Federico Mazzanti

He discovered the genre in his native Argentina at the hands of one of that country’s blues legends, Pappo, who encouraged him to trace the music of pioneers such as Robert Johnson and especially of New Orleans musicians such as Dr. John or Professor Longhair. He took his first steps in La Porteña Jazz Band, the famous orchestra of his father, the well-known “Negro” Mazzanti. He earned his first wage at the age of thirteen, with an appearance on the television programme Badia & Compañía, and spent it on a pair of plimsolls. Although jazz is his territory, the atmosphere of the blues captivates him: “The sound, the feeling each player puts into it in trying to achieve the right ambience, the blue notes.” In 1996 he came to Catalonia for the first time and in 2007 he settled in Terrassa, becoming a familiar and recognised figure on Barcelona’s African-American roots music scene thanks to his instrumental virtuosity and his deep knowledge of the genre, which allows him to move with ease through styles as varied as New Orleans jazz, the warmest and most festive swing, or spirituals. With more than four decades of music behind him, he confesses himself grateful to his profession for what it has meant to him: “Being able to make a living doing what I love, getting to know different places and peoples/cultures, with everything that entails.”