Sa sonorité chaude et ample au saxophone soprano est immédiatement reconnaissable. Il mène de nombreux projets basés sur le thème de la rencontre : Foofango, Anye Ben Kafo, Azeto Orkestra et maintenant Al Funduq. Il se produit dans de nombreux groupes: L'Ame des Poètes, Chris Joris Experience. Ses recherches sur l'héritage de ses origines siciliennes le mènent à publier un disque sur les chants des charretiers , et à oeuvrer pour mettre en valeur ces traditions chantées et poétiques méconnues et extraordinaires de cette île aux carrefours des cultures. Son parcours éclectique commence à Liège où il s'initie au jazz et au saxophone avec Jacques Pelzer, à la musique contemporaine avec Henri Pousseur, réside à New York de 1986 à 1990 où il étudie avec Joe Lovano, puis de 1995 à 2000 à Ouagadougou où il enseigne à l'Ecole de Musique et de Danse.
It started as a personal journey, a search for the Sicilian roots of sax-player Pierre Vaiana. His maternal grandfather – like all his brothers – was a carter in the province of Palermo. Sicilian carters travelled long distances and stopped at taverns called funnacu, where legendary jousts involving love poems were held. The funnacu belongs to the Euro-Mediterranean tradition of the Funduq (in Arabic), taverns for travelling tradesmen that have existed since Ancient Greece (the pandocheion).
In this project, Pierre Vaiana offers new compositions largely inspired by the colours and aromas of both sides of the Mediterranean, such as the tarantella, tammuriata and pizzica. The group's rhythmic inspiration feels free to dip into Indian and African rhythmic circles. The musician's playing leaves lots of room for inspiration and a spirit of freedom, spontaneity and openness.
The group consists of Pierre Vaiana, Fabian Fiorini and Carlo Rizzo, joined by the talents of second percussionist Zoumana Dembelé (Burkina Faso), the double bassist Nicolas Thys and sometimes even two singers that are heirs to the magnificent traditions of the canzuna a la carritera (Sicilian carter singing), Giovanni Di Salvo and Melchiorre Di Salvo (Bagheria, Created in August 2006 during the Gaume Jazz festival with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the French-Speaking Community of Belgium, the Al Funduq project has since been seen at numerous festivals and is supported by the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue Between Cultures.