Jazz in Italian Cinema
(Spreading new sounds from the Big Screen 1958-62)

Jazz On Film Records presents: Jazz in Italian Cinema (Spreading new sounds from the Big Screen 1958-62) A very special annotated collector’s edition vinyl LP, the collection features high quality professionally remastered original soundtracks by Piero Umiliani, Piero Piccioni, Armando Trovajoli, Giorgio Gaslini, Modern Jazz Quartet’s John Lewis, Sandro Brugnolini and also features Chet Baker.

Jazz on Film Records announces the new release in November of a specially annotated collector’s edition vinyl LP compilation ‘Jazz in Italian Cinema’ (Spreading new sounds from the Big Screen 1958-62) following the highly acclaimed CD box set Jazz in Polish Cinema (Out of the Underground 1958-67) which topped the 2015 reissue polls amongst others in Downbeat, and French New Wave, which reached No.5 in Mojo’s best soundtrack CDs of 2013.

As well as high quality specialist jazz remastering and expert curation, the extensive, in-depth sleeve notes to Jazz in Italian Cinema traces the emergence of the jazz soundtrack in Italy through the late 1950s-60s and the crucial role it played in bringing jazz to the attention of a wider Italian public. The collection features some of the earliest jazz soundtracks in European cinema written by the ‘Big 3’ Italian film composers Piero Umiliani, Piero Piccioni and Armando Trovajoli as well as pioneering musicians such as Giorgio Gaslini, the MJQ’s John Lewis and Sandro Brugnolini. Brought together here for the first time are jazz soundtrack rarities that emerged out of the late 1950’s Golden Age of ‘Commedia All’Italiana’ through to the experimental early 1960’s arthouse cinema of film directors ranging from Elio Petri to the great Michelangelo Antonioni.

It’s an area of Italian jazz that’s had far less in the way of in-depth coverage compared to another ‘golden era’ in Italian soundtracks from a later period of the 1960-70s, but one that’s highly significant to jazz in Italy. Ranging from swing to the cool/hard bop of the late 1950s (Piero Umiliani’s pioneering comedy scores for I soliti ignoti and its sequel featuring Chet Baker’s exquisite trumpet solos) through to the expanded possibilities for jazz in the early 1960s in both modal and ‘third stream’ settings (including pianist Giorgio Gaslini’s Blues L’allalba from Antonioni’s La Notte and a piece from MJQ pianist John Lewis’ rarely heard chamber jazz score for A Milanese Story). But Jazz in Italian Cinema is much more than a collection of rarely heard soundtracks. Pressed on heavyweight 180gm vinyl with a classy post-retro sleeve design, it also comes with an old school attitude to enlighten as well as entertain. This is demonstrated by the extensive, in-depth back sleeve and insert notes written by Jazzwise film expert Selwyn Harris and Siena based jazz archivist/author Francesco Martinelli.