FLUX – Flows of Creative Music, From October 18 to December 6 at PARC in Florence
Marc Ribot, Artifacts Trio, Mary Halvorson, Aruán Ortiz: international jazz luminaries meet Italian talent; leading figures in world music featured in rare opportunities for listening and encounter, curated by Toscana Produzione Musica.
// a Cura della Redazione //
At the PARC – Performing Arts Research Centre in Florence (Piazzale delle Cascine), from October 18 to December 6, the 5th edition of the festival “Flux – Currents of Creative Music” will take place. Dedicated to the most vital expressions of contemporary creative music, it is curated by Toscana Produzione Musica, directed by Maurizio Busia and Francesco Mariotti. Six events, many of which are Italian premieres, will foster a dialogue between protagonists of the international and Italian scenes, bridging artists across different generations through projects in which composition and improvisation, memory and research continuously inform and transform one another. “The programme looks to the seminal experiences of the African American and international avant-garde as a living heritage, still capable of nurturing new languages, novel encounters, and radically contemporary musical practices. Situated between civic consciousness, deep listening to the landscape, innovative compositional forms, and collective improvisation, FLUX 2026 presents music conscious of its own history yet ever-prepared to change direction: an open stream of experiences, visions, and sonic possibilities,” the organizers state.
The opening performance is entrusted to Roberto Ottaviano, a saxophonist who for 50 years has been a cornerstone of Italian jazz through his stylistic rigor and distinctive vocabulary, who will be joined by the young British guitar virtuoso Rob Luft (18/10). Central to the program are three rare concert engagements: making his Italian debut performance for Flux, the celebrated American guitarist—widely regarded among the all-time greats—Marc Ribot (collaborator with Tom Waits, John Zorn, Elvis Costello, and Caetano Veloso) performs alongside the instinctively powerful bassist Farida Amadou and percussionist Ches Smith, Ribot’s long-standing collaborator in Ceramic Dog (8/11). This will be followed by a live set by what is hailed as ‘The Word of Chicago,’ the “Artifacts Trio,” rooted in the tradition of the AACM (the association that has championed African American artistic exploration and political emancipation since 1965). Composed of flutist Nicole Mitchell, cellist Tomeka Reid, and drummer Mike Reed, the trio seamlessly weaves avant-garde memory, groove, and contemporary invention. The evening will also feature a solo set by double bassist Silvia Bolognesi (15/11, Italian premiere). Following its 2025 debut at The Jazz Gallery in New York, the sole Italian date of her winter tour brings Mary Halvorson—the Brooklyn-based American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist, recognized as one of today’s most visionary and innovative voices. A master of improvisation and an icon of unfettered musical expression straddling the boundaries of avant-garde jazz and rock, she will lead her new quartet “Canis Major,” featuring trumpeter Dave Adewumi, bassist Henry Fraser, and percussionist Tomas Fujiwara, presenting original compositions crafted to highlight the ensemble's depth, interplay, and intensity (22/11). Furthermore: Aruán Ortiz, the Santiago de Cuba-born pianist, violist, and composer residing for years in Brooklyn, presents “Créole Renaissance” in Florence, a solo piano performance inspired by the cultural intersections between the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, and the African diaspora. Merging Caribbean echoes with contemporary jazz, Ortiz remains one of the most influential figures in international progressive jazz. The same evening will feature “Bitter Crop” by Marco Colonna, Gaia Schirò, and Fabrizio Spera—a fusion of gospel, protest, and free jazz taking its name from the closing lines of Strange Fruit, the song immortalized by Billie Holiday (1/11).
The evocative dialogue between jazz, bird songs, and forest soundscapes will be the centerpiece of “Birds,” performed by the quintet led by trumpeter and composer Tommaso Iacoviello, with Nazareno Caputo on vibraphone, Nicolò Francesco Faraglia on guitar, Saverio Cacopardi on drums, and Ferdinando Romano on double bass. The instruments capture the traces of the forest, transforming them through improvisation, song form, and soundscapes into an invitation toward a non-decorative engagement with the natural world: listening becomes a mode of knowledge and participation. This will be followed by “Dialogue,” a quartet led by trumpeter Jacopo Fagioli, winner of the Top Jazz 2025 award for Best New Italian Talent, featuring Davide Strangio on guitar, Amedeo Verniani on double bass, and Mattia Galeotti on drums. Here, dialogue serves as a metaphor for the relationship between the inner life of the individual and society, addressing themes such as power, dominance, the climate crisis, spirituality, identity, and cultural heritage (25/10). The festival concludes with Filipino-American guitarist and composer Karl Evangelista collaborating with three luminaries of British free improvisation—pianist Alexander Hawkins, double bassist John Edwards, and drummer Mark Sanders—in a new quartet that unites explosive free jazz with avant-garde composition. Evangelista and Hawkins share a history of significant collaborations with Louis Moholo; this project draws upon that legacy without devolving into a mere tribute, transmuting energy, openness, and an international perspective into new music. The same evening will also feature a solo set by guitarist Gabrio Baldacci (6/12).
All concerts will commence at 7:00 PM
2026 marks the second year of the second ministerial triennium for Toscana Produzione Musica, an initiative firmly grounded in contemporary practice that has operated from its inception with distinct and identifiable curatorial lines, focusing on developing cultural themes that serve as reference points and meaningful contexts for conceiving its productions across regional, national, and international landscapes. A shared trajectory that generates new opportunities for the creative sector, fostering an accessible, inclusive future capable of bridging audiences, artists, organizations, and cultural institutions. TPM is founded upon a fundamental premise: “Ideas require reference points, shared dialogue, and time to mature and be guided through their development.” Conceived since its founding as a decentralized hub for musical creation, the organization nurtures projects designed to respond to diverse needs through continuous planning, debate, and artistic creation, serving as the linchpin of a system operating across an expansive network of venues, regions, and relationships. The artistic vision of Toscana Produzione Musica embraces diverse musical genres and unfolds across varied idioms, fostering dialogue, technological experimentation, multifaceted perspectives, and the convergence of identities, cultures, visions, and traditions—maintaining an unbroken balance between excellence of form and the imperative depth of the ideas and values underpinning its projects.
