BIO

Nicola Stranieri first studied drumming with Enrico Lucchini and Tullio De Piscopo, before he completed his musical training attending workshops by Peter Erskine, Enrico Rava and John Riley.
His versatility makes him appreciated in a variety of musical contexts, from traditional jazz to more modern and experimental styles.

Since entering the jazz scene in the 1980s, Nicola has played at many legendary jazz clubs and festivals, including: JITN MutaMenti 2023 Hong Kong, Tones on the Stones 2023, Summertime in Jazz 2023, Caste Jazz Festival 2023 Castenedolo BS, Estate al Castello Milano 2023, Teatro Curci Barletta (BA) 2023, XXIII Magenta Jazz Festival 2021, JAZZAL Alessandria 2021, Nuoro Jazz 2021, Iseo Jazz 2021, LongLake Festival 2020/21, MutaMenti Jazz Festival 2020, Monfrà Jazz Festival 2020, UDIN&JAZZ, MITO Settembre Musica, Padova Jazz, Roccella Jazz Festival, ASCONA JAZZ (CH), Villa Celimontana (Roma), Musica sulle Bocche, BaRoMus (Croazia), Asolo Musica, Iseo Jazz, TanJazz (Tangeri/Marocco), III° e IV° Convention Francaise de la Flute (Paris), Shkodra Festival (Albania), Fano Jazz On The Sea, Eventi in Jazz, Le Vie del Suono, Novara Jazz, Ubi Jazz, AH-UM Milano Jazz Festival, Gallarate Jazz Festival, Euro Jazz Festival d’Ivrea, Varese in Jazz, Brianza Open Jazz, Festival Internazionale Rimini Jazz, Versilia Jazz Festival, Sonvico in Jazz (Svizzera), Piemonte in Musica, Nuovi Territori tra Jazz e Musica Europea, Sestri Jazz, Segni in Jazz, Pineto Accordion Jazz Festival, Midnight Jazz Festival, Terra del Sole, Girifalco Jazz Festival, Val Tidone Festival, Viaggi Festival, Davos Sounds Goods (CH), La casa del Jazz (Roma), Blue Note Milano, Torino Jazz Club, Ferrara Jazz Club, Pinocchio Jazz Club (Firenze), Venice Jazz Club (Venezia), Capolinea8 (Torino) etc.

Throughout his career, he has played with many jazz musicians, such as: Ralph Alessi, Eddie Daniels, Bill Carrothers, Gianni Basso, Enrico Rava, Fabrizio Bosso, Scott Hamilton, Gerald Cannon, Chris Collins, Hendrik Meurkens, Cy Leo, Mike Del Ferro, Franco Cerri, Garrison Fewell, Arrigo Cappelletti, Claudio Fasoli, Arkady Shilkloper, Mat Maneri, Mike Rossi, Carlo Actis Dato, Billy Lester, Liudas Mockunas, Bruno De Filippi, Barbara Casini, Gianni Coscia, Bebo Ferra, Luca Aquino, Ramberto Ciammarughi, Ares Tavolazzi, Paolo Paliaga, Claudio "Wally" Allifranchini, Luis Agudo, Andrea Pozza, Antonio Zambrini, Sandro Gibellini, Rosario Bonaccorso, Andrea Dulbecco, Roberto Cecchetto, Mauro Negri, Giulio Visibelli, Marco Micheli, Alberto Mandarini, Michael Rosen, Stefano Benini, Paolo Dalla Porta, Max De Aloe, Carlo Atti, Dimitri Grechi Espinoza, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Luigi Tessarollo, Frederic Viale, Paolo Alderighi, Alfredo Ferrario, Eiji Hanaoka, Michel Pastre, Nicki Parrott, Stephanie Trick, Engelbert Wrobel, Malo Mazurie, Attila Korb, Martin Breinschmid, Paolo Tomelleri, Denise Gordon, Simona Bencini, Aurore Voilquè, Carlo Morena, Ada Montellanico, Simone Guiducci, Fausto Beccalossi, Riccardo Fioravanti, Yuri Goloubev, Faraggiana Big Band, Mattia Cigalini, Attilio Zanchi, Massimo Moriconi and many others.

