Roberto Olori

A man of firm ideas and forthright opinions, this virtuoso percussionist defines as simply as honestly his approach to the blues, a genre whose immediate impact on the audience seduces him: “I came to it as one comes to any genre when you’re a professional musician, meeting people and listening to different music”. Born in Switzerland and settled since a very young age in Italy, he began playing at the tender age of sixteen with a folk dance music group in Italy, something he considers an important part of his learning. In 1997 he settled in Barcelona, where he quickly became part of the city’s jam circuit, leading some of the most prestigious of them, such as those at the Jazz Sí Taller de Músics and the Big Bang. After almost three decades, he has collaborated with the leading musicians of the Barcelona scene and with international musicians of the calibre of Larry McCray, Vasti Jackson, Carl Weathersby, Mike Wheeler, Slam Allen or Russel Jackson, among others. A long career that has given him one of his great satisfactions: “After so many years, the blues in particular has allowed me to travel a great deal and meet some very good colleagues… and that’s no small thing”.