Stefano Bollani – Italian pianist born December 5 1972 in Milano – was part of Prize Winner Enrico Rava's JAZZPAR 2002 Sextet.

Stefano Bollani’s professional debut came at age 15 and he received his diploma in piano at the Cherubini Conservatory of Florence in 1993. Today Bollani can be heard on scores of recordings.
   The music of Bollani has many directions: a pronounced Italian flavor and bubbly tie with the legacy of American jazz performed in the 50s. Characteristics that are evident both in L’Orchestra del Titanic and when he sets Fosco Maraini’s playfully surreal poetry to music.
   The young musician’s vast playing record extends a full 360°. From classical music with the Orchestra Regionale Toscana to pop-rock, from electro-acoustic experimentation to modern jazz (foremost Enrico Rava, Roberto Gatto and Richard Galliano, but also with Lee Konitz, Gato Barbieri, Phil Woods, Jimmy Cobb, Han Bennink, Paolo Fresu, Aldo Romano, Roswell Rudd, Kenny Wheeler and Greg Osby). Bollani loves the interpretations of Nat King Cole as much as he loves South American music.
   Bollani also has a unique project to fit his own musical taste. Being a young man with a taste for black humor, the overwhelming popularity of the romance and tragedy of the film “Titanic” seemed a perfect place to start. L’ Orchestra Del Titanic does not re-create the ill-fated ship’s lounge-jazz orchestra. It does, however, feature Stefano Bollani’s personal approach to the great melodic jazz tradition. The mostly original program reveals a soft, sly and slightly 70s touch – touches of Frank Zappa, Sly & the family Stone and South American bolero.
   Stefano Bollani is a perfect contributor to a jazz combo that wants to fill a ballroom with warm, intimate sounds while at least one couple dances passionately as the romantic lights begin to dim. He also has the ability to suddenly break out of the mould and burst into passages of withering brillance. He can imitate any artist with astoundingly accuracy and his humorous talent will always break out at some point in a performance.
   He won the Musica Jazz magazine referendum as the best jazz talent in 1998 and the Italian Django d’or in 2000. Bollani has all the qualities of a rising star.