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Italian jazz refers tojazz music that is played by Italian musicians, or to jazz music that is in some way connected toItaly.
James Reese Europe's military concerts inFrance inWorld War I in 1919 are claimed to have introduced Europeans to a new, "syncopated" music from America. Yet, Italians had an even earlier taste of a new music from across the Atlantic when a group of "Creole" singers and dancers, billed as the "creators of thecakewalk" performed at the Eden Theater inMilan in 1904. The first real Italian jazz orchestras and ensembles, however, were formed during the 1930s by musicians such asArturo Agazzi with hisSyncopated Orchestra and Carlo Andreis with hisQuartetto Andreis (CETRA, 1937-1941), enjoying immediate success.[1] In spite of the anti-American cultural policies of theFascist regime during the 1930s, American jazz remained popular. (EvenRomano Mussolini,Benito's son, was a great jazz fan and then prominent jazz pianist.) Also, in 1935, American jazz greatLouis Armstrong toured Italy with great success.[1]
In the immediate post-World War II years jazz took off inItaly. All American post-war jazz styles, frombe-bop toFree Jazz andFusion have their equivalents inItaly. The most gifted exponents ofjazz music in this period (from the 1940s to 1960s) are musicians likeGorni Kramer,Giorgio Gaslini,Lelio Luttazzi andFranco Cerri, the composerBruno Martino and great singers likeNatalino Otto,Jula de Palma,Nicola Arigliano andJohnny Dorelli. The universality of Italian culture ensured that jazz clubs would spring up throughout the peninsula, that all radio and thentelevision studios would have jazz-based "house-bands," that Italian musicians would then start nurturing a "home grown" kind of jazz, based on European song forms, classical composition techniquesand folk music (for example, in Sicily, whereEnzo Rao and his group Shamal have added native Sicilian and Arab influences to American jazz).
The jazz recorded in Italy from 1912 to 1950 is practically unknown, though in those years a remarkable number of recordings were made by both Italians and foreign musicians in Italy. Therecords, all of them78 rpm, are rarities for collectors, as their original matrixes were destroyed either in the devastating bombings of World War II (most of the record companies were located inMilan andTurin, two cities severely damaged by the war) or due to the foolishness of the many record company directors who sent to the rettery the remaining recordings of the period. Notwithstanding, thanks to few collectors, the best jazz recorded in Italy from 1912 to 1955 has been re-edited (by Riviera Jazz Records - www.rivierajazz.it). The story of Italian jazz, from the beginning, has been written byAdriano Mazzoletti : "Il Jazz in Italia. Dalle origini alle grandi Orchestre" and "Il Jazz in Italia. Dallo swing agli anni Sessanta", published by E.D.T., Turin. (www.edt.it). A photographic book with all the Italian musicians from the origins, “L’Italia del Jazz” have been published by Mastruzzi Editore, Rone (www.slms.it).
Currently, several Italian music conservatories have jazz departments, there are dozens of jazz festivals each year in Italy, the best-known of which is theUmbria Jazz Festival, and there areprominent publications such as the journal,Musica Jazz. In Italy, today, it is virtually impossible to find a medium-sized city without a jazz club.
Notable contemporary Italianjazz Musicians includeFranco Cerri,Pino Rucher,Dino Betti van der Noot,Enrico Rava,Antonello Salis,Massimo Urbani,Paolo Fresu,Enrico Intra,Stefano Bollani,Antonio Farao,Roberto Ottaviano,Dado Moroni,Aldo Romano,Stefano di Battista,Pino Presti,Tullio De Piscopo,Fabrizio Bosso,Luigi Grasso, bassistsGiorgio Rosciglione,Riccardo Del Fra,Pippo Matino,Mauro Gargano,Giovanni Tommaso andRosario Bonaccorso;Giovanni Falzone,Guido Manusardi,[2]Giovanni Mirabassi,Enrico Pieranunzi,Mario Schiano,[3]Gianluigi Trovesi,Pippo Lombardo,Daniele Scannapieco,Gianfranco Campagnoli, and other members and collaborators of theItalian Instabile Orchestra.
Gianluca Petrella is internationally considered one of the best young jazz trombonists.[4] Italy has many young and promising jazz musicians includingRosario Giuliani,Claudio Quartarone,Claudio Ottaviano,Marcello Giuliani,Mauro Gargano,Francesco Bearzatti,Michel Rosciglione,Massimo Biolcati andFlavio Boltro.
Piano, solo (2007) is a biographical movie by Riccardo Milani based upon the life ofLuca Flores, an Italian jazz piano player.
Richard Galliano,Michel Petrucciani,André Ceccarelli andAlfio Origlio are notable French musicians whose families come from Italy.
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