That was the moment when Funk-in-Italia was born I knew Ernesto a few years ago. He invited me at ControRadio to present my record, he told me also to bring some of the music I loved. I tried a surprise to him by carrying some of the stuff I thought I was the only one to know, like BlackMerda or Betti Davis. But it didn't work no surprise as he knew everything better and before than me. We kept in touch for a while after that, may be only for quick and funny talks. I loved his Florence like clever spirit. One day I had this idea of making a sort of network among those who are keen on the Funk here in Italy. At the beginning I only thought about a compilation of Italian Funk bands for the Indipendent Label Association. That was the moment when Funk-in-Italia was born. In few years I learnt more from Ernesto than anybody else. We had this idea to make an Anthology with the old stuff mirrored to the nowaday's scene, in a double compilation. That was the best thing we've done, among concerts and events, the one I'm prouder of. By compiling this stuff Ernesto has been a great maestro of music, putting together artists coming from the most different genres but giving an essential contribution, whether they knew it or not, to a groove made in Italy. I remember when he invited me to his house. Under a mountain of vynils, books and Cds, you could see in his music's room (a sort of museum in which Ernesto was well available to be pictured, not without a little bit of "coquetry") a beatiful piece of Fender Rhodes. He told me it was the one that was used in Eugenio Finardi's Diesel album. A few years later that same title track was ending in this Cramps' Anthology, here in single Cd version, as strongly wanted by Ernesto who began this work but unfortunately could not finished it. A man like Ernesto De Pascale will be endlessly missed, by his Popolo del Blues and also by the small but passionate bunch of Funk believers here. Most of all a true Maestro will be missed by all those who believed and still believe in real music and culture. Bobby Soul, March 2011
This cd aims to compare two diff erent periods of Italian music history through funk music. It is also the first attempt to find a proper “reason why” to this kind of music, much popular in the Seventies but mostly conceived as a means rather then as an end. Following the steps of Rhythm & Blues and its quite successful protagonists, Funk in Italy developed as a kind of music that gave - and still gives - a feeling of fulfilment to those who play it and that perfectly fi ts as the music for a mixed community of people. Therefore, with the help of the technological upgrade in the musical instruments’ construction process, Funk started to improve the general perception of Italian music, giving it a international and contemporary appeal. Artists with diff erent backgrounds and experiences indiscriminately started to use it. The first cd mirrors this journey in time showing Funk in Italy, then as now, as a very serious affair. Cramps records this compilation’s producer - gave a chance to many artists that used the language of Funk in the name of originality. Even never openly mentioning Funk as a way to express certain contents. When in the fi rst decade of the following century a proud army of Funkeeters landed in peace on planet Earth, it was clear to everybody that Funk was finally back, to stay. Ernesto de Pascale, ottobre 2009
Area International POPular Group 1975 La mela di Odessa Established in 1972, Area – International Popular Group, synthetically Area, have overcrossed musical genres and borders riding on hard pushed progressive rock played with an enviable technical skill. Area were influenced by free jazz and featured probably the best Italian singer ever, Demetrio Stratos. After the 73’s debut album “Arbeit Macht Frei” on Cramps Records, the band has released other four records up until 1978. Stratos, a pioneer in vocal researches, able to produce easily diplophonies and triplophonies, left the group in 1979 for a solo career. Unfortunately he died unexpectedly a few months later, in the June of the same year. The band released in 1980 the last album of their classical period, Tic&Tac. After many splits and reunion, the band’s flag is now held by three of its historical members, Patrizio Fariselli, Ares Tavolazzi e Paolo Tofani.
