Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
– August 21, 2012 in
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
) was a Swiss
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
vibraphonist, saxophonist, and engineer.
Ambrosetti's primary career was in engineering; his acclaim in jazz circles has come entirely from his activities as an occasional musician. He studied piano as a child and taught himself to play tenor and alto saxophone as a teenager. He attended engineering school in Zurich and played with
Rio de Gregori
Rio de Gregori (22 September 1919, in Zurich – 22 May 1987, in Munich) was a Swiss jazz pianist.
De Gregori first started to play the piano at the age of 7. His parents had aspirations that he would become a classical pianist, but he perform ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
; later in the decade he worked with
Gil Cuppini
Gilberto "Gil" Cuppini (June 6, 1924, Milan - June 16, 1996, Sarzana) was an Italian jazz drummer and bandleader.
Cuppini began playing drums around the end of World War II, and by 1949 was playing in Hazy Osterwald's band; he was a sideman for Ar ...
and
Hazy Osterwald
Rolf Osterwald, better known as Hazy Osterwald (February 18, 1922 in Bern – February 26, 2012 in Lucerne) was a Swiss jazz bandleader, trumpeter, and vibraphonist.
Osterwald began his career as a pianist. He arranged for Fred Böhler in the ...
. In the 1950s he played as a sideman and with his own ensemble, which included
Raymond Court
Raymond Court (born December 2, 1932, Lausanne) is a Swiss jazz trumpeter.
Court began playing trumpet late in his teens and by age 20 was playing in Raymond Droz's band (1952-1956). He played later in the 1950s with Flavio Ambrosetti and Kurt Wei ...
and George Gruntz. In the 1960s he led a quintet which included his son,
Franco Ambrosetti
Franco Ambrosetti (born 10 December 1941) is a jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer. He was born in Lugano, Switzerland; his father, Flavio, was a saxophonist who once played opposite Charlie Parker.Daniel Humair, which toured and was featured on television and radio broadcasts. He expanded this ensemble to a big band in 1972, touring in Europe and playing with
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and actor. He was among the most influential early bebop musicians, which included other greats such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gi ...
and
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer.
Biography
Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began ...
Barry Kernfeld
Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians.
Education
In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at ...