Derby Club was a musical and comedy club located in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. The club was founded in the late 1950s by Gianni Bongioanni as a restaurant named "Gi-Go" in which live jazz music was occasionally played.Bassignano, Ernesto; Cantore, Lalla (1990). "Derby Club". Castaldo, Gino (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore. p. 533. It turned into a nightclub in 1962, when thanks to the involvement of jazz musician

Enrico Intra Enrico Intra (born 3 July 1935 in Milan, Italy) is an Italian jazz pianist, composer, conductor. During his long career, Intra has collaborated with such notable musicians as Gerry Mulligan, Franco Cerri, Lee Konitz, Milton Jackson, Severino Gazz ...

was renamed "Intra’s Derby Club" (later just "Derby Club") after the

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

football derby, and started focusing on jazz music and cabaret performances. The club became a meeting place for a very diverse audience, and actively contributed to the launch of several artists' careers, including

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Cochi Ponzoni Aurelio Ponzoni (born 11 March 1941), known professionally as Cochi Ponzoni, is an Italian actor, screenwriter, singer and comedian. Life and career Born Aurelio Ponzoni in Milan, Ponzoni studied at the Italian Liceo classico in Milan, having ...

and

Renato Pozzetto Renato Pozzetto (born 14 July 1940) is an Italian actor, director, comedian, and singer. Biography Pozzetto was born into a working-class family from Milan and grew up in the ''comune'' (municipality) of Gemonio, in the province of Varese. Aft ...

(aka Cochi e Renato),

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, I Gufi,

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, Gianfranco Funari,

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, Walter Valdi. Among artists who performed there were also

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. In the 1980s the club started declining, eventually closing in 1985.

References

{{Authority control 1959 establishments in Italy Nightclubs in Italy Music venues in Italy Comedy venues music in Milan companies based in Milan