Inventionis Mater Trio & Napoleon Murphy Brock (I/USA)

"I like the selection I've seen. I appreciate the effort you have put into your performances. Nice "odd" musical duo."- Dweezil Zappa

In this new concert, Inventionis Mater meets the double bass player Ferdinando Romano, voted as "Best Italian Rising Star" in Top Jazz 2020 (Musica Jazz’s Critics Poll).

Inventionis Mater was born as a project with the encounter between the clarinet player Pierpaolo Romani and the guitarist Andrea Pennati in 2011. Their purpose is to write down Zappa’s great music for a duo so little frequented as the clarinet and guitar duo is. Inventionis Mater certainly does not answer to the question of what meaning Frank Zappa had for rock music and what for classical music of the late twentieth century. But they take the bright and eccentric rock of Frank Zappa and return it back to the audience in a duo transcription reduced to the need of essentiality. A transcription that is translation, never distortion. A trip between stylistic and timbre versatility, from rhythm 'n blues to twelve tones atmospheres. A duo that tells a story in which the protagonist is an American composer who was able to draw from rock music of the XX century what the great romantic composers drew from folk music. One of the few who knew how to use the difficult simplicity resulting from the purification of complexity.
The duo has already played in Italy, in several important Festivals such as the "Festival of the Two Worlds" of Spoleto, "TrentinoInJazz Festival" and abroad inside the "Palacio Foz" of Lisbon (P), at the "Zapperlot Festival" (CH), at the "Moo-ah! Festival" (UK), Gesellschaftshaus of Magdeburg (D), and at the "Zappanale Festival" (D). In the August 2017 The duo has performed in China at the "Suzhou Municipal Center of Public Culture", "Xi'an Concert Hall", "Ningbo Cultural Plaza Grand Theatre" and in live streaming on v.qq.com from Beijing.
Furthermore, the duo recorded three studio albums on Zappa Music and other composers. The latest duo album – Zapping – was introduced in 2016 at the St. Katharinen church in Hamburg for the concert "Zappa spielt für Bach", which opens the Zappanale Festival. Inventionis Mater recorded a live album as a quartet featuring Napoleon Murphy Brock and Valentina Ciardelli in St. Katharinen church in Hamburg, July 18th, 2018. A new studio album, featuring Ferdinando Romano and Napoleon Murphy Brock (and other musicians) was released in the end of 2023.

Pierpaolo Romani brilliantly graduated in clarinet under the expert guidance of Fabio Battistelli at the L. Cherubini Conservatory in Florence and graduated in Computer Engineering at the University of Florence. He continued his studies with Maestros such as Giovanni Riccucci (School of Music of Fiesole), Antony Pay (Chigiana Accademy of Siena), Richard Stoltzman (International Camp of Music of Sermoneta), Dario Goracci, Alessandro Carbonare, Stefano Cardo.
As a soloist with orchestra, he played the concertos for clarinet and orchestra by W.A. Mozart and A. Copland. He performed as bass clarinetist for the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana. He has collaborated in chamber ensembles with artists such as Fabio Battistelli, Gabriele Mirabassi, Fabrizio Meloni, Alberto Bologni and Matteo Belli.
He is currently active as a clarinetist, arranger and composer with the Two-Fol Quartet, Inventionis Mater, Dzamati Trio, in duo with violinist Eleonora Zamboni and as a soloist.
Since 2020 he has been teaching computer science at the Istituto Statale d'Istruzione Superiore 'Gobetti-Volta' in Bagno a Ripoli (FI).

Andrea Pennati graduated from the Liceo Musicale in Arezzo and went on to study the humanities at the University of Siena, graduating cum laudae in 'Italian and European Literature' and 'Literature and Performing Arts'. In 2009, he graduated cum laudae in guitar at the L. Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, under the guidance of the great Alfonso Borghese. He continued his studies at the Post Graduate Courses of the School of Music of Fiesole, which he passed with honors.
He performed as soloist Rodrigo's Fantasia para un Gentilhombre for guitar and orchestra with the orchestra of the Cherubini Conservatory and with the orchestra of the School of Music of Fiesole. He has collaborated as a soloist and in chamber ensembles with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Estate Fiesolana, the Florentine Classical Guitar Festival, the Florence Guitar Festival, the G.A.M.O., the Sarasvati Quartet and Roberto Fabbriciani.
Always dedicated to guitar transcription, he explores the classical repertoire from baroque to contemporary with the Trio Chitarristico Fiorentino of which he is a founding member.
He has been teaching guitar at the Liceo Musicale Alberti-Dante in Florence since 2017.

Ferdinando Romano, double bass player and composer, was ranked first in Musica Jazz's Top Jazz 2020 as 'Best New Italian Talent' and his record Totem was ranked eighth in the 'Best Italian Record' category of the same year. "Totem feat. Ralph Alessi", his first record as leader, was released on the Norwegian label Losen Records. The album's line-up features some of the most interesting musicians and improvisers of the new generation great trumpeter Ralph Alessi, a leading musician on the ECM label. The album received wide international acclaim, reviewed worldwide by leading magazines, journals and radio stations. Ferdinando carries out an intense live and studio activity, collaborating and performing with numerous musicians on the Italian and international scene such as Ralph Alessi, Enrico Rava, Robin Eubanks, Benny Golson, Glenn Ferris, Logan Richardson, Jerome Sabbagh, Simona Premazzi, Jon Boutellier, Maurizio Giammarco, Nico Gori, Fabrizio Puglisi and many others.
Ferdinando graduated from the L. Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, also attending the Experimental Composition course.
In 2015 he obtained a Master's degree in Performance with M. Enrico Fagone at the prestigious Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana.