About
Italy born-and-raised and NYC-based upright bassist and composer Giuseppe Cucchiara grew up immersed among countless jazz vinyls and dynamic musical inputs from the earliest age. His father, who happens to be a classical upright bass player, laid the path for him to approach various instruments during his childhood until 2010, when at the age of 16 Giuseppe eventually picked up the bass to never let it go. During his teenage years, he crossed paths with highly praised Italian jazz drummer Stefano Bagnoli, with whom he toured around as a sideman for “We Kids” Trio, and recorded four albums for some major Italian jazz record companies, namely Ultrasound Records, Abeat Records and Jazzit Records
In 2015, he was granted a meritorial scholarship at the prestigious Berklee College Of Music, leading him to move to Boston to further develop his skills and establish himself on the US scene. At Berklee, Giuseppe had the privilege to study with highly praised jazz musicians and mentors, primarily Hal Crook, Danilo Perez, George Garzone, Joe Lovano, Ben Street, John Patitucci, and Terence Blanchard.
In 2017, Giuseppe toured in Italy as a band leader after recording his first album, "Cookin’ Hot," featuring the trusted Stefano Bagnoli on drums and the internationally acclaimed Dado Moroni on piano. The album led Giuseppe to earn a coveted spot in the widely reputable Italian Jazz Dictionary edited by Feltrinelli. In the same year, he proudly earned his Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance at Berklee, and right after that, he decided to move to New York City to bring his musical career a step forward.
Upon his arrival in the Big Apple, Giuseppe was invited to play at the Jazz Gallery for jazz piano legend Kenny Barron in celebration of his 75th birthday. However, the turning point for his artistic development was the opportunity to start a close relationship with Ron Carter, a worldwide acclaimed musician, multi-Grammy Award winner, and the most recorded jazz bassist in history, who mentored him closely for over four years to date.
After moving to New York City, Giuseppe had the opportunity to share the stage with Rodney Green, Johnny O’Neal, Luis Perdomo, Kevin Hays, Jeb Patton, Harry Allen, Erena Terakubo, Bill Pierce, Adam Birnbaum, Ben Solomon, Daniele Germani,Eviatar Slivnik, Davis Whitfield, Michael Wang, Residente, Benito Gonzalez, Neal Smith, Darren Barrett, Dado Moroni, Leo Genovese, Saul Rubin, Anthony Pinciotti, Joe Farnsworth, Anthony Wonsey, Sarah McKenzie, Dan Wilson, Troy Roberts, Billy Mintz, Michael Kanan, Keith Brown, Steve Ash, Charles Gould, Kush Abadey, Adam Arruda.
He has also been invited to perform at some of the most important venues in the US, Europe, and Latin America such as Dizzy’s Club, Smalls Jazz Club, Mezzrow Jazz Club, Fat Cat, Jazz Gallery, and Django in New York City; Jazz Forum in Tarrytown (NY); Scullers Jazz Club and Wally's in Boston (MA); Thelonius Monk Jazz Club in Buenos Aires; Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy; Nancy Jazz Pulsations in France, Filloa Jazz Club and Café Latino in Spain, Euro Jazz Festival in Mexico City.