BIO

Nicola Stranieri first studied drumming with Enrico Lucchini and Tullio De Piscopo, before he completed his musical training attending workshops by Peter Erskine, Enrico Rava and John Riley.
His versatility makes him appreciated in a variety of musical contexts, from traditional jazz to more modern and experimental styles.

Since entering the jazz scene in the 1980s, Nicola has played at many legendary jazz clubs and festivals.

Throughout his career, he has played with many jazz musicians, such as: Ralph Alessi, Eddie Daniels, Bill Carrothers, Gianni Basso, Enrico Rava, Fabrizio Bosso, Scott Hamilton, Gerald Cannon, Chris Collins, Hendrik Meurkens, Cy Leo, Mike Del Ferro, Franco Cerri, Emanuele Cisi, Felice Reggio, Garrison Fewell, Arrigo Cappelletti, Salvatore Bonafede, Claudio Fasoli, Arkady Shilkloper, Mat Maneri, Mike Rossi, Carlo Actis Dato, Billy Lester, Liudas Mockunas, Bruno De Filippi, Barbara Casini, Gianni Coscia, Bebo Ferra, Luca Aquino, Ramberto Ciammarughi, Ares Tavolazzi, Paolo Paliaga, Claudio "Wally" Allifranchini, Luis Agudo, Andrea Pozza, Antonio Zambrini, Sandro Gibellini, Michele Bozza, Rosario Bonaccorso, Andrea Dulbecco, Roberto Cecchetto, Mauro Negri, Giulio Visibelli, Marco Micheli, Alberto Mandarini, Michael Rosen, Stefano Benini, Paolo Dalla Porta, Max De Aloe, Carlo Atti, Dimitri Grechi Espinoza, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Max Gallo, Luigi Tessarollo, Frederic Viale, Paolo Alderighi, Alfredo Ferrario, Eiji Hanaoka, Michel Pastre, Nicki Parrott, Stephanie Trick, Engelbert Wrobel, Malo Mazurie, Attila Korb, Martin Breinschmid, Paolo Tomelleri, Denise Gordon, Simona Bencini, Aurore Voilquè, Carlo Morena, Ada Montellanico, Simone Guiducci, Fausto Beccalossi, Riccardo Fioravanti, Yuri Goloubev, Faraggiana Big Band, Mattia Cigalini, Attilio Zanchi, Massimo Moriconi and many others.

Festivals

Torino Jazz Festival Piemonte, Piemonte dal Vivo, Gozzano (Novara)
Torino Jazz Festival Piemonte, Piemonte dal Vivo, Nizza Monferrato (Asti)
Accordi in Piazza 2026, Lodi
Giaveno Summer Jazz 2026, Giaveno TO
Piacenza Jazz Fest 2026 (XXIII Edizione)
Monfrà Jazz Fest 2025 (Monferrato)
Ferno Jazz Festival 2025
Val Tidone Festival 2025 (27° Edizione)
Vie Di Jazz (XXI Edizione) 2025 Boves
La Casa del Jazz Italiano XXXII edizione 2024 (Palazzolo sull'Oglio - BS)
Eventi in Jazz 2024 Busto Arsizio (2023)
Ombre di Jazz Bogliasco Festival 2024 (GE)
Festival Rho 2024 (MI)
Atelier Musicale XXIX Stagione (Camera del lavoro, Milano 2024)
JITN MutaMenti 2023 Hong Kong
Tones on the Stones 2023
Summertime in Jazz 2023
Caste Jazz Festival 2023 Castenedolo BS
Estate al Castello Milano 2023
Teatro Curci Barletta (BA) 2023
XXIII Magenta Jazz Festival 2021
JAZZAL Alessandria 2021
Nuoro Jazz 2021
Iseo Jazz 2021
LongLake Festival Lugano 2020/21
Torino Jazz Festival
MutaMenti Jazz Festival 2020
Monfrà Jazz Festival 2020
Spotorno in Jazz 2015, 2017. Spotorno (Savona)
Ver1 Musica, Veruno Jazz 2012, 2017. Veruno (Novara)
Ai Confini tra Sardegna e Jazz 2014 (Sant'Anna Arresi)
Santa Jazz 2011, 2017. Santa Margherita Ligure (Genova)
UDIN&JAZZ, MITO Settembre Musica
Padova Jazz
Roccella Jazz Festival
Villa Celimontana (Roma)
Musica sulle Bocche, Santa Teresa di Gallura (Sardegna)
ASCONA JAZZ (CH)
BaRoMus (Croazia)
Asolo Musica
TanJazz (Tangeri/Marocco)
III° e IV° Convention Francaise de la Flute (Paris)
Shkodra Festival (Albania)
Fano Jazz On The Sea
Trieste Jazz Festival
Le Vie del Suono
Novara Jazz
Ubi Jazz
AH-UM Milano Jazz Festival
Gallarate Jazz Festival
Euro Jazz Festival d’Ivrea
Varese in Jazz, Brianza Open Jazz
Festival Internazionale Rimini Jazz
Versilia Jazz Festival
Sonvico in Jazz (Svizzera)
Piemonte in Musica
Nuovi Territori tra Jazz e Musica Europea (Galliate - NO)
Sestri Jazz (GE)
Segni in Jazz
Pineto Accordion Jazz Festival
Midnight Jazz Festival
Terra del Sole
Girifalco Jazz Festival
Val Tidone Festival
Davos Sound Goods 2014 / 2015 (CH)
Viaggi Festival
Blue Note Milano
Jazz Club Torino
Ferrara Jazz Club
Pinocchio Jazz Club (Firenze)
Venice Jazz Club (Venezia) e molti altri...