Demetrio Stratos [voice, organ, steel drums] Paolo Tofani [electric guitar, EMS synthesizers] Ares Tavolazzi [bass, double bass, trombone] Giulio Capiozzo [drums, percussion] Patrizio Fariselli [piano, bass clarinet ARP synthesizer]
From the album "Crac!" (Cramps Records CRSLP 5103, 1975)
Napoli Centrale 1975Simme iute e simme venute In the middle of the 70’s Naples nurtures one of the best Italian jazz-rock band of all times, Napoli Centrale. Mediterranean heart and Black-American soul, Napoli Centrale join around the charismatic personality of sax player James Senese, former member along with drummer Franco Del Prete, of the Showman, famous local band at the time. Electric black jazz-rock of such artists like John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Weather Report was full inspiration for the band which contaminated these sounds with Neapolitan emphasis and the colours of spontaneity. The lyrics, some of them in Neapolitan dialect, are the voice of a changing Italy, through social conflicts, emigration, poverty, differences between North and South. Between 1975 and 1977 they recorded three albums; the homonymous Napoli Centrale, Mattanza and Qualcosa ca nu’mmore.
James Senese [voice, sax, flute] Mark Harris [keyboards] Tony Walmsley [bass] Franco Del Prete [drums, percussion]
From the album "Napoli Centrale" (Ricordi SMRL 6159, 1975)
Rino Gaetano 1976 Berta filava Creative and immaginative. Rino Gaetano is an Italian songwriter famous for the irony and ant conformism which his songs were charged of. Born in Crotone, Calabria, after his first exhibition at the Rome’s Folkstudio, he was discovered by Vincenzo Micocci and his label (It) had Gaetano signing a contract which lead to the release of his debut album, Ingresso Libero, in 1974. Success is on his way and next year the single “Ma il cielo è sempre più blu” scores the highest positions of the charts. In 1978 he brings a popular song “Gianna” the Sanremo’s Festival, reaching the third position despite his initial reticence in taking part of the popular show. Rino’s life and career brutally interrupted on June the 2nd 1981, when he was yet to be 31, in a tragic road accident in Rome. After his death he has been widely consecrated as a great artist of his time.
Rino Gaetano [voice] Luciano Ciccaglioni [guitars] Piero Ricci [bass] Tony Formichella [sax] Arturo Stalteri [piano, organ, keyboards] Massimo Buzzi [drum] Babayaga [choirs]
From the album "Mio fratello è figlio unico" (IT ZSLT 70029, 1976)
Eugenio Finardi 1977Diesel Born in Milan, from American mother and father from Bergamo. Eugenio Finardi has deeply touched one generation’s imaginary with such milestone of rock Italian song writing like the albums Sugo (1976) and Diesel (1977). After a beginning with a single sung in English for label Numero Uno, his real debut dates back to 1975, when he releases for Cramps Records “Non gettate alcun oggetto dai finestrini”, his first album in Italian. In his long career he has published almost 30 albums, some of his most recent are “Anima Blues”, in 2005, “Suono”, taken from a theatre exhibition in which Finardi tells about more than 30 years of career through monologues and songs, and “Il cantante al microfono”, a contemporary classical record with which he won prestigious Targa Tenco, in 2008.
Eugenio Finardi [voice, guitar] Alberto Camerini, Paolo Tofani [guitar] Patrizio Fariselli [tastiere] Ares Tavolazzi [bass] Walter Calloni [drums, percussion] Claudio Pascoli [sax, brass] Doriano Beltrame [trumpet] Marco Pellacani [trombone]
From the album "Diesel" (Cramps Records CRSLP 5153, 1977)
Alberto Radius 1977 Nel ghetto Rome’s guitar player, singer and producer, Alberto Radius, still working nowadays as author and musician, joined in the late 60’s the band “Quelli”, seminal Italian rock prog group that soon would have changed its name into “PFM”. At that time he knew impresario Franco Mamone, who suggested him to form, along with Tony Ciccio and Gabriele Lorenzi, “Formula 3”, band which debuted with label Numero Uno (same of Lucio Battisti). Formula 3 was active up until 1974. Meantime Radius released his first solo album (1972) which featured musicians from Area and PFM. He has recorded almost ten albums, among those his major success Carta Straccia (1977), which included song “Nel Ghetto”.
