Remembering Massimo Urbani (1957-1993)

Remembering Massimo Urbani (1957-1993)

Massimo Urbani | Easy To Love FULL ALBUM (1987)

00:00 A Trane From The East 09:14 Easy To Love 16:15 Night Walk 23:57 I Got Rock 30:09 Star Eyes 35:14 Good Morning Heartache 41:44 Three Little Words

Massimo Urbani, alto saxophone Luca Flores, piano Furio Di Castri, bass Roberto Gatto, drums

Recorded In Rome At Sonic Studio, January 18, 1987 Recording and Mixing by Massimo Rocci Produced By Sergio Veschi.

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The Meteor of Italian Jazz: An Exhaustive Study of Massimo Urbani

In the firmament of jazz, some stars burn with a steady, enduring light, while others explode in a supernova of incandescent brilliance, illuminating the universe for a breathtakingly brief moment before vanishing. Massimo Urbani, the Italian alto saxophonist, belonged unequivocally to the latter category. A musician of volcanic energy, staggering technical prowess, and an unwavering dedication to the bebop tradition, Urbani lived his life and music at a frenetic, unsustainable pace. His death at the age of 43 in 1993 cut short one of the most potent and original voices European jazz has ever produced. To understand Urbani is to understand a force of nature channeled through the bell of a saxophone—a musician who didn’t just play jazz but was jazz, in its most raw, passionate, and demanding form.

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Biography: A Life in Overdrive

Massimo Urbani was born in Rome on May 7, 1957. His musical journey began early, and by his teens, he was already a fixture on the vibrant Roman jazz scene of the early 1970s. This was a period of fervent activity in Italy, with musicians like Mario Schiano and Giorgio Gaslini pushing the boundaries of free jazz and creative music. Urbani, a prodigiously talented youth, was quickly absorbed into this world.

His first significant professional experience came with the band of drummer Bruno Tommaso, but it was his membership in the seminal Italian jazz-rock group Perigeo from 1973 to 1975 that first brought him wider recognition. Perigeo, known for its complex compositions and fusion of jazz with rock and classical elements, was an unlikely home for a pure-bred bopper like Urbani. Yet, his fiery solos on albums like “Genealogia” and “La Valle dei Templi” stand out as moments of untamed, linear improvisation amidst the group’s intricate arrangements. The structured environment of Perigeo ultimately proved too confining, and Urbani left to pursue his true calling: acoustic, hard-driving bebop.

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The late 1970s and 1980s were his most prolific and formative years. He immersed himself in the language of his heroes, particularly Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley, practicing with a legendary, almost monastic devotion. Stories abound of Urbani practicing for 12-14 hours a day, obsessively transcribing solos and running chord changes until they were etched into his subconscious. This period saw him collaborating with a who’s who of Italian jazz, including pianists Danilo Rea and Antonello Salis, and trumpeter Enrico Rava.

However, Urbani’s life was a double-edged sword. His immense musical passion was matched by a personal demons, primarily a long and devastating struggle with heroin addiction. This shadow loomed over his career, causing missed gigs, erratic behavior, and periods of obscurity. Yet, paradoxically, it also seemed to fuel the desperate, urgent intensity of his playing. When he was on form, there was no one who could match his ferocity and inventiveness.

The 1990s promised a renaissance. He began recording more frequently as a leader for the Red Records label, producing some of his most acclaimed work, such as “The Blessing” and “Duke’s Mood.” He was touring internationally and finally gaining the recognition outside Italy that his talent deserved. Tragically, on June 24, 1993, after a gig at the Birrificio in Rome, Massimo Urbani suffered a fatal heroin overdose. The meteor had blazed across the sky and was gone, leaving behind a legacy of recorded evidence that continues to astonish and inspire.

Music Style and Improvisational Licks: The Urbanian Fire

Massimo Urbani’s style was a magnificent, high-octane synthesis of the entire bebop and hard bop tradition, filtered through a uniquely Italianate passion.

The Core Style:
Urbani was, first and foremost, an alto saxophonist in the direct lineage of Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley. From Parker, he inherited the foundational language of bebop: the asymmetrical phrasing, the use of upper extensions, and the blinding technical velocity. From Cannonball, he took the soulful, blues-drenched cry and the exuberant, joyful swing. However, Urbani amplified these influences to an extreme degree. His tone was sharp, piercing, and vocal-like, often with a fierce, overdriven edge that could sound like it was tearing at the seams. His sense of swing was not the relaxed, loping feel of some West Coast players; it was a driving, relentless, almost aggressive pulse that pushed the rhythm section forward.

