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Silent Sail – Echoes of Dusk

Silent Sail – Echoes of Dusk is a masterwork! Pianist Figura, bassist Rolff, and drummer de Seta are master story tellers throughout this recording as they have created music that offer a free flowing sonic experience for the listener. With their beautiful compositions effortlessly performed with total control and grace, there is no higher communication when three individual music masters coming together as one voice. 

(From the mind of jazz musicians)

With its lyrical melodies, colorful harmonies and sensitive rhythms Silent Sail- Echoes of Dusk featuring Antonio Figura-piano, Massimiliano Rolff- bass and Lucrezio De Seta-drums is a beautifu, laid-back musical journey. The trio winds its way through each song with an ease and grace that makes the songs flow on their own, unique path, The facility and distinct style of each player combines to make a singular trio that shapes a beautiful form for each song. Highly recommended! 

(Rich Shemaria)

Dave Schroeder and Antonio Figura make music of extraordinary poise and balance, in which they explore the meaning of “song.”  

First, this music sings, passionately. Melodies abound, and breath rules.  These two breathe together; Antonio’s artful use of the pedal pushes the piano to inhale and exhale with Dave’s parlando lines.  

Second, there is everywhere in this recording a careful consideration of song form - of ways its history, as embodied by an honorable list of practitioners from Puccini to Porter - is filled with stirring, evocative stories.  

The music on this recording is story-telling music, music replete with the atmosphere of mythic tales spun at night, out of doors. It invites you to recapture the kind of listening you did as a child, when music first grabbed you and transported you to worlds you hadn’t imagined. 

(Steve Swallow and Carla Bley)

This is a remarkable duo collection in two respects. The compositions, all originals written by Figura and Schroeder have beauty, simplicity and sophistication. 

This recording also has the distinction of featuring Dr. Dave on several of the more ‘exotic’ wind instruments-- sopranino sax, piccolo, bass flute, chromatic harmonica and the ever-popular ‘Mongolian ever buree’ (no, I hadn’t heard of it either, but you will love it). He plays them all beautifully along with Antonio’s lush and flowing piano playing. Have a listen! 

(Tom Scott)

Recorded in New York at System Two Studios in Brooklyn, Strong Place (2010) is Antonio Figura's third album. For this recording, he collaborated with outstanding musicians such as Kendrick Scott on drums and Vicente Archer on double bass. 

Once again, the Syracuse-born pianist chose the piano trio format for the album's seven original compositions—an ensemble that perfectly showcases his distinctive pianistic voice. 

Strong Place is a carefully crafted and deeply reflective work. Its introspective, at times dreamlike atmosphere is the common thread running through every track. Elegant phrasing, inspired by a subtle sense of romanticism, guides the musical themes toward refined sonic landscapes in which every single note carries particular significance. 

One of Antonio Figura's defining strengths lies in his harmonic progressions, which transform the thematic material by exploring every facet and revealing its hidden dimensions. Minimalist melodies alternate with dynamic breaks and compelling rhythmic shifts, as heard in the title track Strong Place and Thapsos. 

Strong Place is a mature recording with an unmistakably international sound. It is an album to revisit over time—one that rewards patient listening and gradual discovery, inviting the audience to immerse themselves in the musical philosophy of an artist whose career continues to rise.

(Stefano di Ielsi, WordPress)

Fresh Energy in Contemporary Jazz

Cool gusts of wind are always unexpected when the sea is perfectly still. In much the same way, Antonio Figura's music arrives as a welcome disruption to the predictable currents of crowd-pleasing mainstream jazz and formulaic imitation. The Sicilian pianist and composer draws deeply from a rich cultural background where tradition and innovation coexist naturally.

His finely tuned trio moves with remarkable precision through music driven by exploration. Elastic harmonies expand and contract around Michele Salgarello's vibrant, meticulous drumming and Milko Ambrogini's refined rhythmic sensibility. Figura's creative voice permeates every composition, combining an effortless command of modal structures with subtle funk influences and a touch that is both confident and expressive. In this setting, Cleveland Watkiss's deliberately raw, incisive vocal approach and Rosario Giuliani's broad, fluid, richly rounded saxophone sound blend seamlessly, enriching melodies that remain firmly at the heart of Figura's musical vision. These themes unfold through bright, intelligent improvisations that embrace a contemporary musical language and a distinctly modern expressive voice.

(Alceste Ayroldi, Musica Jazz Magazine)

Antonio Figura's Sense of Space

Antonio Figura is undoubtedly one of the most compelling emerging voices in Italian jazz piano. A graduate in Jazz Studies and the History of Afro-American Music from the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, where he completed a thesis on the Modern Jazz Quartet, Figura recently released his fifth album, produced by Headache Production and recorded in Rome with an outstanding ensemble featuring alto saxophonist Rosario Giuliani, British vocalist Cleveland Watkiss, bassist Milko Ambrogini, and drummer Michele Salgarello.

This project was especially close to Figura's heart, and he devoted considerable effort to bringing it to fruition. All ten compositions bear his signature, while Cleveland Watkiss contributed the lyrics to two of the songs.

With this new release, Figura confirms the remarkable artistic qualities already evident in his previous recordings, particularly Strong Place. His pianism remains economical and deeply expressive, free from unnecessary virtuosity while firmly grounded in a solid technical foundation. His writing is equally accomplished, revealing a remarkable sense of musical space.

This is immediately apparent in the title track, where the piano gently sketches the main theme while Ambrogini and Salgarello provide subtle support. Together, the trio demonstrates the expressive power of silence, the importance of carefully placed pauses, and the effectiveness of creating musical tension through restraint rather than excess.

The influences are recognizable—from Paul Bley to certain aspects of Bill Evans—but there is a significant difference between studying great masters and fully absorbing their lessons to forge a personal language. Throughout the album, the listener is left with the rewarding impression of hearing something genuinely original.

Whether in Speak Softly, where Cleveland Watkiss's magnificent voice enters with a presence that may occasionally recall Elvis Costello, or in White Shadows, where Rosario Giuliani's alto sax captivates with its characteristically intricate yet fresh and sparkling phrasing, the album consistently maintains its originality and expressive depth.

(Gerlando Gatto, A Proposito di Jazz)