Michael Dease:
“Margherita is an outstanding and positive presence in her ensembles and environment, and this has undeniably attributed towards her progress as a young player to watch.”
Randy Napoleon:
“When I call her for gigs, she might know my tunes better than I do if I don’t carefully prepare! Her commitment and depth of purpose lead me to predict big things from her.”
Rodney Whitaker:
“I’ve never been around anyone writing at this stage in her life where the tunes have so much feeling. Even when she decides to be hip or more complicated harmonically, her music stays melodic. Everything is lyrical and singable.”
Margherita Fava, is a pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator based in Knoxville, Tenn.
She was born on October 16, 1995, into a family of classical musicians in the small village of Follina in northeast Italy. Her parents are baroque specialists, her father a violinist and her mother a cellist and singer.
Fava started piano lessons at 10, picked up the electric bass as a teenager, and at 17 enrolled in a summer jazz program in nearby Venice sponsored by The New School from New York. One day she learned by ear Miles Davis’ solo on “So What” from Kind of Blue. It changed her life.
“It was the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me!” she says.
A scholarship to Michigan State brought Fava to East Lansing, where she studied piano with Xavier Davis and came into the orbit of the charismatic bassist Rodney Whitaker. After graduating with a degree in jazz studies, she earned a master’s degree in music at the University of Tennessee, studying piano with Eric Reed and composition with Greg Tardy.
She currently collaborates with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra on various projects like the concert series “NXT GEN” and the Knoxville Jazz Workshop.
In August 2022 she released her first EP of original music entitled “Okra/Search of the Unknown”, available on bandcamp.
On March 10th 2023 her debut album “TATATU” was released, featuring Gregory Tardy, Michael Reed and Javier Enrique. The record received numerous positive reviews, including 4 stars on Downbeat and AllAboutJazz.
Margherita Fava has been a client of FullyAlteredMedia.