Gianni Bedori (25 November 1930 – 21 January 2005), also known as Johnny Sax, was an Italian

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 ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, clarinetist,

flautist The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

and composer.

Career

Born in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

, Bedori graduated in clarinet at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

and started his career with singer .Paolo Biamonte. "Sax, Johnny". Gino Castaldo (ed.). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. He became first known in 1963, when he started a twenty years-long collaboration with composer

Giorgio Gaslini Giorgio Gaslini (; 22 October 1929 – 29 July 2014) was an Italian jazz pianist, composer and conductor. He began performing aged 13 and recorded with his jazz trio at 16. In the 1950s and 1960s, Gaslini performed with his own quartet. He was ...

. In 1973 his sax solo suite "Dedicated to Picasso" received much critical acclaim. In the 1970s he achieved significant commercial success with a series of

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

jazz albums he released under the pseudonym Johnny Sax. His composition "Jesus' Last Ballad" was recorded by pianist

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

on Evans' album ''

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'' (1979). Bedori also collaborated with such arrangers as Augusto Martelli and

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. Pre ...

and appeared on several of singer

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's recordings. He also played with Italian experimental musician

Franco Battiato Francesco "Franco" Battiato (; 23 March 1945 – 18 May 2021) was an Italian musician, singer, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esoteric, philosophical and religious themes, a ...

and was a guest on his 1974 album '' Clic'' released on the

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

label.

Discography

;Albums * 1969 – ''Johnny Sax incontro con Bob Mitchell'' (PDU) * 1971 – ''Sortilege'' (Sun Records, SUld 13004) * 1973 – ''International hits collection – Vol. I'' (PDU, Pld.A 5055) * 1973 – ''International hits collection – Vol. II'' (PDU, Pld.M 5086) * 1973 – ''Hit parade – Vol. I'' (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3005) * 1973 – ''Successi sempreverdi – Vol. II'' (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3006) * 1973 – ''Liscio parade – Vol. III'' (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3007) * 1974 – ''Johnny Sax – Vol. IV'' (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3009) * 1974 – ''Dedicated to Picasso – A solo Album'' (PDU, Pld.A 5074) * 1975 – ''Johnny Sax – Vol. V'' (Produttori Associati, PAF/LP/3014) * 1976 – ''Non stop 1'' (Produttori Associati, SAX/1715) * 1976 – ''Sax in motion'' (Produttori Associat, 6.22.627) * 1977 – ''The Man'' (Atlantic, T 50402) – As Gianni Bedori * 1978 – ''7 – Soft Sound'' (Ariston, ARM/42001) * 1982 – ''Senza... Paoli'' (Wep, ZNLW 33197) * 1983 – ''Lo strumento della voce umana'' (Wep, ZNLW 33343) * 1987 – ''Le canzoni d'amore di Gino Paoli'' (Replay music, RMCD 4121) * 2004 – ''Controtempo'' (Splasc(h)) ;Singles * 1969 - ''Hi-Heel Sneakers/Eleonore'' (Sun Records, SU 10076) * 1971 - ''Processione/Alone again'' (PDU, P.A. 1080) * 1971 - ''The morning after/Ultimo tango a Parigi'' (PDU, P.A. 1088) * 1974 - ''Snoopy/Senza Lei'' (Produttori Associati, PA/NP/3230) * 1975 - ''Popsy/Anonimus'' (Produttori Associati, PA/NP/3240) * 1975 - ''Nuovo mondo/Theme for a Sweetheart lady'' (Produttori Associati, PA/NP/3247) * 1976 - ''Emmanuelle 2 (L'antivergine)/Tara tara'' (Produttori Associati, PA/NP/3263) * 1976 - ''Piccolo cielo''/''Nuovo mondo'' (Produttori Associati, PA/NP/3255)

References

External links

*
Gianni Bedori
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Gianni Bedori
(as Johnny Sax) at

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedori, Gianni 1930 births 2005 deaths Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini alumni Musicians from Mantua Italian composers Italian jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists 20th-century Italian musicians Italian jazz clarinetists Italian session musicians 20th-century saxophonists 20th-century Italian male musicians Male jazz musicians