Music and beauty. We are talking about the “Arco Azzurro Festival Jazz”, which for the eighth consecutive year will be held on the suggestive panoramic terrace of the “Arco Azzurro” Geosito, on the Mongerbino-Aspra coastline, in one of the most evocative landscape views of the Sicilian coast, in the place made famous by the advertising of the famous chocolates.
The event is organised by Bagheria’s “Natura e Cultura” association, which manages the Arco Azzurro Geosito.
This year the musical review will start on 26 July and end on 30 August. Four encounters are planned. The artistic director of the review is the well-known Bagheria trumpeter Giacomo Tantillo, who
will once again take care of the musical organisation of the event this year. Admission is from 7.00 p.m. concert starts at 8.00 p.m. Tickets cost € 12.00.
These are the dates of the concerts, which as usual will take place at sunset:

Saturday 26 July ‘ ESTEBAN MAXERA TRIO’ (Argentina)
offers modern jazz with South American influences: powerful, rhythmically complex and rich in sound depth. The focus is on Argentinian bassist and composer Esteban Maxera, whose
works make up the trio’s complete repertoire. His pieces combine South American folkloric influences with free improvisation and contemporary jazz language, far from stylistic clichés. They perform in a demanding line-up without piano or guitar.
Esteban Maxera(electric bass, composer)
Andres Tarrab (drums)
Kimey Gomez (tenor sax)
The trio regularly tours Europe. Their performances have taken them to the Venice Jazz Festival, Out Jazz in Lisbon (Portugal), Anagni Jazz Fest, Cadiz, Paris, Berlin and Oslo, among
many other places.
Their concerts are characterised by precision, expression and deep mutual understanding: music that tells a story, that moves, breathes and surprises. This summer 2025 they will perform at the Arco Azzurro Jazz Festival, playing for the first time in Sicily.
Other highlights of the tour will include the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and Aarhus Jazz Festival in Denmark.
The tour includes concerts in Italy, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Portugal and Spain.

Saturday 02 August ‘SERGIO MUNAFO’ Guest Gaspare Palazzolo ‘My jazz thoughts’
For more than 30 years on the music scene, he has been one of the guitarists on the Sicilian jazz scene closest to the “Old schoo” guitar tradition, in other words the one that goes from Wes Montgomery to Django Reinhardt to Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, George Benson etc. Guitarist also of the Sicilian jazz orchestra of the “The Brass group” Foundation, through which, over many years he has collaborated with international musicians, to name but a few: Ron Carter, Dave Weckle, Eumir Deodato, Ernie Watts, Patty Austin, D.D. Bridgewater, Curt Elling, Dianne Reevs, Rachell Ferrell, Alex Acuna, Peter Erskine, J. Faddis.
In this concert he will play the typical sounds of Wes Montgomery’s organ trio together with Massimo Merighi, a specialist on this instrument, and Fabrizio Giambanco on drums. Guest of the evening will be tenor saxophonist Gaspare Palazzolo, a virtuoso soloist with whom Sergio shares the Sicilian Jazz Orchestra.
Formation: Sergio Munafò guitar, Gaspare Palazzolo tenor sax, Massimo Merighi organ, Fabrizio Giambanco drums.

Saturday 09 August ‘LAURA VASSALLO’ soundscape jazz band
Born in 1994, Laura is a singer and vocal coach with over 10 years’ experience, specialising in jazz singing.
She boasts an intense concert activity in internationally renowned jazz festivals (Amersfoort Jazz Festival, Sicilia Jazz Festival). She has won numerous awards in the
singers section (My Way Festival, RaiPlay Sound).
Since 2017 he has been working as a chorister with the Orchestra Jazz Siciliana, collaborating with national artists such as Arisa, Noemi, Samuel, Mario Biondi, Nina Zilli, Giuseppe Milici. In the years
he also collaborates with Ron, Roy Paci.
With his quartet he offers an international repertoire, dedicated to the best of international jazz and pop music.
The project stands out for its original rearrangements of songs from the Great American Songbook and pieces by great composers such as G. Gershwin, C. Porter, B. Bacharach.
With a personal touch that mixes elegance, rhythm and energy, the band consists of Federico Termini on keyboards, Damiano Vitrano on double bass and Riccardo Salvatore on drums.
Each of the musicians brings with them a great musical baggage enriched by their many musical experiences, in small and large ensembles, from their numerous concerts in theatres, clubs and festivals
all over Europe. A strong musical identity enriches each performance. The group is dedicated to creatively rearranging the great classics, respecting their soul, adding a new freshness that makes each concert a special occasion.

Saturday 30 August ‘CARMELO MARINO’ Jazz Quintet
This project of ours was developed some time ago, having been presented at several concerts, the last of which at Miles Davis in Palermo. It’s a project that was among other things
fine-tuned and reworked during the presentation of the degree thesis of the undersigned presented last March at the Toscanini Conservatory of Ribera with the academic diploma in Jazz Saxophone.
It is a tribute dedicated in particular to the great Cannonball Adderley, but also to other jazz masters who have characterised the jazz music scene over the last sixty years. The group, consisting of Fabio Lo Verde on piano, Barbera Massimiliano on double bass, Carmelo Marino on Alto Sax, Benny Amoroso on trumpet, and Alessandro Bazan on drums, will attempt to re-propose a sound journey through the most representative atmospheres of Jazz.
With a proven line-up of musicians, we will present a selection of iconic Cannonball Adderley tunes, such as “Work Song”, along with other Jazz gems by artists such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Bill Evans. It will therefore be a unique opportunity to celebrate the richness and diversity of Jazz, and to rediscover the roots and influences of this extraordinary musical genre.
During the concert, pieces ranging from Bebop to Cool Jazz, from Funk to Latin Jazz will be performed, with the aim of creating an evocative atmosphere, retracing the history of the greats of Jazz, to experience an evening of music and passion, in the magnificent natural setting on the panoramic terrace of the Geosito ‘Arco Azzurro’.