Franco Cerri (29 January 1926 – 18 October 2021) was an Italian guitarist and double bassist.

Biography

Cerri was born 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 ...

and learned to play guitar when he was 17. In 1945 he became a member of the group led by

Gorni Kramer Francesco Kramer Gorni (22 July 1913 – 26 October 1995), known as Gorni Kramer, was an Italian songwriter, musician and band leader. Biography He was born Francesco Kramer Gorni in Rivarolo Mantovano, Lombardy. Despite the exotic sound of ...

and joined the orchestra of the television show ''Buone vacanze''. He played double bass in addition to guitar starting in the 1950s, such as with

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

and

Buddy Collette William Marcel "Buddy" Collette (August 6, 1921 – September 19, 2010) was an American jazz flutist, saxophonist, and clarinetist. He was a founding member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Early life William Marcel Collette was born in ...

. He has also played with

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Johnny Griffin John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) 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 first all-string jazz bands. ...

Lars Gullin Lars Gunnar Victor Gullin (4 May 1928 – 17 May 1976) was a Swedish jazz saxophonist. Career Lars Gullin was born in Visby, Sweden. He was a child prodigy on the accordion. At age thirteen, he played clarinet in a military band and later l ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

Lee Konitz Leon "Lee" Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz Alto saxophone, alto saxophonist and composer. He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's ass ...

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

, Lou Bennett,

Bud Shank Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer. He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

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 t ...

, and the

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. The Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphon ...

. He cited as influences Django Reinhardt,

Barney Kessell Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups as well as a "first call" gu ...

, and René Thomas. Cerri has led quartets and quintets with Tullio De Piscopo,

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

Gianluigi Trovesi Gianluigi Trovesi (born 1944) is an Italian jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He has won various Italian jazz awards. He also teaches in Italy. Early life Trovesi was born in Nembro near Bergamo in Lombardy in 1944. He studied harmony ...

, Flavio Ambrosetti, and

Jean-Luc Ponty Jean-Luc Ponty (born 29 September 1942) is a French jazz and jazz fusion violinist and composer. He is considered a pioneer of jazz-rock, particularly for his use of the electric violin starting in the 1970s. He rose to prominence for his colla ...

. In 1980 he formed a duo with pianist Enrico Intra, with whom he founded the "Civica Scuola di Jazz" in

. On 1 January 2006, he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

by President

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician, statesman and banker who was the President of Italy from 1999 to 2006 and the Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994. A World War II veteran, C ...

. Cerri died on 18 October 2021, at the age of 95.È morto Franco Cerri, grande chitarrista del jazz italiano

Discography

As leader

* ''Franco Cerri and His European Jazz Stars'' (Columbia, 1960) * ''International Jazz Meeting'' (Columbia, 1961) * ''Bossa Nova'' (Columbia, 1963) * ''Franco Cerri'' (Columbia, 1964) * ''La Sera a Casa Con Te'' (CGD, 1965) * ''12 Bacchette Per 1 Chitarra'' (GTA, 1966) * ''6'' (Dire, 1971) * ''Metti Una Sera Cerri'' (1973) * ''A Limmen'' (Malobbia, 1975) * ''From Cathetus to Cicero'' (Malobbia, 1975) * ''Querce Platani e Cerri'' (PDU, 1975) * ''Franco Tony and Pompeo'' (Malobbia, 1976) * ''Nuages'' (Ricordi, 1976) * ''Uno Suo Modo Di Dire'' (Dire, 1977) * ''Franco Cerri Jazz'' (Dire, 1977) * ''Noi Duero'' (Malobbia, 1978) * ''Demoiselle'' (Dire, 1979) * ''Omaggio a Bill Evans'' (Dire, 1981) * ''Effetto Alfa'' (Paragon, 1983) * ''Today!'' (Dire, 1984) * ''From:Milan to:Frankfurt/Main Re: Jazz Twins'' (Dire, 1985) * ''Pregiata Ditta Dal 1980'' (Ariston, 1990) * ''Cerri & Cerri'' (Dire, 1994) * ''En Souvenir De Milan'' (CDpM LION, 1995) * ''In Punta Di Cerri'' (MAP, 2000) * ''Jazz Italiano Live 2007'' (Casa Del Jazz, 2007) * ''Cerrimedioatutto'' (MAP, 2011) * ''Passavo Di Qui'' (Musica Jazz, 2012) * ''Barber Shop'' (Abeat, 2014) * ''Antonio Onorato & Franco Cerri'' (Abeat, 2016) * ''Take the A Train'' with Gianni Basso (VideoRadio, 2008) * ''E Venia Da' Campi Che Di Cerri Sentia'' (Red, 2008)

As sideman

With

* ''In Milan'' (Jazzland, 1960) * ''Chet Baker with Fifty Italian Strings'' (Jazzland, 1960) * ''Stella by Starlight'' (West Wind, 1989) With Bruno Lauzi * ''Palla Al Centro'' (Numero Uno 1983) * ''Back to Jazz'' (Dire, 1989) * ''Lauzi Cantava Il Jazz'' (Musica Jazz, 2016) With others *

Nicola Arigliano Nicola Arigliano (6 December 1923 – 30 March 2010) was an Italian jazz singer, musician, and occasional actor. Born in Squinzano, Province of Lecce, at young age he ran away from home because of the humiliations received even by family members ...

, ''Go Man!'' (NuN, 2001) * Basso-Valdambrini, ''New Sound from Italy'' (Jolly Hi-Fi, 1960) * Matteo Brancaleoni, ''Just Smile'' (Philology, 2007) *

, ''Polyhedric Buddy Collette'' (Dejavu, 2008) *

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with ...

, ''Sings with the Enrico Intra Group'' (seriE.WOC, 2013) *

Renato Rascel Renato Ranucci (; 27 April 1912 – 2 January 1991), known by the stage name Renato Rascel (), was an Italian film actor and singer. He appeared in 50 films between 1942 and 1972. He represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 with t ...

, ''Ninna Nanna Del Cavallino/E Arrivata La Bufera'' (Odeon, 1958) *

Caterina Valente Caterina Germaine Maria Valente (14 January 1931 – 9 September 2024) was an Italian-French multilingual singer, guitarist, and dancer. She spoke six languages and sang in 13. While she was best known as a performer in Europe, Valente spent pa ...

, ''A Briglia Sciolta'' (Ariston, 1990) *

Claude Williamson Claude Berkeley Williamson (November 18, 1926 – July 16, 2016) was an American jazz pianist. Williamson was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, United States. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music before moving to jazz, influenced ma ...

, ''Modern Jazz in Nude'' (Columbia, 1968)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerri, Franco 1926 births 2021 deaths Musicians from Milan Italian jazz guitarists Italian bandleaders 20th-century Italian guitarists 21st-century Italian guitarists 20th-century Italian male musicians 21st-century Italian male musicians Italian jazz musicians Italian bossa nova musicians