Blake C. S. Franchetto
Electric bass, double bass and composer.
An "Interesting young musician of Italo-german and Ghanian descent (...) destined to a bright future" (MUSICA JAZZ magazine), Blake was born and bred in London. At age six he began studying classical piano, and from there progressed to guitar, bass and double bass, the latter two being his main instruments.
Parallel to graduating in Philosophy and History from the University of Bologna with top marks cum laudae, he won a $120,000 scholarship at Umbria Jazz to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, and from there transferred to the New York jazz scene.
A versatile player with live experiences throughout most of Europe (Italy, Germany, France, Hungary, Spain, England, Estonia, Macedonia, Bulgaria) and America, he is adept in playing jazz, hip-hop, pop, funk, soul, African music, classical music and avant-gard. Furthermore, he has either collaborated extensively or performed with some of the most well known and international musicians in the business:
In jazz:
Dave Weckyl, Paolo Fresu, Gianluca Petrella, Roy Hargrove, Fabrizio Bosso, Roberto Gatto, John Serry, Michel Godard, Shawnn Monteiro (daughter of one of Duke Ellington bassists), Jimmy Villotti, Simone Zanchini, Sabir Mateen, Joel Frahm and others
In pop/rock/hip-hop:
Zucchero, Jovanotti, Willie Peyote, Cristina Muti (wife of Riccardo M.), DJ Lugi, Massimo Zanotti (Sanremo orchestra director) and others
Renowned festivals he has participated in as performing artist:
Sziget festival, Firenze Rocks, Primo Maggio Roma, Umbria Jazz, Time in Jazz, Fano Jazz, Bologna Jazz, Torino Jazz, Casa del Jazz (Rome), Pescara Jazz, Sherwood festival, Jova Beach Party 2019 & 2022, Mama Africa festival, Terrazza Jazz (Barcellona), Blues in Villa.
Since 2015 he is co-founder and bassist of the instrumental Afro-funk-jazz trio SAVANA FUNK from Bologna (Italy), with 5 albums of original music behind them in 8 years (the latest, "Ghibli"). Always on tour as headliners both in Italy and abroad, amongst their many performances, the highlights of their career so far has been opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers in front of 50k people, playing numerous times with Italian superstar Lorenzo Jovanotti in front of 30k people each time at the various Java Beach Party performances, various performances on Propaganda Live, channel La7 on prime time Italian TV broadest to millions worldwide, playing at major musical events such as Sziget festival in Budapest, receiving outstanding reviews from all over the planet, and being on the homepage of JAZZ.IT
2022 saw the release of his solo debut; "TIKTAALIK". Blake presents a collection of his compositional endeavours, for double bass and piano duo, drawing upon his insights in the afro-american jazz tradition, late romantic composers, Vipassana meditation practice, postmodern philosophy and avant-garde textures.
His discography in its entirety can be viewed on his website www.blakefranchetto.com
As of 2023 Blake has furthered his musical horizons with DJ sets and producing techno electronica under the artist pseudonym "Lord Mucca"
His musical aesthetic is the result of a cross-pollination between Funk, Blues, hip-hop, Techno, Afro, Classical music & jazz.
