One of the most prominent jazz trumpet player in the jazz scene, playing in more than two hundred concerts a year in almost every part of the globe. He is known for combining jazz with either pop, classical, world or ethnic elements such as South American or Japanese music.
Awarded as best European musician thanks to his works for the “Académie du jazz” in Paris together with the prestigious “Django d’Or” in 1996 and as best European Jazz Musician in 2000. A long series of awards have been acclaiming him as an internationally famous jazz musician artist all over the world; Fresu is also professor of internationally known jazz seminars and festivals and he has played with the biggest names in African-American music of the past 30 years: F. D’Andrea, G. Tommaso, B. Tommaso, T. Ghiglioni, E. Rava, A. Salis, E. Pieranunzi, G. Gaslini, GL. Trovesi, R. del Fra, A. Romano, G. Ferris, J. Taylor, K. Wheeler, P. Danielsson, J. Christensen, G. Mulligan, B. Brookmayer, D. Liebman, K. Berger, D. Holland, R. Beirach, J. Zorn, J. Abercrombie, H. Merril, R. Towner, R. Galliano, M. Portal, T. Gurtu, J. Lee, Gunther Schüller, P. McCandless, J. Hall, L. Soloff, Uri Caine, Ralph Towner, Gil Evans Orchestra, Toots Thielemans, Omar Sosa, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow.
He has recorded more than three hundred and fifty records of which almost one hundred with his own name or together with international productions and labels (French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Dutch, Swiss, Canadian, Greek).
Fresu has played as guest musician in big bands such as “GON – Great Italian Orchestra, “ONJ – National Jazz Orchestra, NDR – German Radio Orchestra of Hamburg, RAI Symphonic Orchestra and the Verona Arena Orchestra and many more.