Digital Renaissance: Senza Tempo - Jaunting The Peninsula For Jams

Senza Tempo 

Chewing over the new edition of Sizzer’s Digital Renaissance, I haphazardly got sucked into the vortex of Italian Jazz. Nurtured by the crate digging culture of the Boombap generation, I specifically got lost in the sugo of the break-heavy Soundtrack and Library (sometimes unfairly described as generic lounge) scene of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. It triggered me to dive into the history of Italian Jazz itself, which - due to obvious historic events - is relatively young, it chiefly came into existence during the post-war period. Almost as if an undercurrent bubble was expanding for years and - when finally reaching the surface - burst out into an entire universe of sound. When I decided to compile my fave cuts into a playlist, I stumbled upon a lot of other gems, leaving me no other choice than to keep travelling through the peninsula’s awesome musical niches. The second playlist I initiated became a stretched out - roughly ‘70s - mix of female pop, which escalated into a very long list all the way from the late ‘50s to the late ‘80s. In a minor attempt of housekeeping, I figured I’d cut them up into two playlists. Long story short, I ended up with Libero, Libera and Automaticamore. Allow me to elaborate.

Libero

Although a great deal of recordings were made in Italy between 1912 - 1950, most of the already vulnerable shellac records either got lost or destroyed. Out of a somewhat censored period, that Jazz bubble I described earlier burst into a variety of takes on the then popular subs of the genre: bebop, post-bop, hard-bop you name it. The one that contrasted with the blurry past most, emphasising the exploratory spirit, would for me be the Italian Library and Soundtrack scene that came to light throughout the 60's into the decades to come. What intrigues me about it is the frequent use of unconventional instruments: one might even conclude the lack of audience (with Library especially) triggered the musicians to be more experiment-heavy. On the surface, the obscure sound could come across as a quest for the seasoned listener. Truth be told, there are also examples proving the exact opposite - Mah Nà Mah Nà by Piero Umiliani was originally featured in the 1968 Italian flick Svezia, Inferno E Paradiso, but as the title might blab out, it does concern that notorious ear-worm of Muppets fame. In exception to the principle of me highlighting the chosen tracks, I - for this special occasion - would suggest to just get lost in the vortex like I did. I will help you on your way with some liner notes on the first track...oh! And of course what Italian wine to slurp with it, after all we're talking jazz here. In terms of being experimental, but also era-wise, I'd settle for a Tignanello: "Made in 1971, Tignanello was one of the first red wines produced in the area without white grapes, and with the cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc grape varieties." We're going to kick this one off with a rather non-Italian sounding moniker to the very skilled and stylish multi-instrumentalist that goes by the name of Mario Battaini - for this special occasion named the Duke Of Burlington. Considered a classic among some of the smaller niches for its hypnotic buildup and proper breaks, actually a cover of the 1968 - same titled - cut by the Marquis of Kensington (UK). Battaini played every instrument himself, which was by no means a common practice at the time. It was used in an ad for Dr. Gibaud around the same time, with stuntman Rémy Julienne performing a myriad of mad stunts - gaining the track some popularity. 

Libera

My original working title for this playlist was Pelo Potere, a title taken from the eponymous track sung by Mara Vittoria Solinas, under her stage name Maria Sole. It turned some - Italian - heads around in the office for its rather unique delivery approach. As a non Italian speaker, I concluded it must be because of the very unlikely mash-up of worlds exposed in this - barely - three minute long song. It's a Dada style poem being rapped over a Perez Prado (Mambo #5 inventor) backing track. Splendid opportunity to pop the second bottle of wine. As potere means power, a powerful and tannic wine could do this gem justice, for example a Barolo. However, with the freedom-breathing Cuban fusion going on, you could also swap your wine for a Cuba Libre. If Dada ain't your thing, let me help you back on the horse a bit with Jula De Palma. Originally taken from the film Bulli E Pupe, this late shellac era cut from 1956 might feel like a stranger in our midst. Then again it does feel in place in terms of the string-driven, fuzzy, dreamy romanza, an ingredient that is maintained throughout a big part of the trip to come: I remember once buying a 1967 Ornella Vanoni record in a garagebox in the middle of nowhere. Mostly drawn to it by the graphic design of the sleeve, I was invited into a dreamscape of orchestrated chanson-like waves accompanied by minor elements of the psychedelic era as soon as the needle dropped. From here on I got lost once again, as it really is a va-etvient of flipping and skipping through too many good records. I collected my front-runners here, ascoltare! 

Automaticamore

Playing the hand that I was dealt streaming-wise, I was unfortunately not able to include the title-inspirer in the final cut of our Italian saga (stealthy link right here). As the title implies we are going to continue our journey leaving la-la land behind, only to enter the synth and drum machine dominated era with a bang - or Beng! Sorry if I lead you astray: although tempting, this is - or maybe partially is - not intended to be an Italo-Disco batch. I'll leave the defining of that specific genre up to the purists (hot topic for some). To keep the motor running, we're just going to keep expanding the Italian universe following the thin red line that is slowly but surely becoming visible. Little did I know doing so, I would end up including Rita Pavone in the last part of this predominantly chronological journey. On my first ever job for Sizzer, my main reference was Heineken's Odyssey, using Rita's 1965 Italian Yé-Yé entry Viva La Pappa Col Pomodoro - a world apart from Eroi Di Carta: an uptempo synth-bass fuelled boogie jam from her 1985 album Dimensione Donna. For me this feels like we're having a full circle experience, so...well, that about does her! Sticking to the class of the '80s, I would wrap this one up by pouring yourself a Sbagliato. Salute.