Enzo Nini is a Neapolitan tenor saxophonist and flutist, born on 29 August 1954 in San Giorgio a Cremano, on the edge of Naples, where he still lives. His professional life began in 1979 in the city's popular-music circuit, and over the following decades it split into three strands that ran in parallel: his own jazz groups, a long run of teaching and jazz-association work, and a steady presence in the larger orchestras and theatrical projects of Campania.

His jazz training started with classical flute lessons under Jean Claude and Laurent Masi, then moved to the Siena jazz seminars in 1978, where he studied saxophone with Claudio Fasoli. He went on to the United States, studying with Andy McGhee, Joe Viola and Joe Allard and attending Berklee College of Music in Boston from 1984 to 1986. His biography also lists a role coordinating the S.M.I.T.S. (School of Musical Improvisation and Instrumental Technique) between 1979 and 1989, a post as Berklee assistant at Umbria Jazz from 1986 to 1989, and seats on the national board of the Italian jazz musicians' association (A.M.J.) in 1989-90 and again in 1993. From 1990 to 1997 he co-founded and led A.N.D.J., a Neapolitan jazz-diffusion association. In 1997 he was a guest lecturer at the international meeting of jazz schools (I.A.S.J.) run by saxophonist Dave Liebman.

His own recordings begin with the Enzo Nini Rubber Band, a quartet built around a rhythm section of pianist Francesco D'Errico, bassist Bruno Tommaso and drummer Salvatore Tranchini, with Luciano Nini on alto saxophone. The band recorded Quartieri Spagnoli (Officina, CD dated 1991 on Discogs, 1990 on the artist's own site) and Doppio Sogno Doppio (PoloSud, 1997), the second a 21-track suite issued with an inserted booklet of poems by Vanna D'Amato and with Bruno Persico at the piano. Tommaso plays double bass on both, and Nini is credited on both with flute as well as saxophone.

In 1992 he toured with Enzo Avitabile's Soul Brothers Band, and in 1996 he appeared on Kammermuzak with the Compagnia Musicale Paolo di Sarcina. In 1999 he became first tenor saxophone in the jazz orchestra of the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella, and in 2000 he co-founded both the cultural association A.L.A.D.IN. and the orchestra Jazz a Majella (J.A.M.). Under Bruno Tommaso's direction, Orchestra Jazz A Majella recorded Lettere da Orsara, made in Naples on 19 May 2002 and issued by PoloSud in 2003 with guest vocals by Maria Pia De Vito; Nini plays tenor saxophone throughout and flute on two tracks. He also played in the theatrical orchestra for Roberto De Simone's 2002-2003 production of Raffaele Viviani's Eden Teatro, mounted for the reopening of Naples' Trianon theatre,. Italian Wikipedia lists a 2009 IMAIE special award among his honors, for the theatrical production Luci, voci e volti dal faro.

His most recent album under his own name on Discogs is Otto Jazz Club (PoloSud, 2010), credited to Enzo Nini Jazz Gossip and named for a historic Naples jazz venue whose founder, Enzo Lucci, died in 2008. It was presented at the Feltrinelli bookstore in Naples on 5 February 2010, followed by a concert on 6 February. The quartet is Nini on tenor saxophone and flute with Lello Cannavale on piano, Emiliano De Luca on bass and Lello Di Fenza on drums, and the release includes poems and reflections from writers, journalists and musicians. Nini is also a member of the Orchestra Napoletana di Jazz directed by Mario Raja, heard on the live album In Concerto (Itinera, 2013), which adds Maria Pia De Vito among its vocalists. Alongside the recordings, he has taught jazz at conservatories in Potenza, Campobasso and Foggia, according to Italian Wikipedia, and his own site lists teaching as a separate section.

Italian Wikipedia names Bruno Tommaso, Paolo Fresu, Mario Schiano and Joe Lovano among his collaborators. Of these, only the Tommaso credits appear on Discogs; no recording with Fresu, Schiano or Lovano is documented there.

Nini plays tenor saxophone and flute, with a post-bop grounding from his Siena and Berklee training. Press notes for Otto Jazz Club describe the music as "free bop" and speak of changing atmospheres and "musical thought," while the Rubber Band records are built around composed, extended pieces; Doppio Sogno Doppio is issued with a booklet of poems by Vanna D'Amato. Text and poetry recur in his projects, from that booklet to the reflections gathered around Otto Jazz Club and the multimedia work of A.L.A.D.IN., the association he co-founded to join music with literature.

A second thread is Naples itself. He began in Neapolitan popular music, toured with Enzo Avitabile's Soul Brothers Band in 1992, and worked in Roberto De Simone's theatre productions. Discogs also credits him in the horn section of a 1984 Italo-disco single, Zulu Rap, the one clearly non-jazz credit on his record.