For a whole decade, spanning between the second half of the ‘50s and the second half of the ‘60s, jazz took over the Italian screens. The Californian be-bop rhythms, filtered and reinterpreted in a typical Mediterranean key, became the perfect soundtrack to the Italy of the economic boom; the quintessential music for a country that was sailing through a moment of profound and exciting industrial, social and cultural renovation. A nation that was rapidly shedding its skin, changing its style, look and identity, but also its landscape, letting itself go to the inebriation of the economic miracle.
The compilation was conceived like a sonic stream, a journey of discovery carefully sequenced from hundreds of soundtracks from the golden age of Italian jazz contained in the Cam Sugar archive.
33 tracks that go beyond music, telling the story of Italian cinema, society and of its unmistakable style and charm. A genre that even when nodding to Californian be-bop, to crime jazz or bossa nova still sounds surprisingly original and Mediterranean, elegant, and seductive, either with joyous peaks (the scat of I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni or of I 4+4 di Nora Orlandi) or with enigmatic and nearly dramatic nuances (La strega in amore by Luis Bacalov, Il batticuore by Marcello Gigante).
The compilation also offers a precious insight into the Italian jazz scene of the times, with its string of formidable soloists like Gianni Basso (sax) and Oscar Valdambrini (trumpet), two Piedmontese men on duty for the RAI television orchestra conducted by Armando Trovajoli; like Nunzio Rotondo (trumpet) a legendary and elusive figure who had a special bond with Piero Piccioni; or like Enrico Rava (trumpet), Franco D'Andrea (piano) and Gege Munari (drums) who often recorded with Piero Umiliani. Not to forget international stars like Chet Baker and Gato Barbieri, who were often fortuitously dragged into the recording sessions also thanks to Umiliani’s never-ending curiosity.
TRACKLIST:
01 Piero Umiliani - Notte in Algeria - I PIACERI PROIBITI
02 Francesco De Masi - Oggi in Africa - ALLA SCOPERTA DELL'AFRICA
03 Ennio Morricone - Agosto Jazz - LA VOGLIA MATTA
04 Armando Trovajoli - Jumping - IL VEDOVO
05 Nino Oliviero, Bruno Nicolai - Ora di Punta - MONDO CANE No. 2
06 Riz Ortolani - Il sorpasso (Titoli - ripresa) - IL SORPASSO *
07 Marcello Giombini - Notti d'amore a Tokyo - LE DOLCI NOTTI
08 Aldo Piga - Il vedovo bianco - AMORE FACILE *
09 Piero Umiliani - Tensione - AUDACE COLPO DEI SOLITI IGNOTI
10 Gianni Ferrio - Frenesia dell'estate (Titoli) - FRENESIA DELL'ESTATE
11 Luiz Bonfa - Coppia in crisi - LE ORE DELL'AMORE
12 Piero Piccioni - Your Smile - 3 NOTTI D'AMORE
13 Giuseppe De Luca - Il treno rosa - MILLE PECCATI NESSUNA VIRTU' *
14 Marcello Gigante - Gardenia - SEDIA ELETTRICA
15 Piero Umiliani - In fondo alla notte - UNA BELLA GRINTA
16 Luis Bacalov - La strega in amore (Titoli) - LA STREGA IN AMORE
17 Piero Umiliani - 7 monaci d'oro (Titoli) - 7 MONACI D'ORO *
18 Gianni Ferrio - Il raggio infernale (Titoli) - IL RAGGIO INFERNALE *
19 Francesco De Masi - Perry Scott Blues - SINFONIA PER DUE SPIE
20 Caro Rustichelli - Sexy Lucy - ASSICURASI VERGINE
21 Carlo Rustichelli - Allegre notti - LETTI SBAGLIATI *
22 Piero Umiliani - Il Nero - M1 - IL NERO *
23 Carlo Rustichelli - Night Blues - GLI IMBROGLIONI
24 Marcello Giombini - Miniswing orientale - NUDO CRUDO E… *
25 Carlo Savina - Agente 077 - Sfida ai killers (Titoli) - AGENTE 077 SFIDA AI KILLERS *
26 Aldo Piga - Le notti della violenza (Titoli) - LE NOTTI DELLA VIOLENZA *
27 Ivan Vandor - Gangsters - BERSAGLIO MOBILE
28 Armando Trovajoli - Giallo Club - CHIAMATE 22-22 TENENTE SHERIDAN *
29 Marcello Gigante - Il batticuore - IL MOSTRO DI VENEZIA
30 Aldo Piga - Concorso per giovani attrici - LETTO DI SABBIA
31 Piero Umiliani - Milano Blues (edit) - BIANCO, ROSSO, GIALLO, ROSA
32 Giorgio Zinzi - Atmosfera di Night - LA COSTANZA DELLA RAGIONE
33 Piero Piccioni - Dea di un sogno (versione tromba e organo) - UN TENTATIVO SENTIMENTALE
* previously unreleased
