In 1996, bassist Valerio Serangeli and saxophonist Stefano Arduini started Erre Emme 1, with keyboard player Carlo Mezzanotte, percussionist Alberto Di Giacomo and drummer Massimo D’Agostino.

The goal of the group is to fuse ethnic themes and textures (especially from Africa, South America and the Mediterranean area) with jazz improvisation, which is a knowledge that all group members share.Erre Emme 1 played a number of concerts in Central Italy, then recorded a CD, "Estati Romane".

The tunes, composed by Serangeli, Arduini and Mezzanotte, range from Sardinian folk songs to African polyrhythms, over a strong jazz foundation and a "city" feel.

Erre Emme 1’s drummer chair seems to be particularly hot: in a five-year period, Massimo D’Agostino, Vladimiro Carboni, Tommy Caggiani, Andrea Iacovone and Lucio Turco followed one another as the group’s drummer.

All other musicians are still the original members.