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Monday Notes

Piero Umiliani, Gassmann blues. Jazz meets Italian comedy

[Monday Notes no. 153] For the soundtrack of the film I soliti ignoti Mario Monicelli chose a young Florentine musician named Piero Umiliani. Monicelli wanted a soundtrack that was completely jazzy, a very unusual choice for the time. Let us analyse the track entitled Gassmann Blues.Continue readingPiero Umiliani, Gassmann blues. Jazz meets Italian comedy

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Monday Notes

Modern Jazz Quartet, Milano. Between classical music and Jazz

[Monday Notes No. 31] The Modern Jazz Quartet was one of the longest-running jazz ensembles on the jazz scene. John Lewis was a promoter of the third current and was pursuing a contact between European classical music and jazz.Continue readingModern Jazz Quartet, Milano. Between classical music and Jazz

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Monday Notes

Whispering, Lionel Hampton was the first great jazz vibraphonist

[Monday Notes n.28] Like the saxophone, electric guitar and drums, the vibraphone reached the broader public through jazz music. An instrument invented in the ’20s, it was in fact popularized by Lionel Hampton, a vibraphonist hired by Benny Goodman in his quartet in the mid-’30s. Let’s listen to the two musicians playing Whispering.Continue readingWhispering, Lionel Hampton was the first great jazz vibraphonist

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