Nexus Quartet, Appunti di viaggio at Casa del Jazz, November 14, 2026

The Nexus Quartet, a young Neapolitan contemporary jazz group, presents its debut album Appunti di viaggio at Casa del Jazz in Rome on Saturday, November 14, 2026 at 19:30, in the "Armando Trovajoli" concert hall, as part of Roma Jazz Festival 2026. On stage are Enrico Valanzuolo (trumpet and flugelhorn), Luigi Lombardi (piano), Alessandro Vai (double bass) and Marco Gagliano (drums). The venue's address is Viale di Porta Ardeatina 55, 00154 Rome, in the park of the former Villa Osio, right by the Aurelian Walls. The price given by Casa del Jazz is a single ticket at 20 euros. It's sold online from the official link on the concert page or at the box office: the box office works only on show days, from 19:00 until 40 minutes after the start. To get there, the venue suggests the Piramide station on metro B, line 714 with the Colombo/Marco Polo stop, or the parking lot next to the villa, between Via Cristoforo Colombo and Viale di Porta Ardeatina. ATAC's journey planner helps you choose the most convenient route. Contacts for Fondazione Musica per Roma: phone 06 80241281, email info@musicaperroma.it.

Appunti di viaggio: the concert

Appunti di viaggio is the Nexus Quartet's first album, announced by Casa del Jazz as coming out in September 2026. The Rome concert is therefore one of the first chances to hear it live, a few weeks after its release, in a hall whose size favors very close listening.

The official presentation describes the group's music as a weave of the suggestions of European jazz and the energy of the language of the most recent American scene, without losing track of the musicians' origins, which can be heard in the compositions and in a constant attention to melody. It's a difficult balance, one that many young groups chase: holding together the singability of the Italian tradition and the rhythmic complexity of today's jazz.

Lyricism and groove

The quartet's musical path, according to Casa del Jazz's listing, brings into dialogue lyricism and research on timbre on one side, groove and improvisation on the other, always leaving open the exchange between tradition and the contemporary. In a quartet with trumpet and piano, the lyricism comes mainly from the voice of the wind instrument, while the groove is born from the understanding between double bass and drums.

A title about journeys

The record's title refers to travel, and not by chance: the same presentation recalls that the group has also taken its music outside Italy, with experiences that have strengthened its identity. The official pages don't list the track titles or explain which journeys the "notes" refer to: the information isn't published, and you'll find out in the hall.

Who the Nexus Quartet are

The Nexus Quartet is presented by Casa del Jazz as a very young group from Naples, working in the tradition of contemporary jazz. The four musicians are regularly active on the Italian scene and have already played abroad.

The residency in Bahrain

Among its international experiences, the official listing mentions an extended residency at a well-known jazz club in Bahrain. It's a striking detail: playing for a continuous period in the same venue, night after night, is the way many generations of jazz musicians have built their rapport. According to the presentation, that experience consolidated the group's artistic identity and the understanding between the musicians.

The jazz club as a training ground

A club residency, with repeated nights in front of a changing audience, is a very different situation from a single festival concert. It forces you to vary the repertoire, to react to the room, to find each night a new way of playing the same pieces. For a group making its recording debut, having lived through this experience means arriving in the studio and on stage with an already tested rapport.

The name

The official sources don't explain the choice of name. In Latin nexus means a link, a bond, an interweaving: a meaning that fits a group describing itself as a meeting point between European and American jazz well, but it remains a linguistic observation and not a statement by the group.

The lineup

The quartet has the classic lineup of modern jazz: a solo wind instrument and a full rhythm section of piano, double bass and drums.

Enrico Valanzuolo, trumpet and flugelhorn

Valanzuolo alternates trumpet and flugelhorn. The two instruments have the same range but different timbres: the trumpet is brighter and more penetrating, the flugelhorn softer and darker. Switching from one to the other is often an expressive choice tied to the character of the pieces, and in a concert dedicated to a record attentive to melody it will be interesting to follow.

Luigi Lombardi, piano

At the piano sits Luigi Lombardi. In a quartet with trumpet, the piano is both harmonic accompanist and second soloist, and its dialogue with the horn defines much of the group's color.

