| About |

Marco Zenini is an Italian musician based in Rome.

Marco’s musical journey began more than fifteen years ago when he started playing the electric bass in a number of rock and metal bands. His first teachers, Luca Barberini and Toni Armetta, introduced him to the vast world of jazz, where he discovered the freedom inherent in improvised music.

Musical development quickly became a fundamental part of Marco’s personal path. The balance that exists between structure and improvisation in jazz represented an expression of nature for him. Here, he found the instruments to navigate between the concrete and the abstract in communicating the self, a way to be honest in music by creating a balance between soul and mind.

At the age of 18, Marco started attending the Conservatory of Frosinone in Italy, studying in the classical department with Luca Cola and Gianluigi Zampieri among others. He also participated in a series of intensive one-on-one lessons with Antonio Sciancalepore, Principal Double Bass of the Orchestra at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He completed his classical studies at the Conservatory in 2010 with honors.

The long journey through classical studies (playing with orchestras and chamber ensembles) helped Marco realize that jazz remained his primary passion. The experiences he had playing the electric and double bass in very different musical situations encouraged him to devote his time to jazz music, and brought him to the Netherlands, where he enrolled in the jazz department at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies in 2013 and his Master of Music in Double Bass in 2015.

In early 2015, he was awarded the prize for Best Bass Player at the B-Jazz international contest, in 2014 and 2015 he won the prize as most original band at the Keep An Eye International Jazz Contest and in 2016 he won the second prize during the Dutch Jazz Competition.

Since 2010 he is part of some bands rising up in the European music scene, such as the Vuma Levin quintet, the Bernard Van Rossum quartet, Federica Colangelo “Acquaphonica”, Attila Gyàrfàs trio, Archive Valley. He has performed in prestigious clubs and festivals all over the world; among them the Bimhuis and Northsea Jazz Festival in Holland, EuroJazz in Mexico City, JazzAhead in Germany, Auditorium Parco della Musica and La Casa del Jazz in Italy, Cape Town International Jazz in South Africa and many more, touring in more than 15 countries.

Marco has recorded more than 30 albums as a sideman and in 2017 he recorded his debut album as a band leader and composer, “Brighter Times Ahead”, out in October 2018 under the label Filibusta Records. In his debut work Marco merges contemporary jazz and contemporary classical music with elements of Italian folk music, using experimental writing techniques (such as graphic scores), free improvisation and electronics.

Since 2006 carries out an intense teaching activity through private lessons and workshops, working in 2014 as Head of the Bass department at True School of Music in Mumbai (India) and in 2018 as electric bass teacher for the BA students at Conservatorio F. Torrefranca of Vibo Valentia (Italy).

Since 2019 he teaches bass, double bass and leads ensembles at the “iMusic School” in Rome (Italy).