In A Mellow Tone
Wednesday July 17th, 2024 with Heavy Ben
Piero Umiliani (episodio uno) 1955-1967 Jazz soundtracks to Italian films

This is the first in a multi-part series on the works of pianist and film composer Piero Umiliani. episodio due - 1967-1973 Italian film soundtracks and library records https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/94/66537.html Umiliani — alongside Italian film composers Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni, and Bruno Nicolai — began his career at the famous Cinecittà studios in the 1960s. The studio had a dark beginning: it was first used as a propaganda platform for Benito Mussolini, who founded the studios in 1937 under the slogan “Il cinema è l’arma più forte” (“Cinema is the most powerful weapon”). The studios were bombed during the Second World War, and almost entirely destroyed. After the war, Italian neorealism pioneers like Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica shot their films on the streets, and with small budgets. After it was rebuilt in the late ‘40s, Cinecittà became the location for major American productions like "Roman Holliday" (1953) and "Ben Hur" (1959). With the 1960 arrival of Federico Fellini’s "La Dolce Vita", Cinecittà officially entered its golden age. In the years that followed, Cinecittà served as a home for films across all genres, notably the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone, with scores composed by Morricone. Over time, many of Italy’s pre-eminent film composers began working in the genre, crafting jazzy, increasingly wild, reverb-drenched, and experimental soundtracks. Today we mark the birth date of Piero Umiliani, born July 17, 1926 in Firenze, Tuscany, Italy and died in 2001 in Roma, aged 74. Umiliani would work on a wide array of films — from moody black & white ‘60s dramas to sensationalist crime flicks to comedy and horror. His soundtracks and library records spanned everything from jazz and bossa nova to sleazy funk, freaky lounge music, wild exotica, psychedelic and electronic music. Umiliani composed for several hundred film scores and library recordings under his own name, under aliases M. Zalla, Moggi, Rovi, Tusco, and as part of ensembles The Pawnshop, Braen's Machine, and The Soundwork-Shoppers. His work has been a source of inspiration to collectors, DJs, producers, and labels. Umiliani has been sampled for songs by Shabazz Palaces, Deltron 3030, Kid Loco, Knxwledge and Curren$y. Umiliani is most famous for his composition "Mah Nà Mah Nà" that was originally used in the Swedish soft-core porn flick "Heaven And Hell" in 1968. The song gained popularity and was covered by the Muppets in 1969, appeared on Sesame Street, then reached the UK top 10 singles charts in 1977 after appearing on the syndicated series The Muppet Show. We'll get to that famous tune in part 2 of the Umiliani series. On today's episode of In A Mellow Tone, we'll cover the period 1955-1967. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinecitt%C3%A0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piero_Umiliani https://www.discogs.com/artist/8722-Piero-Umiliani (to embiggen the show icon, right-click and choose "Open image in new tab")