Ferdinando Faraò belongs to one of the few Italian jazz dynasties. The son of an amateur drummer, he is the brother of piano player Antonio Faraò and the cousin of piano player Massimo Faraò. Inspired by his father's wide collection of jazz records and captivated by a concert of Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald that he had seen in Milan at the age of 10, he started to study the drums with the support of his family. By the age of 20 he had become the in-house drummer at Capolinea, Milan's most important jazz venue. In the '80s he played in the Claudio Fasoli Quartet and accompanied many North American musicians that toured Italy, such as Lee Konitz, Mal Waldron, Sal Nistico and Bob Mover. In the '90s he joined the quintet of Italian singer Tiziana Ghiglioni and has been increasingly involved in special audio-visual projects. His recording career as a solo artist started relatively late, in 1997, with the album Listening Self, featuring Pietro Tonolo on saxophone, Piero Leveratto on double-bass and Franco D'Andrea on piano. Faraò is a subtle drummer that leads from the back rather than putting himself under the spotlight. Also at ease on percussion and xylophone, he can provide a versatile and wide aural palette. A witty composer, he privileges midtempo compositions in which he often experiments with odd time signatures, sudden rhythmic shifts and sampling. Though constantly active as a sideman and teacher, Faraò didn't record as a leader again until 2004's large ensemble offering Eschersuite, the first album in a trilogy that was followed by Darwinsuite (2009) and Pollocksuite (2010). In 2015 he led the Artchipel Orchestra on the date Play Soft Machine and enlisted them again along with drummer Chris Cutler for To Lindsay: Omaggio A Lindsay Cooper. ~ Luigi Santosuosso, Rovi