Alberto Radius [voice, guitar] Stefano Pulga [piano, keyboards] Julius Farmer [bass] Tullio De Piscopo [drum] George Aghedo [congas] Claudio Pascoli [sax]
From 45 rpm “Nel ghetto”/”Pensami” (CGD CGD10004, 1977)
Also on the album “Carta straccia” (CGD CGD20008, 1977)
Lucio Fabbri 1978Blackgold A member of the PFM for many years, Lucio “Violino” Fabbri is a talented Italian poli-instrumentalist which collaborated, especially as violin player, with many edge artists of Italian and international music (Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Demis Roussos, Enzo Jannacci, Fiorella Mannoia, Giorgio Gaber, Giorgio Conte, Little Steven, Paul Young, Patrick Hernandez and many others). His career begins with Eugenio Finardi, whose album “Sugo” has co-produced. Along with Finardi he has opened Fabrizio De Andrè’s concerts in his 1975’s tour and in those years he also joined the rock prog Italian scene working with Claudio Rocchi, Alan Sorrenti, Demetrio Stratos. In 1978 he accomplished for Cramps Records his solo album called “Amarena”, an almost entirely instrumental work in which he moves easily between guitars, synthesizers and keyboards. He also works for advertising music and in 2006 he gave birth to a new project called “Slow Feet”.
Lucio Fabbri [voice, violin, viola, cello guitars, piano, bass, keyboards, programs] Walter Calloni [drum] Hugh Bullen [bass]
From the album "Amarena" (Cramps Records 5205651, 1978)
Enzo Carella 1978 Amara Rome’s songwriter discovered by Vincenzo Micocci, Enzo Carella released his first single in 1976 with label IT, distributed by Italian RCA, “Fosse vero”, written with lyricist Pasquale Pannella who was responsible, from that moment on, of all his other song’s lyrics. The following year he publishes his firs album “Vocazione”, which included Malamore, a song gaining a good airplay. In 1979 he participates to the Sanremo’s Festival, reaching second position with his song “Barbara”. His third album, “Sfinge”, arranged by Osanna’s Elio D’Anna, was released by RCA. After a few years of silence, Carella went back on the track in 1992, going on through ups and downs up until his latest release “Ahoh-yè-nanà”, in 2007.
Enzo Carella [voice] Carlo Pennisi, Enzo Carella [guitar] Fabio Pignatelli [bass] Agostino Marangolo [drum] Maurizio Guarini [piano, keyboards] Claudio, Marco e Giancarlo Balestra [choirs]
From 45 rpm “Amara”/”Carmè” (IT ZBT 7094, 1978)
Also on the album “Barbara e altri Carella” (IT ZPLT 34065, 1979)
Pino Daniele 1980 A me me piace ‘o blues Italian songwriter and musician, a modern Neapolitan music emblem with his song “Napule è” becoming a hymn for his town and the milestone of his career, Pino Daniele took his first steps in the 70’s as Napoli Centrale’s bass player. His 77’s debut album, “Terra Mia”, clearly shows the tight link he held with Neapolitan and Mediterranean tradition, both as regards music and lyrics, often resembling typical chants and customs of his motherland. In the immediately following years he releases three of his most famous albums, Pino Daniele (1979), Nero a metà (1980), Vai mò (1981), which featured the contributions of James Senese. Pino Daniele has developed in his long and fortunate career an unmistakable style which blended blues, rhythm blues and Italianism. His most recent album, Boogie Boogie Man, was released in 2010.
Pino Daniele [voice, guitar] Ernesto Vitolo [keyboards] Gigi De Rienzo, Aldo Mercurio [bass] Agostino Marangolo, Mauro Spina [drum] James Senese [sax tenore] Karl Potter, Rosario Iermano, Tony Cercola [percussion] Enzo Avitabile [choirs]
From the album "Nero a metà" (EMI 3C 064 18468, 1980)
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Loredana Berte 1980 In alto mare “I’m not a lady”, shouted her head off Loredana Bertè in her famous 82’s song, written by Ivano Fossati and performed in the same year at the Festivalbar. The song soon became a sort of the artist’s manifesto, irreverent, unconventional, sometimes ungraceful and transgressive by purpose, though still able to personify in her own way the upcoming trend of Italian music. Her song “E la luna bussò”, released in 1979 which sold around 400.000 copies, was the first successful Italian reggae song, an ante-literam lessons from Bob Marley. And in 1980, in her album “Loredana Bertè”, singles like “In alto bare” were bringing up funky grooves and sensual black music rhythms way long before other artists. A successful artist and popular in the TV chronicle, Bertè still continues her career with some TV’s appearances and a come back to the 2008 Sanremo’s Festival.