Alessandro Vai and Marco Gagliano

Alessandro Vai on double bass and Marco Gagliano on drums complete the rhythm section. It's on them that the groove mentioned in the official presentation rests: in contemporary jazz the rhythm section doesn't just keep time, it acts on the form of the pieces and their development.

How to listen to a quartet with trumpet

The quartet with trumpet, piano, double bass and drums is one of the most common lineups in the history of jazz, and for this very reason it offers the listener many reference points. The typical structure of a piece includes a theme stated by the trumpet, a series of solos and the final return of the theme. Within this scheme, each group finds its own way of surprising.

Following the theme

For a group that declares a strong attention to melody, the theme is the moment when its identity shows most clearly. It's worth listening carefully to the openings of the pieces: that's where you hear if a composition comes from a singable melody or from a rhythmic idea.

The dialogue between trumpet and piano

During the trumpet solos, the piano accompanies with chords that can support, comment on or provoke the soloist. When the piano improvises in turn, the trumpet falls silent and the rhythm section closes in around the new protagonist. Following these role changes is one of the pleasures of live jazz.

The rhythm section

The groove mentioned in the official presentation comes from the interlocking of double bass and drums. In a small hall like the Trovajoli even the subtlest details come through: the woody sound of the double bass, the cymbals, the brushes. It's a very different listening experience from a large auditorium.

A trumpet at Miles's festival

Roma Jazz Festival 2026 chose as its theme "Rileggere Miles, ripensare il jazz", rereading Miles, rethinking jazz. In an edition built around the most famous trumpeter in jazz history, a quartet led by a trumpet has a natural place. The official pages don't say if the Nexus Quartet has included explicit tributes to Davis in its program: the information isn't published, and the concert remains dedicated to the repertoire of the new record.

Rethinking, not imitating

The edition's theme invites you to rethink jazz more than reconstruct it. A young group presenting original compositions, weaving together European tradition and current American languages, answers this invitation in the most direct way: by playing new music.

The concert in the 50th-anniversary festival

The concert is part of Roma Jazz Festival 2026, edition number 50, called Anniversary, which fills Roman evenings until November 24 and is built around the idea of rereading Miles Davis to rethink jazz. The presence of a quartet led by a trumpet is particularly consistent with the theme: the trumpet was Davis's instrument.

The festival's last date at Casa del Jazz

In Casa del Jazz's calendar, the Nexus Quartet closes the series of festival concerts in Sala Trovajoli, after the Gatto and Salis duo on November 1, Zoe Pia on the 7th, Domenico Rizzuto on the 8th and Eleonora Strino on the 13th. The festival continues at other venues in the city until November 24.

The next day in the park

On Sunday, November 15, at 18:00, the park of Casa del Jazz hosts Elective Lines with Andrea Colella and the Unveil project. Those staying in Rome for the weekend can therefore return to the same venue 24 hours later.

The jazz that comes from Naples

Casa del Jazz's presentation stresses how the group's Neapolitan origin can be recognized in the compositions and in the melodic research. For the Roman audience it's a chance to hear one of the new voices of the Campania scene.

Melody as identity

When a group declares that its origin shows in melodic research, it points to a precise choice: not giving up on song, even within complex harmonic and rhythmic structures. It's a quality you appreciate above all in the themes, that is, in the written parts that open and close the pieces, before and after the solos.

A recording debut

A first record is always a calling card. Hearing a young group at the moment it presents its debut lets you see it at the freshest stage of its path, when the pieces are still new even for those playing them.

The festival dates at Casa del Jazz

The Nexus Quartet closes the festival's sequence in Sala Trovajoli, which is worth going back over to understand the design of the program.

Two festival weekends

The series opened on Sunday, November 1, at 18:00, with the duo of Roberto Gatto and Antonello Salis. The weekend of November 7 and 8 brought Zoe Pia's Atlantidei, between launeddas and electronics, and Domenico Rizzuto's electric trio to the hall. The weekend of November 13 and 14 is dedicated to Eleonora Strino, with Lumithia, and to the Nexus Quartet.

After the festival

The venue's calendar continues with Elective Lines in the park on November 15 and, at the end of the month, with the CDJO conducted by Mario Corvini, which on November 27 and 28 takes on the music of Bob Brookmeyer. The festival as a whole continues at other venues until November 24.

