Enrico Sbriccoli (13 November 1934 – 11 September 2013), known professionally as Jimmy Fontana, was an Italian actor, composer and singer-songwriter. Two of his most famous songs are " Che sarà", performed also by José Feliciano with Ricchi e Poveri, and " Il Mondo".

Biography

Enrico Sbriccoli was born in Camerino,

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

. After graduating from high school, he moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to study Economics. In his spare time, Fontana taught himself bass and attend local

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

venues. Eventually, he dedicated himself completely to music and adopted the stage name Jimmy Fontana in homage to one of his heroes, American musician

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

(the surname Fontana was arbitrarily chosen out of the phone book). In the early 1950s he started his own jazz band, ''Fontana and his Trio'', with piano, bass and drums, and around that time he met Leda, who became his wife and with whom they had four children: Luigi, Roberto, Andrea, and Paola. At the end of the 1950s, he turned to light music and began his solo career. His first success was "Diavolo" ("Devil") that won him third place in the Festival of

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. With his song "Bevo" ("I Drink"), in 1960, he won the Burlamacco Gold, a music competition in

Viareggio Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city in the province of Lucca, after Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as well a ...

. His first participation in the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...

came in 1961 with "Lady luna" ("Lady moon"), written by Armando Trovajoli and Dino Verde. His first single with RCA is "Non te ne andare" ("Don't go"), released in 1963 and written by Gianni Meccia and Lilli Greco. In 1965, Fontana had his major success with " Il mondo" ("The world"), a song composed by Fontana and Carlo Pes, and arranged by Ennio Morricone, with lyrics by Gianni Meccia, which reached the top of the charts in Italy and other countries in Europe and charted in Latin America as well. The same year, he made his debut as an actor, appearing in two ''musicarelli'', which are movies heavily featuring musical numbers, titled ''Viale della canzone'' ("Avenue of song") and ''008 Operazione ritmo'' ("008 Operation rhythm"). Jimmy Fontana's hits include "La mia serenata" that won the Un disco per l'estate festival in 1967. At the 1968 Cantagiro summer festival, Fontana sang a cover version of the Tom Jones hit " Delilah", titled "La nostra favola". The song reached 2nd place in the Italian hit parade. In 1971, the song "Che sarà", composed by Fontana with lyrics by Franco Migliacci, was performed by José Feliciano with the Ricchi e Poveri group at that year's Sanremo Music Festival, winning 2nd prize. It eventually became one of the biggest pop music hits of the era in Italy and abroad.International hits
''

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'', 26 June 1971 After "Che sarà", Fontana stopped writing songs, but continued to tour around Italy for another decade. In 1982 his son Luigi wrote the first part of the music for a new song and this fact brought Jimmy back to compose and create again: he completed the song "Beguine" and sung it at 1982 Sanremo Music Festival, joining the 6th place; Luigi was on stage with his father in Sanremo and from that moment on they were performing together around Italy and abroad until Jimmy died. They were joined in 1992 by Andrea (Jimmy's 3rd son), creating some beautiful and emotional "family shows". Jimmy Fontana also continued appearing on TV shows until his old age. He died peacefully at his home in Rome, at age 78, while still planning concert tours.

Discography

Albums

* ''Arrivederci'' (1996) * ''Il Mondo'' (1997) * ''I Grandi Successi Originali'' (2001)

Filmography

Actor

* ''Il Sole è di tutti'' (1968) * ''Quando dico che ti amo'' (1968) * '' Viale della canzone'' (1965) * ''Canzoni in bikini'' (1963) * '' La voglia matta'' (1962) * ''Io bacio, tu baci'' (1961)

Soundtrack composer

* '' The Three Fantastic Supermen'' (1967) * '' Le belle famiglie'' (1964: "Caro amore mio") * ''Io bacio, tu baci'' (1961: "Diavolo")

Soundtrack singer

* ''Io bacio, tu baci'' (1961: "Diavolo"; "Il tempo si è fermato"; "Mare di dicembre"; "Cha cha cha dell'impiccato")

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Jimmy 1934 births 2013 deaths Italian male singer-songwriters 20th-century Italian singer-songwriters Italian male composers 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century male composers Italian male film actors 20th-century Italian male actors 20th-century Italian male singers Italian jazz musicians Italian male jazz musicians Italian jazz double-bassists People from Camerino