New mourning in the music world in Sardinia.
A few days after the passing of Francesco Sotgiu, drummer and multi-instrumentalist considered one of the most creative musicians on the Italian jazz scene, Paolo Nonnis died this morning.
Born in Selargius, seventy-six years ago, drummer Paolo Nonnis has taken his music everywhere. In the 1960s, he was already playing on cruise ships, but it was especially in the 1970s and 1980s, between Philadelphia and Los Angeles, that he honed his style, blending rock and jazz.
It was in the Los Angeles metropolis that he founded the “Paolo Nonnis Big Band” in 1985, collaborating with international artists and with saxophonist Steve Marcus.
In 1989, at the Jazz in Sardinia festival, he led the Buddy Rich Orchestra, and in the 1990s and until 2015 he shuttled between the United States and the island, before settling permanently in Sardinia with the “Paolo Nonnis Maxi Band” and the “Paolo Nonnis Orchestra,” all bands made up exclusively of Sardinian musicians.
In recent years he had also dedicated himself to teaching, training dozens of young and old drummers.