Tullio De Piscopo (born 24 February 1946 in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's admini ...

, Italy) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

drummer, percussionist and singer- songwriter. De Piscopo was born in Naples. His father was an orchestra percussionist. In 1969 he moved to

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and two years later he moved to Milan, where he joined the

Franco Cerri Franco Cerri (29 January 1926 – 18 October 2021) was an Italian guitarist and double bassist. Biography Cerri was born in Milan and learned to play guitar when he was 17. In 1945 he became a member of the group led by Gorni Kramer and joine ...

quintet. He later began a successful career as session drummer, playing with many international artists, including

Gerry Mulligan Gerald Joseph Mulligan (April 6, 1927 – January 20, 1996), also known as Jeru, was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though primarily known as one of the leading jazz baritone saxophonists—playing the instrum ...

, Chet Baker,

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the firs ...

, Massimo Urbani,

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans ( né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role ...

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, Mina,

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and others. Between the 1970s and 1980s, De Piscopo played on several occasions with

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...

- arranger

Pino Presti Giuseppe Prestipino Giarritta (born 23 August 1943), professionally known by his pseudonym Pino Presti, is an Italian bassist, arranger, composer, conductor and record producer from Milan. He is a 5th-dan black belt in Shotokan Karate. Pr ...

, with whom he established one of the top rhythm sessions in the Italian music scene. In 1974 and 1975, he was a member of

New Trolls New Trolls are an Italian progressive rock band, known for their fusion of rock and classical music. In a way not too dissimilar from fellow prog-rock band Yes, their history is filled with line-up changes, spin-off projects and personal strugg ...

Atomic System. In 1979 De Piscopo played the drums in the album ''

L'era del cinghiale bianco ''L'era del cinghiale bianco'' (Italian: "The Era of the White Boar") is an album by Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato. It was released in 1979 by the label EMI ''Italiana''. This album marks the return of Battiato to pop, after a per ...

'' by the singer-songwriter

. The album reached the number one spot in Italy immediately after its publishing. In 2021, Tullio De Piscopo formed a jazz trio formed by him (

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer' ...

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

), Aldo Zunino ( bass player),

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(

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

) . De Piscopo released his first solo album, ''Suonando la batteria moderna'', in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. One of his most successful songs is "Andamento lento", which won

Festivalbar The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...

in 1988. His

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

single, "Stop Bajon (Primavera)" reached No.1 spot in Italy and No.58 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top ...

in March 1987. His 1985 song "Radio Africa" (written by Lino Nicolosi and Dora Carofiglio) was a collaboration with Guinean singer

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. He is also the owner of the record label Bagaria. He also wrote scores for several

movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. Current

DragonForce DragonForce are a British power metal band from London, England. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, and are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced ...

drummer Gee Anzalone was taught by Piscopo at the NAMM Academy in Milan and refers to him as an influence.

Discography

* ''Suonando la batteria moderna'' (1974) * ''Volume 2'' (1975) * ''Concerto per un film: L'arma'' (1978) * ''Live'' (1981) * ''Metamorphosis'' (1981) * ''Acqua e viento'' (1983) * ''Passaggio da Oriente'' (1985) * ''Drum Symphony'' (1986) * ''Bello carico'' (1988) * ''Album'' (1989) * ''De Piscopo'' (1991) * ''Cosmopolitana'' (1993) * ''Zzacotturtaic'' (1995) * ''Pasión mediterranea'' (1997) * ''Jazz Friends'' (2000) * ''Live in Zurich at Mood's Club'' (2004) * ''Bona Jurnata'' (2007)

References

External links

Official site
(note: flash-only) {{DEFAULTSORT:De Piscopo, Tullio 1946 births Living people Musicians from Naples Italian jazz drummers Male drummers Italian pop musicians Italian session musicians Italian bandleaders Italian male singers Tango musicians 20th-century Italian musicians 21st-century Italian musicians 20th-century drummers 21st-century drummers 20th-century Italian male musicians 21st-century Italian male musicians Male jazz musicians Italian drummers