He has recorded 75 CDs with various musicians.
He has performed in France, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Albania, Morocco, Kenya, Malta, Croatia.

In recent years, he has collaborated with several exponents of Brazilian popular music and Brazilian jazz: Cesar Moreno, Paulo Zannol, Marquinho "Baboo" Bacchereti, Ana Flora, Priscila Ribas, Debora Dienstmann, Silvana Nunes, Vinicius Surian, Ney Portilho and Marcelo Ghelfi.

Among the current non-jazz projects is his collaboration with pop singer-songwriter Susanna Parigi, Toni Melillo and the great indian singer Rabbi Shergill.

Current Collaborations

Max De Aloe Quartet (Max De Aloe, Roberto Olzer, Marco Mistrangelo)
Paolo Alderighi / Stephanie Trick Double Trio (Paolo Alderighi, Stephanie Trick, Roberto Piccolo)
Wally Allifranchini Quintet "Miles & Trane" omaggio a Miles Davis e John Coltrane (Wally Allifranchini, Daniele Moretto, Eugenia Canale, Marcello Testa)
NaBossa Trio "Pra Vinicius" Omaggio a Vinicius De Moraes (Debora Dienstmann, Vinicius Surian) special guest Ney Portilho e Lorenzo Tosarelli
Faraggiana Big Band diretta da Wally Allifranchini
Gallo / Greselin / Stranieri Trio "Omaggio a Wes Montgomery e Jimmy Smith" (Max Gallo, Yazan Greselin)
Alberto Barattini Trio (Alberto Barattini, Gianluca Alberti)
Felice Reggio & Max Gallo Hammond Trio "Napule è" omaggio jazz a Pino Daniele (Felice Reggio, Max Gallo, Yazan Greselin)
Luca Segala Quartet "Monk's Dream" omaggio a Thelonious Monk (Luca Segala, Riccardo Bianchi, Marco Mistrangelo)
Silver Moon omaggio a Horace Silver (Mauro Brunini, Tullio Ricci, Francesco Chebat, Carlo Bavetta)
Manuel Consigli Trio (Manuel Consigli, Marcello Testa)
Manuel Consigli Hammond Trio (Manuel Consigli, Niccolò Cattaneo)
Ney Portilho Brasilian Vintage Quarteto (Ney Portilho, Massimo Mantovani, Vinicius Surian)
Jam Session Brasiliana a Milano (Cesar Moreno, Paulo Zannol, Marquinho Baboo)
Vinicius Surian Quartet (Vinicius Surian, Loris Stefanuto, Jorge Machado)
Max & Mirella Gallo Brazilian Jazz Quartet (Mirella Gallo, Max Gallo, Yazan Greselin)

Educational activities

He taught drums at the Civico Istituto Musicale Brera in Novara and at the A. Toscanini music school in Verbania. He's also taught at the Centro Teatro Attivo in Milan, Tullio De Piscopo's drums course.
Currently, he teaches at the Scuola di Musica Dedalo in Novara, in which he also coordinates the jazz music section.
He recorded the play-along CD with the Max De Aloe Quartet for "Method for Chromatic Harmonica" by Max De Aloe, published by the prestigious international publishing house, Sher Music Co (USA).

They say

Drummer Nicola Stanieri is subtle and swinging, frequently using brushes, which is appropriate given the instrumentation and arrangements. But when energy is called for (as on “34 Skidoo”) he fits the bill quite nicely.
CADENCE (USA) APR-MAY-JUN 2011

Drummer Stranieri is an excellent listener who keeps coming up with the appropriate accompaniment no matter where the tunes end up.
Stuart Kremsky - CADENCE (USA) – JULY-AUG-SEPT 2009

...just wanted to let you know that I like your drumming very much. You have good ideas and time.
Artt Frank. Longtime favorite drummer & closest friend to jazz trumpet icon, Chet Baker. 2019