Artist description Jazz singer with her combo playing vocal jazz in a swing/mainstream style.

Music Style Swing/mainstream jazz singer with her combo

Musical Influences Vocal jazz

Similar Artists Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald

Artist History Lil Darling, stage name of Liliana di Marco, started her career at the age of 20 as a theatre actress and operetta singer in semi-professional companies, an experience which lasted five years, at the same time developing her considerable singing talents in the field of jazz until, a few years ago, during a brief but particularly significant meeting with the famous singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, she was encouraged to pursue further her interest in jazz.. Lil left the theatre to dedicate herself entirely to Afro-American music. She studied opera singing with Anna Dalla Molla and completed her studies with Susanna Ghione. Further specialised study in jazz followed as a student of Francesca Olivieri and, later, of Paolo Volante. Naturally gifted with a deep voice, at the same time both aggressive and delicate, and with considerable. range, she moves with ease through a repertoire of over 250 songs, from the atmosphere of 40's swing to rough, bitter blues. In 1992 she formed the Lil Darling Hot Club, a jazz line-up of six members whose style is based on a "hot jazz" interpretation of songs from the 30's and 40's, reliving songs from the golden years of Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington etc. (which for the most part have become standards, reinterpreted by modern jazz) and returning them to their original form in swing or mainstream style. The main sources of inspiration are singers such as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington and musicians such as Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, and so on. The Lil Darling Hot Club has played in all the main jazz clubs and theatres of its Italian home region, Piedmont, has taken part in the International Jazz Festival in St. Raphaël, France, and the International Jazz Festival in Oristano, Sardinia, and plays in the main jazz clubs and hotels in Paris. During the last two seasons, it has staged, to great public acclaim, a trilogy and a series of shows at the Piccolo Regio Theatre in Turin. "All That Swing", a series of shows dedicated to eight of the greatest names in swing and jazz (Cole Porter, Billie Holliday, Louis Armstrong, Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Ella Fizgerald and Frank Sinatra) has been playing for the past few months at the Piccolo Regio Theatre in Turin. During the summer of 1998, after its third season at the Piccolo Regio Theatre, the line-up took its show abroad again, this time to Japan, where it was warmly received in Tokyo and Osaka. The overall sound of the group is one of swing brought up to date, soft and captivating, dominated by the singer's deep crystalline voice, meticulously counter-pointed by the trombone of Roberto Andriollo and the guitar of Marco Parodi and carried forward by the drive of a compact and discreet rhythm section with Paolo Volante on piano, Georgio Dini on bass, and Luca Rigazio on drums. Their first CD "Bargain Day" came out in 1995, followed in October 1997 by a CD based on the series of shows "All That Swing". A live CD titled "Live at the Regio" recorded during these concerts was released in 1999.

Group Members Lil Darling, vocals; Roberto Andriollo, trombone; Marco Parodi, guitar; Paolo Volante, piano; Francesco Bertone, double bass; Luca Rigazio, drums;

Instruments vocals,trombone,guitar,piano,double bass,drums + occasionally trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax

Albums "Bargain Day" 1995, "All that swing" 1997, "Live at the Regio" 1999, "Night and Day" 2000

Press Reviews "...talented and brillant new singer that seems to get her vital inspiration from Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan at the same time" (La Repubblica) "Great voice and musical taste" (Carl Anderson)

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Location Torino, TO - Italy

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