Raffaele Celeste "Nini" Rosso (19 September 1926 – 5 October 1994) 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Biography

Rosso was born in San Michele Mondovì, Italy. His parents attempted to send him to

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, but at 19 he chose the trumpet over academia, and left home. He was a partisan during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Liberation from Nazist and

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

occupation, and operated in Valle Maira with Giorgio Bocca and Detto Dalmastro, partisan commander of the

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

brigade

Giustizia e Libertà Giustizia e Libertà (; ) was an Italian anti-fascist resistance movement, active from 1929 to 1945.James D. Wilkinson (1981). ''The Intellectual Resistance Movement in Europe''. Harvard University Press. p. 224. The movement was cofounded by ...

attached to the Partito d'Azione of northern Italy. After his employment in a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

was terminated by the police, he returned home, but soon after departed again to relaunch his career. He soon became one of the best-known jazz trumpeters in Italy, reaching the crest of his popularity in the 1960s. He became known in the UK in 1962 when his recording of "Concerto Disperato" was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by Ken Thorne and his Orchestra and became a hit under the title "The Theme from ' The Legion's Last Patrol'". Rosso's original was quickly released on the Durium label and also made the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent t ...

, but was less successful than the cover. His 1965 worldwide hit " Il Silenzio" went to number 1 in Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and sold over five million copies by the end of 1967. In the US it peaked in November 1965 on position 32 of the Billboard Chart. It was awarded a

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. He also acted in the 1960s. Rosso died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in 1994, at the age of 68.

References

1926 births 1994 deaths Musicians from Turin Italian jazz trumpeters Italian male trumpeters Smash Records artists Italian jazz musicians 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century Italian male musicians Italian male jazz musicians Deaths from lung cancer in Lazio Burials at the Cimitero Flaminio People from San Michele Mondovì {{jazz-trumpeter-stub