Italian Mauro Sigura is a jazz oud player and recent winner of the international 7VirtualJazz contest. Although he has played across the world, he has never played in the UK and brings his Electric Quartet – with Marcello Peghin, Pierpaolo Ranieri and Alessandro Cau – here for just one date: Watermill Jazz, Dorking on 25 February (*).
UK Jazz News: What is your musical background?
Mauro Sigura : Well, when I was young, I spent time watching and listening to my father, who is still a good rock guitar player. I used to take his guitar and try playing it. When I started playing I was 15 years old and my first instrument was a Fender Stratocaster and I was trying to reproduce solos from rock music by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton and Guns N’ Roses.
When I was 20 years old, I started playing blues in the clubs in Turin and started taking jazz lessons. In the meantime, I also investigated folk and world music, especially from the south of Italy and from Sardinia, where I live now. I ended up playing for several years with the local traditional folk bands, delving deeper into Arab- Ottoman music, and studying with a good teacher. It became my passion and I am still studying that music now. UKJN: The oud is an unusual instrument to see in a jazz setting, especially as part of an electric quartet. What made you gravitate towards it?
MS: During the 1990s, I used to go to Greece with my parents for holidays, and I heard some notes coming from a nearby taverna. I ran down to the street looking for the place where the music was coming from and, when I found it, I spent hours listening to that music that was so exotic but had a familiar feel. Then my father bought a bouzouki and I started playing it. From listening to Greek music, I moved gradually to Turkish and Arabic music, where I met the oud and I fell in love immediately with that instrument and that music.
From the beginning I understood that it was necessary to study the traditional music played on the oud but I had to approach a new way of playing it. So I started mixing my jazz background, the rock music I’d learned on the guitar and my new knowledge coming from Arabic-Ottoman classical music.
I was looking for a modern sound, to blend the traditional voice of that instrument with the sounds of European jazz, classical music and rock. That’s the reason why, for my last album DUNIA, I choose an electric guitar and bass for the lineup. I wanted a traditional story to be told by a modern sound, made by distortions, delay, and other effects.
UKJN: Which musicians do you most admire?
As my approach is a kind of crossover, I get my influences from many musicians. There are musicians who have influenced my compositions, such as Dhafer Youssef, Pat Metheny, the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, in fact – all of Norwegian Jazz. There are also musicians who have influenced my way of playing like Pat Metheny and Anouar Brahem.
All these musicians and their music can take you in their world, and can resonate deeply with people. Their messages are complex but easy to connect with, both at the same time. That’s what I would like to communicate with my music: a complex message of integration, empathy, dialogue and proximity expressed in a simple way, just by taking people into my musical world.
UKJN: How did you choose the musicians in your Electric Quartet?
I played for 10 years with my acoustic quartet, all Sardinian musicians, but with the electric quartet I selected a different lineup as I needed a different sound.
First I contacted Marcello Peghin, who is one of the most famous guitar players in Sardinia and well-known in Italy too. He’s mainly known for his classical guitar playing but I saw him in a couple of concerts with the electric guitar and it was amazing. Then I wanted a bass player with a great sound and a great groove. I had heard about Pierpaolo Ranieri, who is one of the most famous Italian bass players. I was so happy that he agreed to be part of the project. Then, for the album recording I chose Evita Polidoro who is already a drummer with DeeDee Bridgewater and Enrico Rava and is superb. For the live concerts, Evita will be replaced by Alessandro Cau, a very good drummer that I know well.
UKJN: What does 2025 hold for you?
MS: Well, in 2025, I will be working on my new collaboration with the pianist Andrea Manzoni, with whom I created the project MIGRANTES. Andrea is an amazing pianist and MIGRANTES celebrates cultural diversity and mixes elements from various musical contexts to create a unique sound that transcends georgraphical boundaries.
This year I’m already booked to play in Germany, France, Italy, Croatia, Egypt, Switzerland and Greece with more to come, and I’m very excited to take both of my projects DUNIA and MIGRANTES around the world and see the audiences’ reactions.
(*) Mauro Sigura’s visit to the UK is supported by the Italian Cultural Institute. Kathryn Shackleton does Artist Bookings at Watermill Jazz.
