"Composer/bassist Giovanni Maier started his professional career in 1986 at the age of 21, after finishing his formal studies in classical music at the "G. Tartini" Music Academy in Trieste and having pursued independently his personal interest in jazz music.

In 1986 he co-founded the Transition Jazz Group and, with this and other ensembles, began to write and perform original music in Italy and Europe.

In 1989, he formed his first ensemble to perform his own compositions, and has since recorded over 80 albums featuring his work.

As a member of ensembles, he has performed in many concerts throughout Europe, in North and South America, Japan, North Africa and the Middle East.

As a bassist he features on over 240 albums, including recordings with Enrico Rava, Gianluigi Trovesi, the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Tim Berne, Marc Ribot, Keith and Julie Tippett, Louis Moholo, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Pino Minafra, Roberto Ottaviano, Carlo Actis Dato, Tiziano Tononi, Daniele Cavallanti, Stefano Battaglia, Michele Rabbia, Chris Speed, Scott Amendola as well as with other leading figures in creative music.

He is currently active as a solo contrabassist, composing for, and performing and recording with, a variety of ensemble projects.

Giovanni Maier is also actively engaged in the field of education through the presentation of workshops and as lecturer at the "G. Tartini" Music Academy in Trieste."

"Born 1954, in Torino (Italy). At the age of 20 Claudio Lodati founded the legendary ART STUDIO along with Carlo Actis Dato, Enrico Fazio and Fiorenzo Sordini. The group recorded 7 LPs and played hundreds of concerts throughout Italy and Europe.

1983 - 1993 Lodati was involved in two major theme-based projects, DAC'CORDA and VOCAL DESIRES. Formations varied with the participation of seasoned musicians, including Antonello Salis, Maria Pia De Vito, Ellen Christi, Giovanni Maier, Maurizio Brunod, Enrico Fazio, Fiorenzo Sordini, Massimo Barbiero, UT Ghandi, Alex Rolle, Laura Culver.

Lodati has brought his music to a long list of festivals and series, in Italian cities such as Florence, Palmi, Milano, Foggia, Padua, Pisa, Reggio Emilia, Brescia, Modena, Tarcento, Siena, Torino, Rome, Venice, Genoa, Bologna, Trieste; and in Europe at Tubingen, Jazz Fest Konstanz 2000 (Germany), Sens Music Meeting, Belfort, Chanteney, Paris, Poitiers, Avignon and Montpellier '95, Le Mans '98 (France), MU.MO.VO. London (UK), Locarno, Basel, Zurich, Lucerna (Switzerland), Belgrade (Yugoslavia), Pristina (Kosovo), Stettino, Swinoujscie (Poland), Amsterdam, Zwolle, Rotterdam (Netherlands), Krani (Slovenia).

Jazz Festival Volterra 2008; MITO festival (Settembre Musica) in Torino 2010.

He toured the USA and Canada in 1995, '96 and '98 with the group ALIENSTALK, accompanied by vocalist Ellen Christi of New York and Swiss musicians Luigi Archetti and Jan Schlegel - more than 60 concerts in cities including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Hartford, Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, Erie, Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, Middletown.

In 2001 Lodati played at the Daniel Sorano National Theater in Dakar (Senegal), with Ellen Christi, Fiorenzo Sordini and Senegalese musicians, including Youssou N'Dour's bassist Habib Faye.

Besides the musicians already mentioned, Claudio Lodati has played and collaborated with Hervè Bourde, Bobby Zankel, Tristan Honsinger, Karim Tourè, Fred Frith, Hens Reichel, Guido Mazzon, Radu Malfatti, Louis Sclavis, Tiziana Ghiglioni, Franco Cerri, Pascale Charreton, Irene Robbins, Tiziana Simona, Claudio Cojaniz.

He has also been featured on radio and TV broadcasts on Italy's RAI, Radio France (including the well known show "France Music"), Radio TV Yugoslavia, as well as radio stations in New York and Washington DC.

Articles on Lodati and reviews have appeared in the music press and newspapers the world over. He has been mentioned in numerous books and music encyclopedias, including Grande enciclopedia del Jazz (Curcio Editore, Italy), I Grandi del Jazz (Fabbri Editori, Italy), Storia del jazz Moderno Italiano (AZI, Italy), II Jazz in Italia by Arrigo Polillo (Fabbri Editori Italy).

Since 1988 he has taught jazz guitar at the City of Torino's Scuola Civica Musicale and today he's teaching Jazz Guitar to the Alessandria's Conservatory A. Vivaldi."

"Since the mid-seventies, Ellen Christi has steadily gained ground as an important contributor to American improvised music and contemporary jazz. As a composer/vocalist, Ms. Christi has worked in varying performance venues ranging from multi-media theatrical productions to solo vocal concerts. She has also been an active advocate in supporting innovative performing artists through organizations that she has co-founded or directed.

Ms. Christi came to New York in the nascent period of the downtown loft scene. Jimmy Hopp was a positive catalyst introducing her to a musicians' collective at 501 Canal Street. And it was there that she lived and performed for many years with Tom Bruno, Ray Anderson, David Ware, Dave Burrell, and Coopermore.

Ms. Christi studied piano technique, composition, and arranging with Jaki Byard, an internationally acclaimed pianist/composer and a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music. She studied the bel canto technique with Galli Campi, a coloratura singer with the Metropolitan Opera. Earlier on in her career, she studied vocal technique and movement with Jeanne Lee, an avant-garde jazz vocalist. Presently, Ms. Christi is working with vocal coach, Dr. Virgina Davidson, composer/conductor and founder of New York Treble Singers.

Ms. Christi was one of the co-founders of New York City Artists' Collective, a non-profit organization committed to developing creative independence for artists, fostering appreciation of visual and performing arts, and record documentation/ production (N.Y.C.A.C. Records). New York City Artists' Collective was housed at 501 Canal Street, one ofthe prominent loft performance spaces of the 70's in Tribeca.

She is also the founder of Network Records, an independent record label promoting contemporary jazz music.

She has received numerous grants and commissions from the New York State Council of the Arts and Meet the Composer as well as having received varied commissions for dance and theater performances throughout the years. Her most recent commission has been funded through the prestigious Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. She is currently performing and teaching master classes in vocal technique/improvisation and movement throughout the United States and Europe.

Ms. Christi has been performing and recording with musicians in the United States and Europe for the past twenty five years. She has worked with: Tom Bruno, Ray Anderson, Mark Dresser, Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman, Rashid Ali, Tony Scott, Ed Blackwell, William Parker, Lisa Sokolov, Jeanne Lee, Kenny Wheeler, Steve McCall, Rahn Burton, Roy Campbell, Lawrence "Butch" Morris, and Hans Koch.

For the past twelve years, she has been collaborating with Fiorenzo Sordini, Claudio Lodati, Carlo Actis Dato, and Enrico Fazio in Italy. In Switzerland, she has been performing and recording with Thomi Hirt , Fritz Heigi, and Pit Gutmann of the trio, Illustrio. Currently she is working with Joe Gallant's Illuminati, a 22-piece ensemble,as well as performing and producing concerts with her present performing ensemble, Aliens' Talk. She is developing a world music project with Vincent Nguini of Cameroon. And the most recent recording project is with bassist, Habib Faye and balafonist, Babacar Konate of Senegal. A great portion of her time has been spent working as a producer for Bliss Corporation, a euro dance music production company in Torino, Italy."