He has recorded 75 CDs with various musicians.
He has performed in France, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Albania, Morocco, Kenya, Malta, Croatia.

In recent years, he has collaborated with several exponents of Brazilian popular music and Brazilian jazz: Cesar Moreno, Paulo Zannol, Marquinho "Baboo" Bacchereti, Ana Flora, Priscila Ribas, Debora Dienstmann, Silvana Nunes, Vinicius Surian and Ney Portilho.

Among the current non-jazz projects is his collaboration with pop singer-songwriter Susanna Parigi.

Educational activities

He taught drums at the Civico Istituto Musicale Brera in Novara and at the A. Toscanini music school in Verbania. He's also taught at the Centro Teatro Attivo in Milan, Tullio De Piscopo's drums course.
Currently, he teaches at the Scuola di Musica Dedalo in Novara, in which he also coordinates the jazz music section.
He recorded the play-along CD with the Max De Aloe Quartet for "Method for Chromatic Harmonica" by Max De Aloe, published by the prestigious international publishing house, Sher Music Co (USA).

Bands

Max De Aloe Quartet (Max De Aloe, Roberto Olzer, Marco Mistrangelo)
Paolo Alderighi / Stephanie Trick Double Trio (Paolo Alderighi, Stephanie Trick, Roberto Piccolo)
Max Gallo Quartet featuring Scott Hamilton (Max Gallo, Jacopo Mazza, Giorgio Allara)
Wally Allifranchini Quintet featuring Enrico Rava (Claudio Allifranchini, Sandro Gibellini, Marco Micheli)
Billy Lester Trio (Billy Lester, Marcello Testa)
Arrigo Cappelletti Trio (Arrigo Cappelletti, Roberto Piccolo)
De Aloe Librasi Stranieri “Sonnambuli e altre storie”
Michele Gori Quartet (Michele Gori, Roberto Olzer, Roberto Mattei)
Massimo Minardi M4tet (Massimo Minardi, Michelangelo Decorato, Stefano Solani)
Faraggiana Big Band diretta da Wally Allifranchini
Wally’s Big Band
Simone Locarni Quartet “Playin’ Tenco” (Simone Locarni, Mario Biasio, Stefano Solani)
Pax Mundi Brazil Jazz (Cesar Moreno, Paulo Zannol, Marquinho “Baboo”, Lalo Conversano)
Sabià (Debora Dienstman, Cesar Moreno, Paulo Zannol)
Susanna Parigi Quintet (Susanna Parigi, Matteo Giudici, Roberto Olzer, Michele Guaglio)
Elisa Marangon Quartetto di Swing Italiano “Ma l’amore no...” (Elisa Marangon, Martino Vercesi, Marcello Testa)
Giovanni Sanguineti Nextrio (Giovanni Sanguineti, Mario Zara)
Danilo Moccia / Lalo Conversano “Brass Joy” (Danilo Moccia, Lalo Conversano, Roberto Olzer, Valerio Della Fonte)
Bocconi Jazz Business Unit (Marco Mariani, Nicola Pecchiari, Franco Bagnoli, Michelangelo Decorato, Luca Zollo, Linda Paganelli)
Mauro Brunini Quintet (Mauro Brunini, Tullio Ricci, Michele Franzini, Roberto Mattei)
Alberto Barattini Trio "Simply Music" (Alberto Barattini, Gianluca Alberti)
Mario Mariotti For Miles (Mario Mariotti, Michelangelo Decorato, Tito Mangialajo)

They say

Drummer Nicola Stanieri is subtle and swinging, frequently using brushes, which is appropriate given the instrumentation and arrangements. But when energy is called for (as on “34 Skidoo”) he fits the bill quite nicely.
CADENCE (USA) APR-MAY-JUN 2011

Drummer Stranieri is an excellent listener who keeps coming up with the appropriate accompaniment no matter where the tunes end up.
Stuart Kremsky - CADENCE (USA) – JULY-AUG-SEPT 2009

...just wanted to let you know that I like your drumming very much. You have good ideas and time.
Artt Frank. Longtime favorite drummer & closest friend to jazz trumpet icon, Chet Baker. 2019