Biography
Claudio Cusmano is a jazz guitarist and composer born in Catania on 31 May 1962, a reference voice of Sicilian jazz. He approached jazz guitar at an early age and began his studies at the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory in Catania (now the Istituto Musicale Pareggiato "Vincenzo Bellini"), where he developed solid improvisational and compositional skills before choosing an independent path. During those years he gathered a varied baggage of experience playing in ensembles of different musical backgrounds.
In 1995 Claudio Cusmano released his first record, "Cammino personale", featuring Roberto Gatto, Stefano Di Battista and Nello Toscano. In 1998 he recorded a duo album with double bassist Nello Toscano, with an ultra-jazz atmosphere built also on revisited jazz standards. In 1999 he was called by the Mediaset television networks to contribute to the soundtrack of the TV series "Caraibi", on music by Paolo Buonvino.
In the following years he performed with various jazz orchestras and founded the Cusmano Trio with Nello Toscano on double bass and Ruggero Rotolo on drums, alongside a steady duo with double bassist Alberto Amato. In 2022 he signed with Anaglyphos Records and released "Remember to Remember", an album of original compositions and pop classics in a soft-jazz key, warmly received by a wide audience on digital platforms.
Alongside his artistic work he carries on an ongoing teaching activity as jazz guitar professor at the Liceo Musicale "Vincenzo Bellini" of Catania, contributing to the training of entire generations of Sicilian musicians.
