Jacopo Martini, born in Florence in 1975, approached music when he was about twelve years old, through the violin, an instrument he later left for devoting himself to the guitar.
From 1996 to 1998 he was educated by Flavio Cucchi, who was a teacher at the Mascagni Institute in Leghorn. Then Jacopo continued his studies at the Florence Conservatory by attending the classes run by Alfonso Borghese (guitar) and Riccardo Riccardi (composition).
In 1999 Jacopo Martini moved for a short period to Rome, where he established an intense educational relationship with the guitarist Dario La Penna.
Later on he participated to many seminars with important musicians such as Jim Hall, David Liebman, Barry Harris, Ralph Tonwer and Joe Diorio.
In 2000. during a trip to France, Jacopo fell in love with the Manouche music, by playing and learning this style straight by the gypsy guitarists in the northern area of France, for example Matcho Winterstein, Angelo Debarre etc. Since then his way of playing has been deeply influenced by the gypsy phrasing, in particular by the characteristic expressiveness of Django Reinhardt, the terrific guitar genius that by now is well-known.
Likewise Jacopo Martini started his activity as a concert performer, at first among the ranks of «Hot Club de Florence», an historic Florentine band. Not long after he began to collaborate with jazz musicians of the Tuscan area, Alessandro Fabbri, Mirco Guerrini, Alessandro Dipuccio, Franco Nesti, Nico Gori, Barbara Casini, Piero Borri, Simone Santini, Alessandro Galati etc.
In addition, from 1998 to 2001, he played as a band leader in several jazz ensembles («Booldrum», «Duke of Abruzzi Big Band» etc.).
In 2003 he cooperated as a band leader and composer with the singer Tiziana Ghiglioni, and the violinist Emanuele Parrini (a former Jacopo’s coworker for a long time in «H.C.F.»), to carry out a CD, Rotella Variations, issued by Splash Records. Attention was called on it at «Top Jazz 2003», a jazz music event.
Jacopo Martini recorded So long Flores, again with Tiziana Ghiglioni, for the same label, by playing with Tino Tracanna, Beppe Caruso and Riccardo Bianchi.
He has cooperated in the ensemble led by Alfio Antico, a Sicilian percussionist, by playing at several international festivals.
In 2004, along with Tony Scott, Tiziano Tononi, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Roberto Andreucci, Franco Nesti and Dimitri Grechi Espinoza, Jacopo Martini recorded 1974 io so, the first CD the violinist Emanuele Parrini has dedicated to the Italian poet Pier Paolo Pasolini.
At some stage of the same year Jacopo Martini brought about his soloist project along with Nico Gori, Emanuele Parrini, Antonello Salis, Francesco Federici and Nicola Vernuccio, by incorporating a sound that ranges over the Manouche tradition and utilizing, however, a common idiom through various style influences.
By means of this project he has recorded his first disc as a band leader.
Up to now Jacopo Martini has collaborated with the main Italian and foreign jazz exponents, such as Gianluigi Trovesi, Erico Rava, Stefano Cocco Cantini, Franco Cerri, Fabrizio Bosso, Claudio Fasoli, Lee Konitz, Giancarlo Schiaffini, Claudio Fasoli, Tiziano Tononi, Alfio Antico, Tino Tracanna, Alberto Tacchini, Matcho Winterstein, Tony Scott, Tiziana Ghiglioni and Antonello Salis.
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