Infant Eyes, Omaggio a Wayne Shorter

Luigi Sella was born in Bergamasco, and shortly thereafter his parents moved to Valdagno, in the province of Vicenza. Luigi was fortunate to be born into a family of music enthusiasts and musicians, allowing him to discover the beauty and love of music from early childhood. His first mentor was his maternal grandfather, a professional jazz pianist with significant thirty-year musical experience in Chicago (USA) alongside the unforgettable Louis Armstrong. Thanks to his grandfather's care and dedication, who aimed to introduce his grandson to the study of music, Luigi began studying the violin at the age of four. Luigi's daily life revolved around endless hours of practice with sheet music, in contrast to limited outdoor sports. However, this demanding path led him, at the age of eleven, to be admitted to the B. Marcello Conservatory of Venice with two instruments: the violin and the clarinet. Luigi chose the latter, completing his formative studies and graduating in clarinet in 1979. However, for Luigi, the diploma was not an end point, but a starting point: from this moment he embarked on a personal and intimate exploration of jazz music, beginning to take an interest in another instrument new to him, the saxophone. Such was his passion and attraction to the soprano saxophone that he dedicated himself to it wholeheartedly, with the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane as his primary role model. Luigi began this new formative journey by playing and studying with Sergio Rigon at the Capolinea in Milan, attending Claudio Fasoli's Siena seminars, and collaborating with baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett in New York. His high level of competence and knowledge of jazz performance rules allowed him to embark on a significant career within that world. Luigi Sella began performing in countless shows, but one of his most important collaborations was with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Thanks to this collaboration, he later became a teacher at the Dizzy Gillespie Jazz School in Bassano del Grappa, founded by the trumpeter himself and directed by jazz singer Lilian Terry. In subsequent years, he played in various jazz festivals in Italy until 1990, when he became Principal Saxophone of the orchestra of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice for A. Berg's opera Lulu. Subsequently, he joined the Lydian Sound Orchestra directed by Riccardo Brazzale, composed of artists such as: E. Rava, G. Trovesi, P. Dalla Porta, C. Fasoli, and M. Schoff. His collaborations alongside Saverio Tasca, Daniel Barrajanos, Diego Lopez, and Daniele Di Gregorio are numerous, culminating in the founding of a quartet with guitarist Sandro Gibellini.

In 1998 and 1999, he worked with the actor Marco Paolini and for Rai2, in two different locations: first at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza and then at the Teatro Romano in Verona.

In the years 2000-2002, Luigi Sella participated in numerous jazz festivals in Italy; in 2003, he played at the Vicenza Jazz Festival as part of the European Jazz Duo project with pianist Marco Ponchiroli, with whom he recorded an album in September of that year. Also in the same year, he participated in the Frosinone Jazz Festival. In 2004, he participated again in the Vicenza Jazz Festival with the Weather Report Tribute group.

2005 saw the creation and recording of an album under his own name, in collaboration with artists: P. Birro, M. Beggio, S. Senni, U.T. Gandi, M. Ponchiroli, L. Calgaro, R. Bonisolo, E. Martin, and M. Castagna. Also in 2005, he recorded an album, ELIS, with the Acoustic Jazz Trio, a CD that also includes original pieces composed by Luigi Sella. Accompanied by the Weather Report Tribute in 2006, he participated in a tour with Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira; following the tour, a live album Nine O'clock was also recorded. In May 2009, he participated in the Vicenza Jazz Festival with the orchestra of the same name, accompanying Canadian trumpeter Tom Harrell. From 2009 to August 2010, he performed in various concerts, including a tour in Iceland, with the Libera Cantoria Pisani choir directed by Maestro Filippo Furlan.

2011 saw the birth of an original and interesting project "Apolide," for which Maestro Sella composed the music and for whose performance he is joined by professional musicians. The quartet consists of soprano saxophone, trombone, electric bass, and drums.