“I was born into a family of musicians and music lovers. In our house we listened to Jobim, Elis Regina, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and other great musicians. Singing for me has always been a natural, normal thing. It was normal to sing "Aguas de Março" with my mom in the kitchen while preparing dinner and having fun recreating the famous duo; she was Jobim and I was Elis. With her I was singing in this language unknown to me, but I found it so fascinating to continually seek to reproduce the sound and inflection in every single word. It was just as normal being accompanied on piano by my father or listening to Louis Prima with him in the car on my way to school; he still tells me with amazement of how, after a short time, I was able to sing the whole album and not just the melody of the songs but also the backing vocals, bass and sax solos. 

This “normality” was an amazing school for me, but my most important musical influence came from my grandfather. Grandfather Ciro was a singer and musician with more southern roots (like my father Pino) but very well-known in Bologna, a city which is still considered to be the birthplace of Italian jazz. It was him who taught me the first standards such as "Just Friends" or "Polka Dots and Moonbeams", and that was something that helped me learn more about Cuban and Argentinian music. Whenever he came to visit he used to bring me a new CD to learn, while I made him listen to my progress. He even told me that on the day when I would properly sing the subject of "Libertango" (Astor Piazzolla), he would award me with an honorary degree in singing. I remember how he both laughed and cried when I –little more than a little girl – sang the theme of John Coltrane's “Giant steps”; for him it was unbelievable just how a little girl could manage to sing certain intervals. 

At the age of 12 I started to attend the Conservatory studying primarily violin, as well as viola. All the while I accompanied Grandpa Ciro to jazz concerts and took part in my first jam session as a singer. It was there that I understood that my role in music would be as a singer. 

For the first album as leader, I started from my earliest musical memories by retracing an introspective journey in search of deeper feelings within my soul. These feelings, thanks to Stefano, were translated into music. I chose bow instruments, which stem from my musical training, while saxophone and double bass are a reminder of my jazz roots. Jobim and Piazzolla are the inspiration.
Dualidad is a comparison between the present and the past, between saudade and passion... It’s the nostalgia of memories from childhood, returning home after a long journey, a start from the past. It’s a return to the South."

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Rossella Cappadone