Knoxville, Tennessee, seems an unlikely locale for one of jazz’s most promising and enterprising young pianists. For Margherita Fava, however, the Marble City is a great place to live and work.

“It’s a hidden gem,” the Italian-born, 27-year-old says, speaking by phone from Knoxville. “The pandemic has been a catalyst for the scene here. A lot of natives that used to live elsewhere moved back to Knoxville, and then me and some other people, through just a series of weird events, also ended up moving here. And so I can say that we have a pretty good nucleus of gigging musicians.”