Queen Size Francesco Fratini, Giuseppe Romagnoli, Matteo Bultrini

• 1 Queen Size 04:40
• 2 Neo Tokyo 3 03:38
• 3 Pane Amore E Collera 02:20
• 4 Interludio 02:10
• 5 Paganico 05:22
• 6 Cleopatra 02:31
• 7 Per Carlo 03:43
• 8 Uscita Dai Blocchi 06:03
• 9 Bloody Mary 02:45
• 10 I Love You Madly 06:05
• Total Runtime 39:17

Info for Queen Size

“Rome has something to say.”

This is the message trumpeter Francesco Fratini delivers on his sensual, cool-as-can-be debut EP Homemade that dropped on March 11, 2022. The Italian native cut his teeth during a years-long residency in New York, returning to his hometown Rome with a deep love for Black American music, and a desire to lead the way in building up his city’s jazz scene. Working as a collective with longtime friends Giuseppe Romagnoli (bass) and Matteo Bultrini (drums), Fratini has created a set of originals that melds elements of cool jazz, bebop, and hip hop, mixing in a few timeless classics for good measure. It is a debut that puts the rest of the world, New York included, on notice.

“I want a platform so that people who are into this music can know about what we do here in the Rome scene,” says Fratini. “We wanted other people — in Rome, in Italy, and in the world, why not — to know what’s happening here, because I think it’s valuable.”

Fratini and his trio prove themselves masters at setting a mood. “Low Stress Training” offers a whimsical melody over bebop changes, with a cheeky reference to growing weed thrown in. “Marta” is a hushed, hip-hop inspired ode to Fratini’s sister. And “Orari Nostri” is a smooth, blue-tinged “tune dedicated to people who live life at unconventional hours,” shares Fratini.

Across all of Homemade, there’s a relaxed, unhurried quality to the music of Fratini and company. With all their skill and chemistry, they are constantly choosing to create space and let notes linger. There’s magic in how they invite you into what they are doing. It is jazz with the style and comfort of fine Italian tailoring.

Francesco Fratini, trumpet
Giuseppe Romagnoli, bass
Matteo Bultrini, drums

Francesco Fratini
began studying the instrument at the age of 8 (trumpet). He studied with the teachers Salvatore Catania and Franco Vasselli, Giampaolo Casati, Pietro Tonolo, Stefano Zenni, Marco Tamburini, Claudio Corvini, Enrico Rava, Gianluigi Trovesi. In January 2009, still eighteen, he was called by Enrico Rava to join his ensemble, alongside Daniele Tittarelli, Gianluca Petrella, Giovanni Guidi, Gianluigi Trovesi, Dan Kinzelman and Stefano Senni.

In September 2010 he moved to New York where, thanks to a four-year scholarship, he attended the courses of the New School For Jazz and Contemporary Music. During those five years in New York, he had the opportunity to study under the guidance of teachers such as Reggie Workman, George Cables, Aaron Goldberg, Steve Cardenas, Jimmy Owens, Andrew Cyrille, Laurie Frink, Ambrose Akimounsire, Avishai Cohen, Kirk Nurock, Doug Weiss, Marcus Printup, Jane Ira Bloom. He also performed at various New York clubs and festivals alongside musicians such as Austin Peralta, Chad Lefickofitz Brown, Alexander Claffy, Matt Chalk, Kyle Poole and Daniel Dor.

In December 2014 he graduated at The New School, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz and Contemporary Music.

In January 2015 he returned to Rome to resume an intense concert activity throughout Italy alongside musicians such as Pietro Lussu, Daniele Tittarelli, Rosario Giuliani, Danilo Rea, Fabio Zeppetella, Rosario Bonaccorso, Alessandro Lanzoni, Camilla Battaglia, Simone Graziano, Ares Tavolazzi, Mario Raja, Paolo Damiani, Bruno Biriaco, Mario Corvini, Domenico Sanna, Alessandro Lanzoni, Enrico Zanisi, Daniele Tittarelli, Francesco Diodati, Francesco Ponticelli , Giovanni Guidi, Fabrizio Sferra, Massimo Morganti, Marco Valeri, Enrico Morello, Luca Bulgarelli, Cristiano Arcelli and many others.

In March 2016 he graduated in Trumpet Jazz with honors at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome.

In recent years, he has been able to perform abroad, in Montreal and New York with the Francois Russeau Big Band, in Bern with Or Bareket Quartet, in Telaviv, Israel with the Michael Rosen Quartet, in Algeria in Constantine with Marta High, in Finland with Kurry Luthala Quartet in Helsinky, in Ryadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and in Tiblisi in Georgia with the Paolo Damiani New Band , again in Tiblisi with the Nicola di Tommaso Quartet, in Berlin with Ugo Alunni Quartet.

He is a permanent member of the "Umbria Jazz Orchestra" and the Nazionale Jazz Giovani Talenti (ONJT)(National Jazz Youth Talents Orchestra) with which he performs in the prestigious contexts of the Teatro Piccolo in Milan, the Roman Theater of Fiesole in Florence, the Auditorium Parco della Musica and the Casa del Jazz in Rome, Prix Italia in Capri and many others.

Since 2016 he has been carrying on a quartet under his name, composed by Domenico Sanna, Luca Fattorini and Matteo Bultrini, with whom he is close to the release of his first album "The Best Of All Possible Worlds" for Jando Music.

This album contains no booklet.