Who we recommend the night to

The concert is for those who love contemporary acoustic jazz, the kind that keeps the form of the classic quartet but fills it with original compositions. Those who follow the Italian scene will find a group making its recording debut. Those approaching jazz for the first time will find an understandable language, thanks to the attention to melody.

For music students

For those who study trumpet, piano, double bass or drums, hearing a group of young musicians up close is a valuable opportunity: you see the dynamics of ensemble work, the way they hand over the lead, the accompaniment choices.

For those who care about civic history

Those who care about the city's history and the fight against organized crime will find in the concert date, exactly 30 years after the villa was seized, one more reason to be there.

Practical information, point by point

Date and time

Saturday, November 14, 2026, 19:30. Box office opens at 19:00.

Venue

The hall is the Trovajoli, inside the main villa. Casa del Jazz's street number is 55 on Viale di Porta Ardeatina, ZIP code 00154.

Ticket

Single price of 20 euros, available online through the link on the official listing or at the box office on the day of the concert.

Information

Fondazione Musica per Roma, phone 06 80241281, email info@musicaperroma.it. The box office rules and FAQ are published on Casa del Jazz's website.

The venue: villa, park and hall

Casa del Jazz occupies a complex of three buildings inside a public park, and is run by Fondazione Musica per Roma. The main villa houses the Armando Trovajoli concert hall. The second building brings together rehearsal rooms, recording spaces and lodging for guest artists. The third houses a restaurant. Our page on Casa del Jazz gathers the general information.

A hall for listening

The hall's capacity is about 150 seats according to the description of the spaces on the website, while the introductory text of the same official page speaks of 134 seats. In any case it's a hall where an acoustic quartet sounds natural, without the distance of large auditoriums.

A park of two and a half hectares

The park surrounding the villa measures 25,240 square meters according to the official website. It was originally designed by landscape architect Pietro Porcinai, and today it's a public green space between the walls and Via Cristoforo Colombo.

A curious fact about Casa del Jazz

The date of this concert has a special meaning. The villa that now houses Casa del Jazz was seized on November 14, 1996. The Nexus Quartet concert therefore falls exactly 30 years after the day the State took the villa from Enrico Nicoletti, treasurer of the Banda della Magliana. It's a calendar coincidence, not a choice stated by the festival, but it makes the night a small civic anniversary.

30 years in three stages

From the seizure to the music there were three formal steps: the final confiscation on February 20, 2001, the assignment to the City of Rome on September 26, 2001 and the opening of Casa del Jazz in April 2005. Whoever enters the hall on November 14, 2026 crosses, without noticing, the end point of that journey.

Something nobody tells you about Casa del Jazz

The legal history of the villa didn't end with the confiscation. In November 2025 the Prefecture of Rome ordered surveys in the park of Casa del Jazz, considering well-founded the possibility that the remains of Paolo Adinolfi, a magistrate who disappeared in 1994, were hidden there. The hypothesis is that the body may have been concealed by the Banda della Magliana in the years when the villa belonged to Nicoletti.

A park that is also memory

The sources consulted don't report the outcome of those searches, and there's no point in adding hypotheses. The fact remains that the park you walk through to get to the concerts is also a place tied to one of the unsolved chapters of Roman crime news, and this awareness gives a different weight to the choice of making it a public space.

My advice for visiting Casa del Jazz

My advice, since it's a Saturday, is to spend the afternoon in the area. A short distance from the venue are the Baths of Caracalla and, farther south along the Appian Way, the Catacombs of San Sebastiano: with visiting hours checked in advance, you can end an archaeological day with a jazz concert, heading back toward Viale di Porta Ardeatina by 19:00, when the box office opens.

Half an hour of margin

The venue's rules say the audience enters the hall from about 30 minutes before the concert until five minutes before. Arriving by 19:00 lets you pick up or buy your ticket and settle in calmly.

Accessible seats

Casa del Jazz describes itself as fully accessible. Wheelchair spaces are booked by phone, at 06 8024 1281, every day between 11:00 and 18:00, and they're limited: for a Saturday concert it's best to call in advance.

