Alessandro Fongaro (1991, Valdagno, Italy) is an Italian bassist and composer based in Rotterdam (NL). Between 2014 and 2017, he led the Alessandro Fongaro 5et, a project that debuted in 2016 with the album ‘Neither More nor Less’ (Mainland Records). While a student of the Conservatory of Rotterdam (Codarts), Alessandro won the Erasmus Jazz Prijs (2014) and The Records (2014). After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Codarts with the highest honours, Alessandro temporarily moved to Amsterdam to attend his master’s in jazz double bass, which he completed in 2016.
Alessandro currently leads and writes music for ‘Pietre’ (stones in Italian), a piano-less 4et that he put together in 2021. He describes the music as a sort of ‘personal diary’ in which he collects images and moments, all somewhat related to love and friendship.
The music of Pietre is a combination of stuttering rhythms, improvisation and melodies. In a raw and yet romantic way, the ensemble performs such themes creating a dialog that allows intensity, sensitivity and vulnerability to manifest in the playing, using chances and risks to shape their story. The band features Alessandro Fongaro on double bass, Sun-Mi Hong on drums, Jesse Schilderink on baritone and tenor saxophone and Nicolò Ricci on tenor saxophone.
“First time (a)live.” is the debut album of the band, which was published independently in 2022. The album was very well received by the public and the press and the ensemble had the chance to present the music, among others, at: North Sea Jazz Festival, BIMHUIS, De Doelen, Injazz, Ham Sessions Gent, Stadtgarten Köln, De Ruimte etc. A second album named ‘Pietre’ was released in 2024, which confirmed the success of the previous release and granted the band the possibility to perform at renowned clubs and festivals around Europe once again.
As sideman, the bassist has performed regularly and has recorded with the Sun Mi Hong Quintet, Nicolò Ricci’s Ambergris, Tijn Wybenga’s Brain Teaser Orchestra, the Kika Sprangers Large Ensemble and Quintet, Sjoerd van Eijck’s OAK, Koeniverse 3 ft. Joris Roelofs, the Robert Koemans Trio, BRAIN//CHILD, the Allison Philips Trio, the Rok Zalokar Trio, ROEST and others. As part of Nicolò Ricci’s Ambergris and Koeniverse3 he won respectively The Records 2022 and 2015. As part of the Sun Mi Hong Quintet he won the Dutch Jazz Competition in 2018 and the Edison Award in 2019. During the past years, he also got the chance to perform with musicians such as Jasper Blom, Bo van der Werf, Harmen Fraanje, Joris Roelofs, Tineke Postma, Ben van Gelder, Reinier Baas, Joost Patocka, Mete Erker, Mark Schilders and many others.
In 2022 Alessandro was awarded The Pack Project by Jazz International Rotterdam, a composition assignment which result was presented at festivals RAUW (Festival Jazz International Rotterdam) and Festival Jazz International Nijmegen. In 2023 Alessandro was chosen as “Artist in focus” by the festival North Sea Round Town.
Since 2017, Alessandro is a guest teacher at the jazz department of Codarts (Conservatory of Rotterdam) where he coaches ensembles and teaches improvisation class for the bass guitar department and rhythm section class for drummers.
Besides music, Alessandro has been practicing the medium of photography to explore and better understand territories, people and relationships through the creation of images.
Alessandro is currently working on the new album of Pietre and a photographical project.
