Max Chirico arranges, writes, plays piano and trumpet and is involved in music education.
He was born in Reggio Calabria in the south of Italy. He received his first music lessons from his brother, a guitar player. As a mostly self-taught musician, Max continued his studies listening to old jazz records. The confirmation that he should study piano came at the end of the 1980s when Betty Carter was visiting Reggio Calabria. The legendary vocalist was staying nearby, and Max was at the piano when Carter motioned for him to move over and make room for her on the stool. She gave him some precious words of encouragement and proceeded to show him some voicings on the piano.
In 1991 he moved to Bologna, in the north of Italy, where he studied with Paolo Fresu and Stefano Battaglia and for two years played in the youth orchestra directed by Marco Tamburini.
Max went on to study music on the D.A.M.S. (Art, Music and Theatre) course at Bologna University with Aldo Clementi, Giampiero Cane and Loris Azzaroni.
Between 1993 and 1996 he attended the workshops of Siena Jazz where his instrumental studies were guided by Enrico Pierannunzi, Franco D'Andrea, Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava, Marco Tamburini, Riccardo Zegna, Gianluigi Trovesi, Ettore Fioravanti and Marcello Piras, and he studied composition and arrangement with Bruno Tommaso.
From 1999 onwards he participated in Barry Harris’s Masterclasses at Den Hague Musical Academy (Holland) and in Verona.
With trumpet as his main instrument, Max was among the first wave of students to graduate in 2004 on the new Jazz and Experimental Music course at the G.B.Martini Academy of Bologna where the teaching staff included Marco Tamburini, Roberto Rossi, Massimo Manzi and Stefano Zenni.
He has participated in and assisted with the organization of several workshops and seminars with world-class trumpet player Stiepko "Steve" Gut. He has played with, among others, Steve Gut, Steve Grossman, Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava, Ettore Fioravanti, Larry Smith, Gianni Cazzola, Carlo Atti, Fabio Petretti, Dave Ohm, Antonio Ciacca , Pietro Ciancaglini, Nico Menci, Valerio "Sonny" Pontrandolfo, Danilo Gallo, Aljosa Jeric, Melissa Stott, Davide Brillante, Niall Marron, Darren McCarthy, Humphrey Murphy, Zac Crawford, Phil Collins, Nicola Muresu, Alessandro Minetto, Valerio Pontrandolfo, Paolo Benedettini, Matteo Raggi, Marco Bovi and Max Dall'Omo.
Max has played in jazz clubs, festivals and venues in Italy, UK, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland, including the following: Cork Jazz Festival, Toscana Jazz, The Vortex, The Spice of Life, Cantina Bentivoglio, Livorno Jazz, Magra Jazz, Zola Jazz & Wine, Appennino music Festival, The Boom Boom Room, Il Porto del Jazz, Limerick Jazz Club, Seravezza Jazz, Lemon '900, Il Salotto del Jazz, Blue Summer Festival, Appennino Music Festival and many others.