Loredana Berté [voice] Stefano Pulga [keyboards, lyricon] Dino Kappa [bass] Walter Calloni [drum] Rosario Jermano [percussion]
From 45 rpm “In alto mare” ”Buongiorno anche a te” (CGD CGD 10269, 1980)
Also on the album “LoredanaBertè” (CGD CGD20209, 1980)
Andrea Mingardi 1981 Xa vut dalla vetta Bolognese songwriter, Andrea Mingardi began his career as a young adolescent singing in several rock’n’roll bands. His first single dates back in 1962 . He tried to explore the rhythmic possibilities of the Bolognese dialect, a language which he uses to compose his funky and rhythm blues songs, filled with irony and fun. Among those, the floor filler “Xa Vut Dalla Vetta” and “A iò vest un marzian”, the history of an alien falling on earth from an hyper-civilized planet to breath good air and cry eating onions. He will reach some fame by participating to such important shows like Festival Bar (1984) and Sanremo’s Festival (5 times between 1993 and 2004). In 2006 he starts collaborating with Mina, writing some of the songs of her repertoire.
Andrea Mingardi [voice] Maurizio Tirelli [piano, keyboards] Kamsin Urzino [bass] Mauro Gherardi [drum] Romano Trevisani, Danilo Zuffi [guitars] Enzo Feliciati [trumpet] Paride Sforza [sax]
From the album "Xa vut dalla vetta" (F1 Team DM 919, 1981)
Enzo Avitabile 1983 Like io, funky tu Eclectic poly-instrumentalist, with a degree in flute, saxophone player and singer, Enzo Avitabile has collaborated with such artists like Tina Turner and James Brown. He released a good number of albums, through a very variegated artistic path, never been satisfied to stick with music’s cliché. He’s also an author of successful Italian pop songs for artists like Giorgia and since 2004 he plays with Bottari di Portico, a band making of ancestral rhythms its main inclination, playing on stage objects like barrels, vats, scythes and other atypical instruments. Thanks to this experience, the group released “Salvamm’ ‘o munno”, an album which gained 4 nominations at the BBC Word Music Award. In 2008 he starts the artistic project “Napoletana”, for the recover of ancient Neapolitan lyricism, winning in 2009 the Premio Tenco for the best album in dialect. He holds the first teaching chair in the Santa Cecilia’s conservatoire in Rome, for the teaching of World Music.
Enzo Avitabile [sax alto, baritono, tenore, flute] Giorgio Cocilovo, Claudio Bazzari, Paolo Gianoglio [guitars] Rino Avitabile [bass] Lele Melotti, Walter Calloni [drum] Mark Harris, Mimmo Sepe [percussion] Toni Statuti [trumpet] Linda Wesley, Naimy Hackett [choirs]
From the album "Meglio Soul" (EMI Italiana , 1983)
Bobby Soul 2009 Scimmione Former Blindosbarra and Sensasciou’s front man, Genoese singer and producer Bobby Soul released his first solo album in 2008 “Draghirossi & Buchineri” and the double album “73% Phunk” in 2010, accomplished with the help of band “Les Gastones” and edited by Cramps Music. His next album “Conseguenze del Groove” is scheduled to be out in autumn 2011. Magazine “Rolling Stone” has defined Bobby Soul as “the Italian Funk prophet”. Hundreds of concerts with his many projects around Europe and Italy (including MTV day and an opening for U2) witness the undisputed vocal skill of the singer. He is also DJ, radio-broadcaster, writes article about Black music and collaborates with several theatres, being responsible for the music of quite a few shows. He also takes part to the project “La Decima Vittima feat. Bobby Soul”, which features the blend between poetical lyrics and a sound carpet filled with soul music and psychedelic flavours.
