“A dazzling and musically compelling show” (Time Out New York);
“An attractive voice, interesting ideas and exciting solos” (Howard Mandel, President of the American Jazz Journalists Association);
“Craft, ideas and naturalness… very enjoyable” (Il Manifesto);
“A voice that brings joy” (Seattle Times);
“There is an orchestra inside that voice” (L’Espresso);
“Without doubt a genius” (Jazz Ru, Russia);
“An extremely entertaining vocalist and at the same time a virtuoso of overdubbing technique” (L’Unità);
“A rare Italian musician with true international appeal” (La Repubblica);
“An extraordinary show” (All About Jazz New York);
“He reinvents standards with bulimic frenzy and originality” (Musica Jazz);
“A prodigious vocalist” (Ezio Guaitamacchi, editor-in-chief of Jam);
“Something truly new and different” (Monsieur Délire, France);
“A unique talent” (Vortex Jazz Magazine, UK);
“The magic of a kaleidoscopic vocality and musicality” (Il Mucchio);
“Simply wonderful” (Bad Alchemy, Germany);
“A real revelation” (All About Jazz New York);
“Revelation. Boris’ voice as an instrument, a jazz-rock revolution” (Il Giorno);
“A master of vocal contortionism” (Jazz Review, USA);
“A true musician of the voice” (ProgRock, Poland);
“A vocal acrobat” (Music Reviews, Germany);
“A modern variant of Bobby McFerrin and Al Jarreau” (IO Pages Magazine, Netherlands);
“One of the most intriguing singers of recent years” (Jaa Station Records, New York);
“Simply a superb singer” (Mark Murphy);
“An immense, multifaceted talent: Boris elevates the singer-songwriter model toward a new form of cosmic pleasure” (Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz New York).
These are just some of the words written about Boris Savoldelli by music critics around the world.
Mark Murphy himself described him as “simply a superb singer”.
Artistic Profile
Boris Savoldelli is a vocal performer with a striking artistic personality. Fascinated since the beginning by the human voice as an instrument and by its expressive potential, he combines a background in classical studies with a deep immersion in jazz—strongly influenced by his long-standing friendship with mentor Mark Murphy—while never denying his origins as a rock singer.
His work is driven by a constant search for new vocal and expressive forms.
Recordings and Recognition
After stepping away from music for more than ten years, Savoldelli returned in 2008 with INSANOLOGY, a solo voice and looper album featuring Marc Ribot on two tracks. The album represents his “light side”, the more melodic dimension of his music.
Insanologyz received enthusiastic reviews worldwide (Italy, USA, Brazil, France, UK, Netherlands, Russia, Germany, Israel) and major international recognition. In the annual Jazz Poll by Arnaldo DeSouteiro (NARAS-GRAMMY and Jazz Journalists Association member), the album was listed among the Top 10 Vocal Jazz Albums of 2008, while Savoldelli ranked third among Best Jazz Singers, following Tony Bennett and Al Jarreau.
In 2009 he ranked second, in 2011 fourth, with BIOCOSMOPOLITAN also included among the Top 10 Vocal Jazz Albums of the Year.
In 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, Savoldelli was ranked #1 Best Jazz Singer for Electric Bat Conspiracy, The Great Jazz Gig in the Sky, Nostalgia Progressiva and Convergenze, with each album listed among the Top 10 Vocal Jazz Albums of those years.
He has also consistently appeared among the best Italian jazz singers in Jazzit magazine’s annual poll.
In June 2009 he released PROTOPLASMIC, a strongly free-avant-garde album representing his “dark side”. Recorded in New York as a duo with Elliott Sharp, it was produced by the historic New York label Moonjune Records, beginning a collaboration that continues to this day.
In 2011 Moonjune released BIOCOSMOPOLITAN, another solo-voice album featuring Paolo Fresu and Jimmy Haslip, and later reissued Insanology due to strong demand.
Subsequent releases include:
- ELECTRIC BAT CONSPIRACY (2014, CNM), duo with Garrison Fewell;
- THE GREAT JAZZ GIG IN THE SKY (2016, Moonjune), trio with Raffaele Casarano and Marco Bardoscia, a jazz reinterpretation of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon;
- De-Generation Beat (2017), an unpublished 2004 work dedicated to Jack Kerouac, released on CD and limited-edition LP;
- La Terra dei Frippi (2018), live album from Festival Angelica with Massimo Barbiero and Roberto Zorzi;
- Convergenze (2018), duo with Rino Adamo;
- Core ’Ngrato (2019, Moonjune/DataZero), with the Savoldelli Guarino Quintet, reinterpreting classic Neapolitan songs.
- Hari Ketiga (2020, Moonjune Records), with Dwiki Dharmawan, Asaf Sirkis and Markus Reuter, an Impro-Opera
- Extrasensorial Songs (2025, Caligola Records), a free improvised session between AI and human intelligence
Live Performances and Special Projects
Savoldelli has performed extensively worldwide, including at The Stone in New York (2008, 2012), and through multiple Vocal Solo Tours across Russia and Ukraine between 2009 and 2016 (over 200 concerts in more than 95 cities).
He has appeared at major festivals across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australia, including JakJazz Festival (Indonesia), Jarasum Jazz Festival (South Korea), Hong Kong International Jazz Festival, Virada Cultural (São Paulo), and many others.
In 2015 he was Artist in Residency at the Beishan International World Music Festival (China). In 2019 he performed at the Sarajevo Jazz Festival.
In 2013 he appeared on Italian national TV (Sostiene Bollani, Rai 3), performing live with Stefano Bollani.
On October 2, 2015, he received the Sergey Esenin International Literary Prize in Moscow for Yesenin Jazz, recorded with the Russian quartet Feelin’s.
In 2016 he created Dammi una voce, a site-specific vocal project for the MAGA Museum of Contemporary Art, and began a collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano, developing experimental 3D audio controllers for voice.
Recent Work and Teaching
Recent projects include Nostalgia Progressiva (2018), Mutanti Musicali play Gianluigi Trovesi (2021), Lelio Luttazzi: Irony in Swing (2024), and Extrasensorial Songs (2025), a free-improvisation project dedicated to artificial intelligence, widely acclaimed by critics.
In March 2027, at the Teatro Grande in Brescia, Savoldelli performed two previously unheard compositions by Gerry Mulligan in a project for Big Band and Symphony Orchestra produced by the Luca Marenzio Conservatory.
Boris Savoldelli is Professor of Jazz Singing at the Luca Marenzio Conservatory of Brescia and has previously taught at the conservatories of Venice, Monopoli and La Spezia.
