The IF Jazz Club was the pulsating heart of the Melbourne Italian Festa & Expo 2025 and transformed a corner of the festival into a sonic temple, where emotions intertwined like melodic lines and Italy met Australia to the rhythm of a double bass.
Five concerts gave life to a musical story - a living score woven between memory and creation.
On Saturday, October 18, renowned pianist and composer Rita Marcotulli opened the series with a special concert, presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Melbourne.
It was an intimate journey, where her piano elegantly turned silence into poetry. Each chord tasted of the sea, evoking the voices of Domenico Modugno and Pino Daniele in a perfect balance of nostalgia and freedom.
Next came vocalist and musician Ilaria Crociani with Australian pianist Paul Grabowsky, who together created a tapestry of delicate, resonant sounds born from moments of stillness - inner spaces where music becomes both confession and embrace.
Then, with the Morricone Project, Gianni Marinucci painted the air with cinematic notes: his flugelhorn conjured the light and shadow of beloved films, carrying the audience into a jazz dream steeped in collective memory.
On Sunday, October 19, Ronny Ferella and his show Come Here Go Away told a story of migration, journeys, belonging and the heartbeat of tradition meeting modernity in a song of resilience and gratitude.
Finally, Marcotulli returned to the stage with Koinè in a celebration of the universal language of music. Together with saxophonist and composer Mirko Guerrini, bassist Michelangelo Scandroglio and drummer Niko Schäuble, she created a space of spontaneous dialogue, where each instrument spoke and listened in turn, like voices in an intimate conversation.
Between glasses of wine, smiles and the gentle swaying of time, Melbourne’s Italian festival was adorned with jazz and music intended to be lived, not just heard.
