The Italian Instabile Orchestra (IIO) is an eighteen piece experimental big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 that performs orchestral jazz

Orchestral jazz

Orchestral jazz is a jazz genre developed in the United States in the 1920s, most significantly by Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington.As early as the 1910s there had been dance orchestras playing the popular songs of the day along with a smattering of jazz...

 and avant-garde jazz

Avant-garde jazz

Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...

. Its members include Gianluigi Trovesi

Gianluigi Trovesi

thumb|200px|Gianluigi Trovesi in 2006.Gianluigi Trovesi is an Italian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist and composer.A native of Nembro near Bergamo in Lombardy, he studied harmony and counterpoint under Vittorio Fellegara. Since then he has been a major player in the Italian and European jazz scene....

, Paolo Damiani

Paolo Damiani

Paolo Damiani is an Italian jazz cellist and double-bassist. Performing primarily in the avant-garde jazz and post bop mediums, Damiani was born in Rome, Italy. Damiana has performed over his career with a vast array of professional jazz musicians, including Gianluigi Trovesi, Kenny Wheeler, Tony...

, Mario Schiano

Mario Schiano

Mario Schiano was an Italian alto saxophonist and soprano saxophonist associated with avant-garde/free jazz.He was born in Naples...

, Pino Minafra

Pino Minafra

Pino Minafra is an Italian trumpeter and flugelhorn player who is associated with free improvisation, avant-garde jazz. A founding member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Minafra has recorded with such musicians as Gianluigi Trovesi, Mario Schiano, Han Bennink, Ernst Reijseger, Willem Breuker...

, Eugenio Colombo

Eugenio Colombo

Eugenio Colombo is an Italian saxophonist and flautist most associated with avant-garde jazz. A founding member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Colombo has worked with such musicians as Mario Schiano, Giorgio Gaslini, Steve Lacy, Bruno Tommaso, Maurizio Giammarco, Giancarlo Schiaffini and the...

, Giancarlo Schiaffini

Giancarlo Schiaffini

Giancarlo Schiaffini is an Italian jazz trombonist and tubist most associated with avant-garde music, free improvisation and free jazz. A member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Schiaffini has worked with such artists as Mario Schiano, Lol Coxhill, Andrea Centazzo and also Thurston Moore of...

, Bruno Tommaso

Bruno Tommaso

Bruno Tommaso is an Italian jazz double-bass player and composer, the cousin of fellow double-bass player Giovanni Tommaso. The first president of the Italian Association of Jazz Musicians and a founding member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Tommaso has performed with such musicians as Enrico...

, Sebi Tramontana

Sebi Tramontana

Sebi Tramontana is a jazz trombonist most often associated with avant-garde jazz and free improvisation music. A member of the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Tramontana has also recorded with such musical artists as Jeb Bishop, Joëlle Léandre, Mario Schiano, and Carlos Zingaro.-References:...

, Umberto Petrin, Tiziano Tononi, Guido Mazzon, Martin Mayes, Alberto Mandarini, Giovanni Maier, Daniele Cavallanti, and Carlos Actis Dato. The orchestra was founded in 1990 to perform at the Festival di Noci. One of the original members, pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

 Giorgio Gaslini

Giorgio Gaslini

Giorgio Gaslini is an Italian jazz pianist and composer.He began performing at 13 and recorded with his jazz trio at 16. In the 1950s and 1960s Gaslini performed with his own quartet...

, is no longer a member of the orchestra. Some guest musicians that have performed or recorded with them include Cecil Taylor

Cecil Taylor

Cecil Percival Taylor is an American pianist and poet. Classically trained, Taylor is generally acknowledged as one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an extremely energetic, physical approach, producing complex improvised sounds, frequently involving tone clusters and...

, Willem Breuker

Willem Breuker

Willem Breuker was a Dutch jazz bandleader, composer, arranger, saxophonist, and bass clarinetist....

 and Lester Bowie

Lester Bowie

Lester Bowie was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the AACM, and cofounded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.-Biography:...

.