Mikele Montolli

Michele Montolli (Verona, Italy - 1986) studied violin from the age of seven and subsequently shifted to electric bass. By the age of seventeen, Montolli broadened his practice in classical double bass at Verona’s Conservatory. Following this, he moved to Graz, Austria where he was disciplined under the great Wayne Darling at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz, graduating in 2009 in Jazz Double Bass. In 2010, Montolli joined the London Jazz scene and debuted in various Jazz and World music festivals, touring over Europe, New York, Tokyo and the Balkan Peninsula; performing and recording with great artists such as ''Sun Ra Arkestra'' , Knoel Scott and Marshall Allen (Sun Ra Arkestra), top UK Jazz singers Julie Dexter and Heidi Vogel, LA-based legendary saxophonist–big band arranger Don Menza, afro-blues band “Seeds of Creation,” Sudanese acclaimed singer Amira Kheir, Afro-Venezuelan jazz quintet “Pataruco,” De'Sean Jones, esteemed drummers Lami Istrefi and Vladimir Kostadinovic. Montolli performed and composed extensively for the London National Television School and the BBC, building a robust musical vocabulary based on Afro American tradition fused together with years of classical training and experimental form-free music.