Another well-known fact, yet not often mentioned

The plaque at the entrance to Casa del Jazz is known to many regulars. Less well known is its exact content: the stele made with the association Libera bears 683 names of victims of the Mafia, over a period from 1893 to 2005. The official website recalls that the association is led by Don Luigi Ciotti and that the plaque celebrates the return of the property to the city and its residents.

The final year

The last year on the list, 2005, is also the year Casa del Jazz opened. The stele therefore captures the memory of the victims up to the moment the villa was returned: a detail you notice only by reading the dates carefully.

The right photo to take at Casa del Jazz

A photo few people take is of Porta Ardeatina, the gate in the Aurelian Walls that gives the avenue its name. Both outside and inside the wall, a stretch of Roman-era paved road survives with the ruts left by cart wheels. Photographing those ruts before going into a concert means putting 2,000 years of Roman traffic and a night of jazz on the same roll of film.

With the right light

In mid-November the sun sets before 17:00: to see the ancient paving well you need to go by in the afternoon. After sunset, the best photo remains the villa with its windows lit, from the park's avenue.

Some important events that happened here in history

Between 401 and 403

According to an account by Poggio Bracciolini, the nearby Porta Ardeatina also bore the inscription recording the restoration of the walls ordered by Emperor Honorius.

The 1930s

On a ruined 17th-century farmhouse, Arturo Osio had the villa designed by Cesare Pascoletti built between 1936 and 1939, with the park designed by Pietro Porcinai.

The 1980s

Enrico Nicoletti bought the villa from the Vicariate of Rome. The new owner's unauthorized works changed the interiors and facades.

November 14, 1996

The seizure of the villa, exactly 30 years before the Nexus Quartet concert.

2001

Final confiscation on February 20, assignment to the City on September 26, under law 109 of 1996.

April 2005

Opening of Casa del Jazz, with the stele of the names of Mafia victims at the entrance.

November 2025

The Prefecture ordered searches for the remains of magistrate Paolo Adinolfi in the park.

Who has passed through Casa del Jazz

On the design side, the villa bears the signature of Cesare Pascoletti, an engineer from the school of Marcello Piacentini, and the park that of Pietro Porcinai, a landscape architect who in his career worked in Lecce, Tirana, Turin, Florence, Siena, Berlin, Portofino and Cernobbio. Inside, in the old dining room, the painter Amerigo Bartoli left his mark with a fresco showing Piazza Navona.

The name on the hall door

The hall where the quartet plays bears the name of Armando Trovajoli, the Roman pianist and composer who died in 2013, who before becoming a famous author of film scores and musical comedies such as Rugantino had been a jazz musician, in Italy and at the 1949 Paris Jazz Festival. His name accompanies every concert at the venue.

Who gave it back

Casa del Jazz also exists thanks to the support of then-mayor Walter Veltroni, recalled on the official website, and to the commitment of Libera. The first director, in 2005, was Luciano Linzi.

Who lives in it today

Today the villa welcomes musicians of every generation: from the resident orchestras, Mario Corvini's CDJO and Massimo Nunzi's Jazz Campus Orchestra, to young groups like the Nexus Quartet, which on November 14 brings its first record here.

The walls along this stretch

Casa del Jazz is along the southern stretch of the Aurelian Walls, the circuit built by Emperor Aurelian and restored by Honorius at the beginning of the 5th century. At this point the walls preserve one of their least known openings, Porta Ardeatina, located halfway between the gates of San Sebastiano and San Paolo, a few steps from the modern openings through which Via Cristoforo Colombo crosses the circuit.

A minor gate

Porta Ardeatina is today little more than a postern, that is, a secondary passage framed in travertine. It was probably closed very early: already in the 8th century the sources stop mentioning it. It had no towers, and to defend it a projection of the wall was built that served as a small bastion.

A tomb in the wall

Next to the gate, on the inner side, you can see the traces of a tomb incorporated into the circuit. It was a common practice during the construction of the walls: to speed up the work and save money, Aurelian had existing buildings included in the route. Walking past it before a concert is a way to remember how many layers of history overlap in this corner of the city.