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Improvisational Approach and Characteristic Licks:
Urbani’s improvisations were not mere strings of pre-learned licks; they were cohesive, narrative stories built with an astonishing logical flow. However, certain characteristic devices appear throughout his work:

1. The Bebop Vocabulary on Steroids: He would take standard bebop enclosure patterns (approaching a target note from above and below) and execute them at tempos that seemed physically impossible, often inserting them in the middle of already-dense lines. A typical Urbani lick might involve a flurry of 16th notes outlining a chord change, but with added chromatic passing tones and accented upper neighbors (like the major 7th on a dominant chord) that created intense harmonic tension and release.
2. Sequential Development: He was a master of motivic development. He would seize upon a small, simple melodic cell—sometimes just a three or four-note idea—and repeat it, transpose it through various keys, invert it, and rhythmically displace it, building entire choruses of a solo from a single seed. This gave his improvisations a remarkable architectural integrity.
3. The “Cry”: A direct link to the blues and Cannonball Adderley, Urbani frequently employed wide, expressive intervals, particularly minor thirds and sevenths, bending them with his embouchure to create a wrenching, vocal cry. This was often used as an emotional climax within a solo.
4. Quoting and Intertextuality: Like many bebop masters, Urbani loved to quote from other tunes, from pop songs to classical themes (a snippet of “The Pink Panther” was a favorite). He would drop these quotes seamlessly into his solos, often as a humorous or poignant aside before diving back into the harmonic fray.
5. Rhythmic Daredevilry: His use of rhythm was fearless. He would play across the bar lines, start phrases on unexpected off-beats, and employ triplets and quintuplets to create a complex, polyrhythmic texture that never lost its connection to the underlying swing.

To hear these elements in action, one need only listen to his breathtaking performance of “Anthropology” from the live album “The Blessing.” The tempo is breakneck, yet Urbani navigates the chord changes with flawless precision, weaving together blistering bebop lines, sequenced motifs, and soulful cries in a solo that is both intellectually dazzling and emotionally overwhelming.

Cooperation with Other Artists

Urbani was a quintessential “blowing session” musician, thriving in the interactive, call-and-response environment of a small jazz combo. His collaborations were extensive.

• Perigeo: His early stint with this progressive band provided a contrasting backdrop for his style, showing he could hold his own in a complex, arranged context.
• Enrico Rava: The lyrical, atmospheric trumpeter Rava provided a perfect counterpoint to Urbani’s fire. Their collaborations, like the album “Jazz A Confronto 22,” showcase a fascinating dialogue between Rava’s spacious, melodic sensibility and Urbani’s dense, energetic attacks.
• The American Rhythm Sections: Urbani had the privilege and the ability to play with some of the greatest American jazz musicians who toured Italy. He recorded and performed with legends like Art Blakey, Cedar Walton, Sam Jones, and Billy Higgins. The album “The Blessing” features the stellar rhythm section of pianist Michel Petrucciani, bassist Giovanni Tommaso, and drummer Walter Davis Jr., and it stands as a testament to his ability to not just keep up with, but to inspire, world-class players.
• Italian Contemporaries: He had profound musical relationships with pianists Danilo Rea and Antonello Salis, bassists Giovanni Tommaso and Enzo Pietropaoli, and drummer Roberto Gatto. These collaborations formed the backbone of the Italian hard bop scene.

Chord Progressions and Music Harmony

Urbani was a harmonic sophisticate. His entire improvisational approach was built on a deep, intuitive understanding of functional harmony.

• Mastery of Standards: His repertoire was rooted in the Great American Songbook and the bebop canon: tunes like “Stella by Starlight,” “All the Things You Are,” “Confirmation,” and “Oleo.” These songs are harmonically complex, filled with ii-V-I progressions, key changes, and substitute harmonies. Urbani didn’t just “run the changes”; he narrated them. He would clearly articulate the movement from one chord to the next, often using guide tones (the 3rds and 7ths of chords) to outline the harmonic path.
• Use of Upper Extensions and Alterations: His lines were rich with the colorful notes beyond the basic triads: the 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths. On dominant chords, he frequently employed altered tensions—the b9, #9, #11, and b13—to create maximum tension that would then resolve satisfyingly to the next chord. A classic Urbani move over a V7alt chord would be to play a line based on the diminished whole-tone scale or the altered scale, creating a jarring, outside effect that snaps back into consonance.
• Playing “Outside”: While a bebop purist at heart, Urbani was not afraid to venture outside the changes. He would use side-slipping (playing a phrase a half-step away from the key) or superimpose triads and scales from distant keys to create moments of deliberate dissonance before resolving back “inside.” This was not free jazz; it was a controlled, dramatic use of tension within a tonal framework.

