an early exposure that opened a window onto a wider musical world and left a lasting imprint on his artistic development.
In the late 1970s, d’Episcopo moved to Milan, then the center of Italian jazz life, where he immersed himself fully in the music. Influenced by the openness and rhythmic freedom of musicians such as Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, he began shaping an approach grounded in listening, swing, and song rather than fixed stylistic categories. His artistic language was further refined through long-term study with renowned improvisation teacher Charlie Banacos in Boston, reinforcing a personal voice marked by clarity, balance, and melodic independence.
Over the course of his career, d’Episcopo has performed widely across Europe and beyond, both as a leader and in collaboration with artists such as Toots Thielemans, Franco Ambrosetti, Scott Hamilton, Benny Bailey and George Robert. His playing draws naturally on swing-era tradition, modern jazz vocabulary, Brazilian influences, and the melodic heritage of Neapolitan song — elements absorbed organically rather than presented as stylistic statements.
Alongside his work as a solo pianist and sideman, the Alessandro d’Episcopo Trio has been active for more than two decades. Built on long-standing musical relationships, the trio moves fluidly between Great American Songbook repertoire, original compositions and traditional Neapolitan songs, guided by intuitive interplay and an unforced sense of form. The group has appeared at major festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival, Umbria Jazz and MIDEM, as well as venues such as Marian’s Jazz Room in Bern and B-Flat in Berlin.
Whether performing solo or with his trio, Alessandro d’Episcopo’s music is marked by warmth, restraint and a quietly expressive sense of joy — contemporary jazz with a cosmopolitan outlook and a distinctly Neapolitan heart.
Press Quotes
“Skillfully blends jazz classics with modern improvisations, drawing on elements of classical, world, and jazz music to create a contemporary, fresh, and refined sonic experience” - Jazz n’ More (CH)
“As in the recordings of the Bill Evans Trio, not a single note is filler, but rather a vibrant, swinging substance” - Jazz Podium (DE)
“D’Episcopo’s music is inventive and his playing adventurous, with ideas that bristle and throb” - All About Jazz (USA)
