“Il y avait des partitions et j’ai pris un plaisir immense à les interpréter. A Terracina, le jazz n’existait pas. Mais il y a une vraie scène en Italie. Chez nous, la culture musicale est forte. On entretient avec elle des rapports intenses. Le folklore qui tient une grande place, sert d’initiation à l’art en générale et plus particulièrement à la musique.”

These thoughts, succinct but effective, expressed during an interview with a French journalist, well represent Rosario Giuliani. The score he referred to in the French interview was by Charlie Parker, and Rosario was then only twelve years old. Just a few years after acquainting himself with the great American sax player’s oeuvre, he completed his formal studies at the “L. Refice” Conservatory in Frosinone obtaining maximum point scores.

Tenacity – in a city where “le jazz n’existait pas” – talent, a deep-seated passion for all types of music, and great technical prowess have brought Rosario to the fore of the European and international jazz scene. Critics write of him as a true revelation, in France “une benediction”.

The enthusiastic and triumphal tones used by the press to describe Giuliani’s playing characteristics derive directly from the special sound he creates. With nonchalance he draws from his instruments a fluid phrasing style, at times dazzling, which naturally links him to great saxophonists such as Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Art Pepper, and John Coltrane. Frequent comparisons are made spontaneously by his listeners. But even though this musician has been inspired by great saxophonists, it is the instinctive originality that strikes us, and it is easily found, not only in his instrumental approach, but also in his originally composed scores.

Impressive is his “trophy cabinet”, which counts among the many awards important acknowledgements. In 1996 he won the Massimo Urbani prize, and one year later he was named “Best Soloist” in addition to his own quartet which won the “Best Group” award at the European Jazz Contest in Belgium. In the year 2000 he took first place honours, by popular vote, in the “Top Jazz” contest in the “New Talent” category and 2010 the best saxophone of the year. The contest is held as an annual referendum by Musica Jazz magazine. Also he won the Jazzit Awards in 2010 and 2012 as the best alto saxophine of the year.

His collaborations in the jazz field have been frequent and prestigious, having played together with the likes of Charlie HADEN, Gonzalo RUBALCABA, Phil WOODS, Enrico PIERANUNZI, Enrico RAVA, Franco D’ANDREA, Martial SOLAL, Jeff “Tain” WATTS, Mark TURNER, Daniel HUMAIR, Kenny WHEELER, Bob MINTZER, Joe LOCKE, Joe LA BARBERA, John PATITUCCI, Kurt ELLING, Cedar WALTON, Kurt ROSENWINKEL, Stefano BOLLANI, Biréli LAGRENE, Philip CATHERINE, Daniel HUMAIR, André CECCARELLI, Sylvain LUC, Marc JOHNSON, Joey BARON, Guy BARKER, Melton MUSTAFA, Jean-Michel PILC and Richard GALLIANO, to name but a few.

After having made many recordings with various Italian and foreign record labels, in September of 2000 Rosario Giuliani signed an important contract with the prestigious French recording company Dreyfus Jazz, with whom he has already recorded six very successful albums: “Luggage” (April 2001), “Mr. Dodo” (October 2002), “More Than Ever” (October 2004) with Jean Michel Pilc and Richard Galliano, “Anything else” (January 2007) with Dado Moroni and Flavio Bo, “Lennie’s pennies” (March 2010) with Joe La Barbera, Darryl Hall and Pierre De Bethmann, “Images” (April 2013) with Joe Locke, John Patitucci and Joe La Barbera.
March 2016 released the album “The Hidden Side” for Parco della Musica records and January 2017 release another album in duo with Enrico Pieranunzi “Duke’s Dream” for the german label Intuition, another released January 2020 called “Love in Translation” for the label Jando Music/Via Veneto Jazz with Joe Locke, Dario Deidda and Roberto Gatto. On May 2021 released “Tribute to Bird” in duo with Pietro Lussu for the label Emme Records.

Giuliani, a highly appreciated and soughtafter artist in the international jazz arena, divides his time between his Italian, European, and overseas commitments, performing regularly in the following festivals: Jazz a Liegi (Belgium), Gexto Jazz Festival (Spain), Blue Note Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York), Umbria Jazz (Italy), Jazz a Vienne (France), Jazz Baltica (Germany), JVC Jazz Festival (France), Town Hall (New York), Basel Jazz Festival (Swiss), Porto Rico Jazz Festival, Kanazawa Jazz Festival (Japan) Nancy Jazz Pulsation (France), North Sea Jazz Festival (Holland), London Jazz Festival (UK), Marciac Jazz Festival (France), Oeiras Jazz Festival (Portugal), Ankara Jazz Festival (Turkey), Rotterdam Jazz Festival (Holland) Audi Jazz Festival (Germany), Tomsk Jazz Festival (Siberia),Vilnius Jazz Festival and in other jazz events that take place in California, Miami, Nuova Caledonia, Israel, Russia & Siberia, Japan, Mexico, China, Hong Kong, Hungary, Colombia and still other countries.

From 2013 he’s teacher of Jazz Saxophone at Conservatorio di Musica S. Cecilia Jazz Department and Saint Louis College of Music in Rome.

Rosario Giuliani’s artistic career boasts innumerable and heterogeneous experiences of the highest rank. Performing for internationally famous artists such as Ennio MORRICONE, Luis BACALOV, Armando TROVAIOLI, Gianni FERRIO, Nicola PIOVANI, Ritz ORTOLANI, he has recorded on numerous movie soundtracks.