Italian-born, Berlin-based, electric guitarist MARCO PAPA has always had a fascination for sound in itself rather than for a specific musical style. Over the years his determination to be unbound by the strictures of musical genre have led him to develop a multifaced, wide-ranging repertory both in composition and performance, including improvisation, contemporary creative music and noise. In the
mid-1990’s and early 2000s, his teen-age years, Marco took classes in jazz harmony, improvisation and ensemble music taught by saxophonist Mirko Guerrini at the Giuseppe Verdi Music School in his hometown Prato. Later he moved to Vicenza where he attended the Arrigo Pedrollo Conservatory of Music and studied jazz with internationally renowned musicians such as Sandro Gibellini, Pietro Tonolo, Salvatore Maiore, Paolo Birro and Mauro Beggio. In the same period, he also attended a yearly seminar titled Forme Sonore (Sound Forms) taught by drummer Roberto Dani, aimed at deepening students’ knowledge of improvisation and composition processes in open form settings, with the development of parameters, conduction and graphic parts. Upon completing his studies in 2014, Marco moved to Berlin where he connected and collaborated with many artists engaged in different musical styles and projects, including classical and avant-garde jazz, crossover and echtzeitmusik. In 2015, as a member of the UGO trio, Marco Papa recorded avant-garde jazz FISH TALES, with saxophonist Federico Eterno and drummer Gioiele Pagliaccia, a CD released by the Berlin based label AUTrecords.
2016 was the year of ABOUT MONK, a CD featuring the innovative duo composed of Marco Papa on guitar and Daigo Nakai on double bass, re-arranging and deepening an improvisational dialogue based on Thelonious Monk’s compositions. In 2017, together with bass clarinetist Simone Morgantini, Marco Papa recorded the live album ICED LINES, a collection of compositions featuring atmospheric and ambient music. 2018, together with clarinetist Annamarie Ignarro, was the year of SUITE, a 40-minute live session consisting of short composition pieces followed by long textural and noise improvisations. Later the same year, his guitar was featured in MASNADA, the recording of a jazz combo directed by trumpet player Stefano Bartoli. The Berlin based KERNRecords label was founded in 2019 by Marco Papa to promote projects related to avant-garde music, original compositions, contemporary music and improvisation. With that label, the same year he released IMPRO SESSION, the live recording of a trio consisting of Luk Kottman on double bass, Marco Papa on guitar and vocals by Sho Masutomu. Marco Papa’s latest accomplishment is RAU- Unkommerzielle, a crossover album featuring a trio with Davide Piersanti on trombone, Francesco Miccolis on drums and Marco on guitar, issued in 2020 on his own label KERNRecords.
