The presence of Italian avant-garde percussion legend ANDREA CENTAZZO at the 2010 improvisor Festival represents the sense of community that brings veteran collaborators back together after more than 30 years. In 1978 Centazzo- then the official USA representative of Ufip cymbals- discovered Alabama’s pioneering Transmuseq artists Davey Williams  & LaDonna Smith and invited/hosted them on their first tour of Europe, which was instrumental in launching their international musical success.

In an artistic career that spans over thirty years, Andrea has given more than 1000 concerts and live performances in Europe and the United States (as well as having appeared and performed on numerous radio and television broadcasts), recorded over 60 LP's and CD's, and has authored 350 compositions and eight musicology books. His musical endeavors and creative expression range from the sublime to the passionate, from lyric opera to orchestral symphony and solo percussion. He has performed in many festivals as soloist of his own compositions or as conductor of symphonic orchestras and is a pioneer of contemporary percussion.

In the early years, he performed with some of the greatest avant-garde soloists and composers, including John Zorn, Henry Kaiser, Eugene Chadbourne, Elliot Sharp, S. Bussotti, Steve Lacy, Don Cherry, A. Mangellsdorf, and Evan Parker, as well as many, many others. Since that time he has received a number of prestigious music and video  awards (Premio Speciale della Critica Discografica Italiana, USA Downbeat Poll, International Video Festival Tokyo, Prix Arcanal of French Culture, etc.), earned a doctoral degree in musicology, and has taught seminars and workshops in both Europe and the USA. Since 1983, Centazzo has been dedicated to creating multi-media experiences. This expansion began with an exhibition of his scores rendered as painted ideograms, and evolved into video performances combining both live performance with video images. These efforts culminated in his directing award-winning videos and films. As a soundtrack composer, he unites traditional instrumentation with current technological advances in musical expression through sampling machines and computers. These efforts give a new perspective to the fusion of sound and image through his theatre, television, video, CD rom, and feature film scores. The music of Centazzo captures and expresses the rhythm and pulse of life by synthesizing the mystery of Oriental percussive vibrations with the timbral harmonic understanding of contemporary music and the soul of jazz and rock post-culture. Andrea Centazzo continues to contribute his unique artistic vision to the evolution of contemporary culture.

ANDREA CENTAZZO  will be performing at the Magic City Meltdown with Davey Williams and LaDonna Smith at Workplay on August 6; at Barking Leggs Theater in Chattanooga, TN on Aug. 7; at EYEDRUM in Atlanta, GA on Aug. 8; at Cine in Athens, GA on Aug. 9&10; at DIXIE FRIED at the Bottletree in Birmingham, AL on Aug. 13; at the SUN RA TRIBUTE at Pepper Place in Birmingham, AL on Aug. 14. He will also be having a WORLD PREMIER of his multimedia anthology "Visions" on Aug. 15.