Bobby Soul [voice, keyboards] Davide Zalaffi [drum] Lucas Bellotti [bass] Andrea Alesso [guitar] Matteo Minchillo [fender rhodes piano] Gianmarco “Pantera” Pietrasanta [flute]
From the album "73% Phunk" (Inmusica/Cramps Music NMSCD0108, 2009)
Tullio De Piscopo (guest 1998 Stop Bajon (live)
James Senese)
Virtuous, versatile and among the most renowned Italian drummers, Tullio De Piscopo has taken his first steps in Naples, where Napoli Centrale, James Senese, Pino Daniele and many others came out. With Pino Daniele and James Senese is back to play since 2008. In the middle, from the beginning up until today, his career has moved through important collaborations with artists like Gerry Mulligan, Eumir Deodato, Franco Batiatto, Al Bano, Lucio Dalla and Gato Barbieri, to name a few. Songwriter and percussionist, he published several albums under his name and gain national success with Andamento Lento, which won 1988’s Festivalbar and participated to the Sanremo’s Festival the same year. One of his major successes is Stop Bajon (1984), a rhythmic rap which turned Neapolitan dialect in the funkiest language you could here, written not by chance by Pino Daniele and featuring James Senese’s sax playing.
Tullio De Piscopo [voice, drum, percussion] James Senese [sax] Gabry Stotuti [sax soprano, voice] Domenico Basile [guitar] Paul Pelella [bass] Peter De Piscopo [drum] Guglielmo Gughi Guglelmi [piano, keyboards]
From the album "Live in Zurich at Moods Club" (Rai Trade RTP0018, 2004)
Roberto Colombo 1976Sono pronto Roberto Colombo is a keyboard player, artistic producer and arranger and has worked with bands such as Le Orme, PFM, Finisterre and many other prominent Italian musicians. His debut album"Sfogatevi Bestie"was released in 1976, followed by "Botte da Orbi” in 1977. Both ironic and Frank Zappa influenced, the records saw the collaborations of the most important Italian musicians of the time, from Walter Calloni and Mauro Pagani (both PFM) to Claudio Fasoli (Perigeo), from Tullio De Piscopo to Lucio Fabbri. The more commercial LP Astrolimpix followed in 1980 and a new effort titled “Pomodoro Genetico” was released in 2008.Aside from his solo albums, Colombo has had played with many Italian artists especially in the prog area, such as PFM, Franco Battiato, Mauro Pagani. He also wrote the signature tune for Rai Stereo Notte, the most important nightly musical radio show in the history of Italian radio.
Roberto Colombo [piano, micromoog] Alberto Mompellio [violin] Maurizio Martelli [guitar] Gigi Belloni, Paolo Donnarumma [bass] Flaviano Cuffari [drum]
From the album "Sfogatevi bestie" (Ultima Spiaggia ZLUS 55185, 1976)
Patty Pravo 1976 Il dottor Funky Nicoletta Strambelli, alias Patty Pravo, symbol of the 60’s atmosphere and of the joyous and ant conformist spirit crossing Italy after the war, is still the “Piper’s girl” (historical Rome’s club where Italian beat sprung out and Patty Pravo was it emblem) for many Italians (despite more that 40 years on the scene. Her beginnings with label ARC are marked with the enormous international hit “La Bambola”, which sold 9.000.000 copies around the world. Blonde, beautiful, uninhibited, with such a sensual and deep voice tone, Patty Pravo soon found a place in RCA and for the major part of her career the label would produce her records, with some splits and come back. She is often a Sanremo’s Festival favourite, TV and chart success with hits like Pazza Idea and Pensiero Stupendo. Of course she could not miss taking a ride through the funk by the track included in this album. Patty Pravo is still on the scene and has taken part to the 2011 Sanremo’s Festival.
