Italian Jazz Stars - 1952/1953

I'm here.

These days I stayed elsewhere, but not far from my passions.
.

For example, for the first time I visited the Fondazione Siena Jazz, during the 40th edition of International Higher Masterclasses Workshop, thanks to the kind invitation of Francesco Martinelli, conductor of one of the most important International Centre for Jazz Information and Research.

It was a beautiful experience, involving all my senses and my emotions, difficult to explain only in words, even those of my native language...

What I want to say to you, is that:

if you only listened to records, you would may think that jazz, as we know, could die.

But if you spend a week in Siena, then you'll think that is alive and well, that jazz has more faces than you can remember in a lifetime and that speaks more languages than we could ever study.

Among the many meetings (Bobby Watson, Claudio Fasoli, John Taylor, Paolino Dalla Porta, Ettore Fioravanti, Avishai Cohen, Mauro Negri, Riccardo Del Fra...), in Siena I met some new friends.

For example Howard Mandel, a Chicago jazz writer who lives in New York, author of books like "Future Jazz" [Oxford University Press, 1999] and his last work "Miles, Ornette, Cecil: Jazz Beyond Jazz [Kindle Edition], also presented in Siena. Mandel is also the artistic producer for National Public Radio, a teacher at the University of NY and president of the Jazz Journalists Association.

Howard, who has a jazz overview with many nuances, which has a fascinating oratory skills, which can read the events that occur in the arts, without separate them from what happens in the USA society (and not everyone, believe me). But, he didn't know Nunzio Rotondo, Roberto Nicolosi or Umberto Cesàri.

In addition to Howard, I knew the delightful Thierry Quénum, a French jazz-writer, who writes on the historic Jazz Magazine, and collaborates with jazz.com. Thierry is also a jury's member for the Django D'Or and for the European Jazz Prize (Austria). He has been published for several years in Italy, on Jazzit magazine, the column ICI LA FRANCE, cut critical and challenging, as he is.

In Siena Quénum has presented an interesting lecture on "European Jazz after 1960", where he told the reason for the flowering of cool in Europe, where he compared the different European capitals to New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago and New York in 1920, remembering that have generated many different scenes and substyles, and revealed many different soloists who have collaborated across the Atlantic.

Following the conference, Thierry has indicated that the strength of European jazz after the sixties, was to leave completely the American's jazz emulation.

In the same context he has presented some contemporary jazz-scenes, showing the programs and intentions of many European festivals, but he never contemplated Italy, more than Siena, of course.

So, this post is dedicated to Howard and Thierry - and also Francesco, of course, because he made me live a dream, and met two new friends -.

I hope that when you hear these rare recordings, you'll also have one more friend.

These rare tracks, that I share with you, are some of the recordings of the "Italian Jazz Stars" series, one of the first totally dedicated to modern Italian jazz, recorded between 1951 and 1956, published for the first time on 78 rpm from Columbia.

These recordings were reissued for the first time on microgroove 33 rpm in 1954 (Columbia QS 6009) edited by Arrigo Polillo.

The same collection on LP, was republished in the U.S. by Angel Records (60001).

Subsequently, by Alessandro Protti and Lino Patruno, were printed other matrices of this series, assembled with other traditional jazz tracks, recorded also for Columbia, published on LP in 1961, under the title "Italian jazz of the Roaring 50's".

Credits:

«Italian Jazz Stars»
Label: Angel Records

Catalog# 60001

Format: 10 inch (25 cm)

Country: New York - USA

probably printed between 1956/1957

Tracklisting:

Side A

A1) Invenzione (P. Umiliani)

by Gianni Basso and His 5tet:

Gianni Basso (ten sax), Oscar Valdambrini (tp),

Piero Umiliani (p), Antonio De Serio (bass), Rodolfo Bonetto (drums)

recorded in Milan 1952, October 22

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CJ 1004

first print on 33's Columbia - QS 6009 (1954)

A2) Gim Blues (O. Valdambrini)

by Oscar Valdambrini and His 5tet:

Oscar Valdambrini (tp), Gianni Basso (ten sax),

Adelmo Prandi (p), Antonio De Serio (bass), Rodolfo Bonetto (drums)

recorded in Milan 1952, October 22

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CJ 1002

A3) Tenderly (W. Gross)

by Flavio Ambrosetti 4tet:

Flavio Ambrosetti (alto sax), Francis Burger (p),

Franco Cerri (bass), Gilberto Cuppini (drums)

recorded in Milan 1953, September 25

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CJ 1012

first print on 33's Columbia - QS 6009 (1954)

A4) Cool-laboration (R. Nicolosi)

by Roberto Nicolosi and His Orchestra:

Oscar Valdambrini, Giulio Libano (tp),

Mario Pezzotta, Athos Cerroni (tbn),

Michelangelo Mojoli (french horn), Francesco Saverio Scorza (tuba),

Sergio Valenti, Glauco Masetti (alto sax), Fausto Papetti (tenor sax),

Giampiero Boneschi (p), Franco Pisano el. g), Franco Cerri (bass),

Gilberto Cuppini (drums), Roberto Nicolosi (dir, arr).

recorded in Milan 1953, January 16

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CJ 1005

first print on 33's Columbia - QS 6009 (1954)

Side B

B1) Fascinating Rhythm (G. Gershwin)

by Flavio Ambrosetti 4tet:

Flavio Ambrosetti (alto sax), Francis Burger (p),

Franco Cerri (bass), Rodolfo Bonetto (drums)

recorded in Milan 1953, December 5

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CJ 1018

B2) La Barca dei Sogni (C. Di Ceglie)

by Oscar Valdambrini and His 5tet:

Oscar Valdambrini (tp), Gianni Basso (ten sax),

Adelmo Prandi (p), Antonio De Serio (bass), Rodolfo Bonetto (drums)

recorded in Milan 1952, October 22

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CJ 1001

first print on 33's Columbia - QS 6009 (1954)

B3) Nancy with the Laughing Face (J. Van Heusen)

by Giancarlo Barigozzi and His Quintet:

Giancarlo Barigozzi (tenor sax, cl), Sergio Mandini (el. g),

Ettore Ballotta (p), Edoardo Rossi (bass), Gilberto Cuppini (drums)

recorded in Milan 1953, September 11

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CJ 1013

first print on 33's Columbia - QS 6009 (1954)

B4) Stelle Filanti (N. Rotondo) *

by Nunzio Rotondo and the Sextet of the Hot Club of Rome:

Nunzio Rotondo (tp), Franco Raffaelli (alto sax),

Ettore Crisostomi (p), Carlo Pes (el. g), Carlo Loffredo (bass),

Gilberto Cuppini (drums)

recorded in Milan 1952, March 27

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CQ 2342

*This last track, actually was not published in this series, but was also included in the Angel anthology.

In the «Italian Jazz Stars», Nunzio Rotondo has registered with His Cool Stars.

Here, you can listen one track of this combo.

Cool, Please (Rotondo)

Nunzio Rotondo (tp), Francesco De Masi (french horn),

Aurelio Ciarallo (bass cl), Gino Marinacci (tenor sax),

Vittorio Paltrinieri (hammond org), Tonino Ferrelli (bass), Gilberto Cuppini (drums)

recorded in Milan 1953, March 7

first print on 78 rpm Columbia - CJ 1006

first print on 33's Columbia - QS 6009 (1954)