Influences and Legacy

Influences:
The primary influences are clear: Charlie Parker was his god, the source of the language. Cannonball Adderley was his guiding spirit for soul and swing. One can also hear the harmonic daring of John Coltrane, particularly the “Giant Steps” period, in Urbani’s own navigations of rapid key changes. The fluidity of Phil Woods and the bluesy grit of Jackie McLean are also present in his sound.

Legacy:
Massimo Urbani’s legacy is profound and multifaceted.

1. The Technical Benchmark: In Italy, he became the undisputed technical master of the alto saxophone. He set a new standard for instrumental prowess, inspiring a generation of younger musicians to practice with greater discipline and ambition.
2. The Guardian of the Flame: At a time when jazz was fragmenting into fusion and other styles, Urbani remained a staunch, almost militant, defender of the acoustic bebop tradition. He ensured that the language of Bird and Cannonball remained not just alive, but vitally explosive, in Europe.
3. The Myth: His tragic, self-destructive life, reminiscent of his hero Charlie Parker, has contributed to a powerful mythos. He is the “James Dean of Italian jazz”—the brilliant, tormented artist who lived too fast and died too young. This myth, while sometimes overshadowing his music, has cemented his status as a legendary, cult figure.
4. Inspirational Figure: Today, saxophonists across Europe and beyond study his recordings with the same reverence they apply to American masters. His albums are essential listening for anyone seeking to understand the possibilities of bebop in the late 20th century.

Works, Filmography, and Discography

Most Known Compositions:
While primarily an interpreter, Urbani did compose. His most famous original is undoubtedly “Be-bop,” a contrafact (a new melody over an existing chord progression) based on the changes of “What Is This Thing Called Love?” It is a whirlwind tour de force that encapsulates his entire style. Other notable originals include “Pensando,” “Massimo’s Bounce,” and “Blues for My Friend.”

Filmography:
Urbani’s life was documented in the 1995 film “Massimo Urbani: The Sound of the Last Sun,” a poignant documentary featuring interviews and live performances. His music also appears on the soundtrack of Nanni Moretti’s classic film “Bianca” (1983).

Selective Discography (as Leader and Co-leader):

• 1976: Massimo Urbani Quintet (Jazz A Confronto 22) – With Enrico Rava.
• 1978: Jazz & Jazz – A powerful early statement.
• 1980: The Performer – A classic live session.
• 1982: Easy to Love – With pianist Franco D’Andrea.
• 1985: Duke’s Mood – A superb tribute to Duke Ellington.
• 1986: The Blessing – Arguably his masterpiece, recorded live at the Montmartre Club in Rome.
• 1988: Black Saint – For the iconic Black Saint label.
• 1989: Night Bird – Another excellent live recording.
• 1991: 52nd Street – A solid studio session.
• 1993: The Joy of Being – One of his last recordings.

Most Known Performances:
Any performance from “The Blessing” is legendary, particularly “Anthropology” and the title track. His rendition of “Stella by Starlight” from various live recordings is a masterclass in ballad playing, full of aching beauty and profound depth. His version of “Be-bop” from multiple albums remains the definitive performance of his most famous original.

Massimo Urbani was not a comfortable musician. His music was demanding, intense, and often overwhelming. There was no middle ground; one either submitted to the torrent of his creativity or was swept away by it. He was a purist in an age of eclecticism, a virtuoso who never used his technique for mere showmanship, but always in service of a burning emotional and musical truth. His life was a tragedy, but his art was a triumph. In the notes he left behind, we hear the sound of a man for whom jazz was not a profession or a hobby, but a vital, life-or-death necessity. The last sun of his brief, brilliant life set too soon, but its light continues to reverberate through the world of jazz, a timeless challenge and an enduring inspiration.

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Easy to love. La vera storia di Massimo Urbani (documentary)

2025 Italia 53 min

Dopo oltre trent’anni dalla scomparsa di Massimo Urbani, genio irrequieto e icona del jazz italiano, un documentario ne celebra la memoria. Con testimonianze e interpretazioni di Stefano Bollani, Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava, Stefano Di Battista, Roberto Gatto, Rita e Carla Marcotulli, Luigi Bonafede, Patrizia Scascitelli, Maurizio Urbani.

• Regia: Paolo Colangeli

More than thirty years after the death of Massimo Urbani, restless genius and icon of Italian jazz, a documentary celebrates his memory. With testimonies and interpretations of Stefano Bollani, Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava, Stefano Di Battista, Roberto Gatto, Rita e Carla Marcotulli, Luigi Bonafede, Patrizia Scascitelli, Maurizio Urbani.

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