Jazz Drums: an espresso with Enzo Zirilli

What activities have you prepared during the lockdown period?
I would certainly like to carry on the project of the trio I set up with Massimo Colombo on piano and Maurizio Quintavalle on double bass dedicated to Weather Report. We recorded our first album, Acoustic Weather – The Music of Weather Report where we revisited some of the great classics of the American group, and we already agreed to release a second volume.

The second thought naturally goes to Zirobop, the quartet that I have been leading for many years. We released two albums and I’m thinking of recording the third chapter. More than two years have passed since the second record and we have a lot of material so we only need to find the right time.

In the months of the lockdown you uploaded a lot of unreleased music on the web.
Yes, I uploaded a lot of material. It was a leap into the past! A project I am particularly fond of is the first ,and only, album made with Andrea Allione. For me it was particularly important. It was 1992 and we were well ahead of the times. Listening to it again, I realize that the music is still very fresh.

 

Then I added some live shows (for example with Enrico Pieranunzi) that never became records but was really at a very high level. In short, there are many lovely records, and so I recommend everyone to pay a visit because all the material I uploaded is interesting.
The nice thing about this platform is that it put me in contact with many people who also wrote to me and this was amazing. It was a nice archival job that I was able to appreciate since we were all at home without the usual hustle and bustle.

Which are the other projects you are planning?
I have an idea that I’m carrying on with two young guys, in which we play the pop repertoire. Pop songs from the 70s onwards (with a great harmonic value) by artists such as Talk Talk, Steps Ahead, Donald Fagen, Pino Daniele, all revised in an acoustic dimension. Bridges between the past and the future are important!

One of the general controversies last summer was about the festivals that always call the usual (famous) acts and not younger people or less known musicians.
I think it’s a shame, it was a missed opportunity: with the money you pay for three concerts by very famous artists, you can invite 20 or 30 groups of young people (or more) who have many very interesting things to say. It’s a shame, it was a missed opportunity and it’s a waste of resources for the benefit of the usual act when the money could be better redistributed. There are also organizers who take risks, but the situation is really a bit sad.