Services and amenities

Casa del Jazz offers some services that make it easier to organize the evening. The complex's restaurant is in the third building, according to the official website, and there's also a café in the villa. The hours and booking for these services aren't given on the pages consulted and should be asked of the venue.

Library and media library

In the villa there are a library and a media library open to the public and a bookshop. They're spaces designed for those who want to go deeper into the history of jazz beyond the concert.

Parking

The parking area indicated by the venue is the one next to the villa, where Via Cristoforo Colombo meets the avenue. The official pages don't give its rates or capacity: the information isn't published.

Jazz in Rome after the concert

For those who still want music after the concert, Rome has several clubs dedicated to jazz. Among those we cover on ER are the Alexanderplatz Jazz Club and Gregory's Jazz Club. Each one's program should be checked on the venues' official channels.

A Saturday to build

The 19:30 concert leaves the second part of the evening free. The official listing doesn't give the running time, so the exact time you'll come out isn't known. In any case there's time for dinner or to carry on the night elsewhere.

Getting back

For getting back by public transport, evening times for metro B and surface lines can be checked on ATAC's service. On Saturday night, especially in autumn, it's a good idea to check them before going into the hall.

Frequently asked questions about the Nexus Quartet at Casa del Jazz

When does the Nexus Quartet play?

Saturday, November 14, 2026 at 19:30, in Sala Trovajoli at Casa del Jazz. It's the last of the Roma Jazz Festival 2026 concerts scheduled in that hall, after those on November 1, 7, 8 and 13. The box office opens at 19:00 and entry to the hall usually begins half an hour before.

How much is a ticket?

20 euros, a single price for all seats according to Casa del Jazz. For people with disabilities the venue's rules provide discounts, to be requested with the relevant documentation at the central box office of Auditorium Parco della Musica, which belongs to the same Fondazione Musica per Roma that runs Casa del Jazz.

Where do you buy tickets?

Online, following the sales link on the official concert listing, or at the Casa del Jazz box office on the day of the concert, from 19:00. For a festival Saturday night in a hall with about 150 seats, my advice is not to wait until the last minute.

What music does the Nexus Quartet play?

Contemporary jazz that, according to the official presentation, weaves together European suggestions and the energy of today's American scene, with a strong attention to melody tied to the musicians' Neapolitan origins. Lyricism, research on timbre, groove and improvisation coexist in a constant dialogue between tradition and today's languages.

Who's in the group?

Enrico Valanzuolo on trumpet and flugelhorn, Luigi Lombardi on piano, Alessandro Vai on double bass and Marco Gagliano on drums. It's the classic modern jazz quartet lineup with a single wind instrument, which leaves plenty of room for dialogue between trumpet and piano.

What is Appunti di viaggio?

It's the quartet's debut album, announced as coming out in September 2026 according to Casa del Jazz's listing. The Rome concert is one of its first live presentations. The official pages don't list the tracks, which you'll be able to learn in the hall or through the group's channels.

How do you get to Casa del Jazz?

The nearest metro station indicated by the venue is Piramide, on line B. Alternatively there's bus 714, Colombo/Marco Polo stop. Those arriving by car can use the parking lot next to the villa, at the corner with Via Cristoforo Colombo. The exact route can be calculated with ATAC's planner.

Why is the November 14 date special?

Because on November 14, 1996 the villa that houses Casa del Jazz was seized, the first step toward its confiscation from Enrico Nicoletti and its assignment to the City of Rome. The concert therefore falls on the 30th anniversary of that day, by simple calendar coincidence.

My final advice on the Nexus Quartet

The November 14 concert combines two reasons for interest: the recording debut of a Neapolitan quartet that has already honed its sound abroad too, and a date that coincides with 30 years since the seizure of the villa that now houses music. Buy your ticket online, make the most of the Saturday with a walk between Caracalla and the walls, arrive at 19:00 and, before going in, stop in front of the stele at the entrance: hearing a group of young musicians in that place, on that day, has a meaning that goes beyond the concert.

A last note for record collectors: a release concert is the ideal moment to hear an album before having it at home, or to hear it again with new ears after discovering it. With Appunti di viaggio out for only a few weeks, the November 14 night is the first public chapter of a journey that, for the Nexus Quartet, has just begun.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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