Christian Russano is a co-founder of Satoyama, a leading quartet on the Italian and international nu-jazz scene. Since their formation in 2013, the band has developed an original musical language combining improvisation, composition and a strong focus on environmental issues. Satoyama have released five albums, including Spicy Green Cube (2015), Magic Forest (Auand Records, 2019), Sinking Islands (Auand Records, 2022) and Concrete Islands – Fragments for Sunken Metropolises (2026). The band has performed at major European festivals and venues, including Torino Jazz Festival, JAZZMI, North Sea Round Town, Riga Jazz and Time in Jazz. In 2020, through the Build a Forest project and with support from the SIAE “Per Chi Crea” grant, Satoyama undertook a zero-emissions tour along the Trans-Siberian Railway, from Moscow to Vladivostok. In 2023, the band was selected by I-JAZZ for Nuova Generazione Jazz, while in 2024 it was selected by the Europe Jazz Network for the Green Pilot Tour, which led to a Scandinavian tour in 2025.
From 2016 to 2018, Christian was a member of the Torino Performing Orchestra, performing with artists such as Daniele Cavallanti, Carlo Actis Dato, Pasquale Innarella and Eugenio Colombo.
In 2023, he founded Before Second Zero, a trio dedicated to exploring contemporary sounds and imaginative soundscapes. The project takes the form of a musical narrative following an atom’s journey through the universe, beginning at the “second before zero” — the instant preceding the Big Bang — in search of relationships and unexpected encounters.
Christian began playing guitar at the age of 16, initially as a self-taught musician. He studied with Maurizio Brunod and Pino Russo at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory in Turin, later continuing his guitar studies with Roberto Cecchetto.