Composer and double bass player Adriano Orrù was born in Nuoro, Italy in 1958 and now lives and works in Cagliari. He devotes his time to jazz, radical improvisation, chamber music. He also works as a music teacher.
Orrù has collaborated with artists such as Giancarlo Schiaffini, Paolo Fresu, Tony Oxley, Lenka Zupkova, AN MOKU, Carlos Zingaro, Ulrich Mitzlaff, Helena Espvall, Marco Scarassati, Vahid Jahandari, Paulo Chagas, Gianni Mimmo, Marco Colonna, Carlo Mascolo, Andrea Massaria, Mauro Sambo, Joao Pedro Viegas, Guy-Frank Pellerin, Maria Do Mar, Luiz Rocha, Samuel Hällkvist, François Choiselat, Stefan Schimdt, Mia Zabelka, Ettore Fioravanti, Roberto Cipelli, Marco Tamburini, Tino Tracanna, Maria Radich, Andy Gravish, Tim Hodkinson, Martin Mayes, Marcello Magliocchi, Victor Nubla, Simon Balestrazzi, Silvia Corda, Nicola Guazzaloca, Takatsuna Mukai, Henning Frimann, Renato Ciunfrini, Guro Skumsnes Moe, Håvard Skaset, Angelo Contini, G.P. Campus, Corrado Altieri, Billy Sechi, Monica Serra, Mauro Cossu, Clara Murtas, White Noise Generator, Stella Veloce, Sebastiano Meloni, Alessandro Garau, Stefano Figliola, Alessandro Olla, Paolo Angeli, Manuel Attanasio, Variable Geometry Orchestra, Moex Ensemble, Elia Casu, Mauro Usai, Paolo Sanna, Roberto Pellegrini, Enrica Spada, Carla Onni, Giacomo Calabrese, Sara Marasso, Mario Faticoni, Paula Gimeno, Yali Herbet, Raffaello Ugo, Tonino Casula, Lucio Pozzi.
He has recorded for Splasc(h), Digitalis Purpurea, Comar23, TiConZero, Big Round Records, Setola di maiale, Magick With Tears, LaBèl, Pan y Rosas, Endtitles, Creative Sources, Boogie Post Recordings, Azoth, Amirani Records.
Together with the pianist Silvia Corda, he co-wrote a performance for six musicians and a spoken voice entitled “Portrait in Three Colors” and dedicated to Charles Mingus. Orrù works with the Silvia Corda Trio on a regular basis, and several of his compositions can be heard on the trio’s Impronte, a CD produced by Splasc(h) in 2001. In 2004, he established the composition and improvisation ensemble Impromptu featuring Giancarlo Schiaffini. In 2005, he published a live CD of the Impromptu quintet and the first recording in his own name: Solos and Duets, a work dedicated to double bass solos and duets with Giancarlo Schiaffini on trombone, Paolo Angeli on Sardinian prepared guitar, and Roberto Pellegrini on percussion. He has also worked with Moex, an ensemble focused on electric-acoustic experimentation. In 2010 Big Round Records has published a CD “Improvised pieces for trio” with Sebastiano Meloni on the piano and Tony Oxley on drums. A new CD titled “Untitled Soundscapes” performed by A Sphere Of Simple Green (Silvia Corda on prepared piano, Simon Balestrazzi on laptop and Adriano on the double bass) was released in 2011 by the label Magick with tears. A free downloadable EP, “Hèsperos”, was released by LaBèl netlabel in 2011 as well, the work is a double-bass solo. In 2012 the label Setola di maiale released “Collettivo di resistenza culturale” a full improvised concert live recorded. In 2013 a new release together with Giancarlo Schiaffini a CD live recorded whose title is “Gramsci in concert”, Adriano features also in two tracks of “Sunya” the first release by Takatsuna Mukai. Also in 2013 the label LaBèl releases “The Breath” a Cd dedicated to Steve Lacy by the Geometrie Variabili quartet. In March 2014 a new release for Pan y Rosas, the CD Palimpsest where adriano plays the electric bass in ten duets together with Mauro Sambo, Paulo Chagas and Silvia Corda. Two new releases appear in the late 2015: “Orrù Mar Rocha – Live at MIA 2015” for Endtitles, and “Stanze”, by Palimpsest Trio (Chagas, Corda, Orrù) for Pan y Rosas. During 2017 two new CDs have been released: “For Massas” (Viegas, Pellerin, Corda, Orrù) for Pan y Rosas and “With an Oblique Glance” (Balestrazzi, Corda Orrù) for Azoth. In 2018 a new release through Amirani Records has been published: “Clairvoyance” performed by Gianni Mimmo (sop. sax), Silvia Corda (piano), Adriano Orru (bass).
Reviews of his work have appeared in Down Beat, Il Manifesto, Musica Jazz, Cadence, Jazzit, Cuadernos de Jazz, All About Jazz, L’Unione Sarda, La Nuova Sardegna, Double Bassist, Jazzword, One Final Note, Flash Art, Jazz Portugal and on Radio 3 RAI.
He has performed at events such as Isole che parlano, Time in Jazz, Ai confini tra Sardegna e Jazz, Concerts of the Nuoro Jazz Seminary, Jazz d’autore, Cerisano Jazz, Varese in Jazz, Jazz in Sardinia, Veneto Jazz, San Teodoro Jazz, Sardegna Arte Fiera, Musica sulle Bocche, The Barcelona Lem Festival, Senni Jazz, Isole che parlano, The Signal Festival, Festival Spaziomusica, MIA Festival (Portugal), Creative Fest (Lisbon), Marathon Der HochKulturen (Zurich), Clockstop Fest (Noci), Contemporary Donori), Free Flow Fest (Irsina), Tempo al Tempo (Bruxelles), Autunno Danza (Cagliari), Istituto Italiano di Cultura Madrid, BCN Improfest (Barcelona), Festival dei Claustri (Altamura), Piacenza Jazz.