Patty Pravo [voice] Roberto Puleo [electric guitar] Alberto Radius [synth guitar] Paolo Donnarumma [bass] Gianni Dall'Aglio [drum] Kamran Khachem [clarinet] Mark Harris [Fender piano]
From the album "Patty Pravo" (Ricordi SMRL 6193, 1976)
Venegoni & Co. 1979 Coesione The group Venegoni & Co. forms in 1977, after the departure of guitar player Gigi Venegoni from Arti&Mestieri, intriguing Italian prog rock band. Venegoni & Co. performs in a hundred concerts between 1977 and 1980. During this time they recorded “Rumore Rosso” and “Sarabanda” for Cramps Records, proving to be an open structure band with a great stylistic freedom. The edge of their career is their concert in front of 70.000 people for the touching farewell to Demetrio Stratos. At the end of the 80’s the group splits but after the invitation of Beppe Crovella, former Arti&Mestieri and owner of the label Electromantic Music, and the request of a Japanese record company, Gigi Venegoni decides to compose, produce and record “Planetarium”, the new CD of the band.
Gigi Venegoni [guitars, bass, voice, percussion] Ludovico Einaudi [keyboards] Beppe Sciuto [drum] Paolo Franchini [bass] Ciro Buttari, Marco Bonino [voice, various tools] Marco Astarita [percussion, voice] Giovanni Vigliar [violin] Marco Cimino [cello] Gualtiero Gatto [hands]
From the album "Sarabanda" (Cramps Records 5205 504, 1979)
New Trolls 1968Ho veduto Based in Genoa, New Trolls have gone through more than 40 years of Italian Pop Music. Since the beginning they have been exploring Rock’n’Roll music from Beat to Prog Rock. In 1971 they recorded one very significant Lp “Concerto Grosso per i New Trolls”, a kind of rock opera filled with fresh instrumentals and vibrato and falsetto vocals. In later years New Trolls have gone to a more popular direction scoring some good chart hits, some of them with quite an acceptable degree of good groove, like the song “Solamente Tu”, recorded in 1977. They have made it to the Sanremo’s Festival more than once, despite not being too successful. There are nowadays various groups representing the band, after the split of its members, the most important being Vittorio De Scalzi’s group – which owns the name – who brought the band back to the original Prog Rock sound. The track here included, features the lyrics of the most renowned Italian author Fabrizio De Andrè, a total icon in the country and around the world.
Vittorio De Scalzi [guitar, voice] Nico Di Palo [guitar, voice] Mauro Chiarugi [keyboards] Giorgio D'Adamo [bass, voice] Gianni Belleno [drum, voice]
From the album "Senza orario senza bandiera" (Cetra LPX 3, 1968)
Italian contemporary funk music, in all its forms, derivations and contaminations, could not find its proper space in this compilation, despite being well represented in the previous double Funk Anthology published in collaboration with M.E.I. (Largest Italian independent music association). So let me drop some lines on some of the groups that would have deserved to be represented here, starting with Ridillo that - since the beginning of the 90’s - has been the most popular band performing this kind of genre. Their grooves - clearly inspired by some great funk classic acts like Earth Wind & Fire and Kool and the Gang - are brought on with strength, irony and a recognisable Italian attitude, which makes their work peculiar. Some tracks - like Mangio Amore and Figli di una Buona Stella - are nowadays classic tunes in the national pop audience and their most recent album “Playboys”, 2011, is perhaps even better than the previous ones, proving their and Italian funk scene vitality. Also Danilo “The Soul” Pavarelli could easily be included here. Last year he released his first album “Hard Funk Invasion”, one of the hottest and grooviest thing ever recorded in the country coloured by an unforgettable voice. Many others are to be remembered as live bands bringing the funk throughout the country, like Signor Wolf Funk Exp (blaxpoitation, electronic contaminations, dance propulsion and mainly instrumental), Sex Fm from Tuscany (with part of the horn section of the marching band Funk Off), SbirroFunk from Naples, another band which I sang with, Blindosbarra from Genoa, Live Tropical Fish – an international act now ever – and an extraordinary hip hop band from Sardinia, the FunKey, performing live instrument “a la Roots” with tons of funkadelic stuff in it. Ernesto De Pascale, October 2009