Dixieland revival

New Orleans, 1919. The cobblestone streets are filled with fancy carriages as well as carts pushed by vendors, many of them Italian American, selling fresh fruit, shrimp and oysters. As gas lanterns light the nighttime streets of the French Quarter, a new music is being born. Part ragtime, part blues, part march music, it’s called jazz.

Decked out in high-collared shirts and dark suits and with their hair slicked back, Cosimo and the Hot Coals transport audiences back to that magical time when a new sound was born in New Orleans. Based in Milan, the band regularly performs throughout Italy and Europe and recently did several shows in Saudi Arabia.

The group is led by Cosimo Pignataro, whose love of the trumpet and jazz inspired him to embark on this grand creative endeavor.

“I come from a small town in Calabria called Vaccarizzo Albanese in the province of Cosenza,” Pignataro says from his home in Italy. “My mother listened to a lot of old-time Italian music on the radio. One day by chance we listened to Louis Armstrong, and I fell in love with him. I was about 10 years old.

“That’s when I began studying trumpet, and as I grew older, I realized playing jazz and trumpet was my path in life,” he continues. “I began studying in Milan at the Civic Jazz Academy, specializing in the jazz music of the 1920s.”

Like many Italian musicians, Pignataro got his start playing home-grown folk music before being seduced across the Atlantic by the sounds of rhythm and blues and early rock. Possessing a theatrical flair, he convinced the members of one of his first bands to dress the part as well.

“The idea of creating a project that, in addition to recreating the music of an era, also involved dressing and styling your hair in that way came from me, from my love for vintage eras of history,” Pignataro says. “I had already played for years with another band in the style of ’50s rhythm and blues before founding this one, so I had learned from those older than me that style is also important for having an identity.”

An idea and a dream were hatched in Pignataro’s mind. Why not combine his love of vintage costumes and theatrics with the music he truly loved, the sound of New Orleans during the birth of jazz. Unlike the often simpler forms of vintage American music from later decades, Pignataro had to reach back to his years at the jazz academy in Milan to find musicians with both the skill and dedication needed bring his vision to life.

“I met many of the guys during my last year at the academy, but then we lost touch,” Pignataro says. “A year or two after my graduation, I contacted them again to do some rehearsals and then start playing small shows around town. Some of them had much less experience than me with being on stage, and so even though they had the musical skill I needed to coach them on the whole concept of performance and art. Eventually we bonded as one, which makes everything become magical and fun.”

Troppa Serietà
Cosimo and the Hot Coals

Cosimo and the Hot Coals’ latest recording continues the band’s amazing journey, taking listeners back in time with authentic renditions of 1920s and 1930s American jazz while adding an Italian spin. The first cut, “Hot Coals Call,” is a love letter to several genres of that era, combining Delta blues, boogie-woogie, swing and Dixieland in the CD’s only English-language track.

The CD’s title song, “Troppa Serietà,” jumps right out at the listener as bandleader Cosimo Pignataro trumpets, skats and swings his way through this danceable tune. “Bella Sarena” combines a traditional Italian two-step dance beat and lyrics with a tremendous high-wire trumpet solo by Pignataro. “Bambina” is a New Orleans-style shuffle blues that has you picturing the band strolling and playing down Rampart Street.

While Pignataro’s vocals and trumpet are the focus of the recording, he is more than ably backed by Michele Capasso on drums, Mirko Boles on bass, Stefano Della Grotta on guitar and banjo, Martin Di Pietro on piano, and Giovanni Amodeo on clarinet. While almost all of today’s music is recorded on separate tracks, often with computer enhancement, this was recorded live, with all the musicians playing together in one room, just like Louis Armstrong and Nick La Rocca did back in New Orleans.

The article above appears in the August 2025 issue of the print version of Fra Noi. Our gorgeous, monthly magazine contains a veritable feast of news and views, profiles and features, entertainment and culture.

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