Happy birthday, 2 Italian music Giants: Paolo Conte & Adriano Celentano!

Happy birthday, 2 Italian music Giants: Paolo Conte & Adriano Celentano!

Paolo Conte

Today is the 89th birthday of pianist, singer-songwriter and lawyer Paolo Conte, an Italian musician born in Asti. His compositions with influences of jazz and blues evoke Mediterranean and Latin American sounds as well as French-language singer-songwriters such as Brel and Brassens.

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The lyrics, ironic and sensual, are inspired by a dreamlike imaginary of surrealist sign. The text is based on a brilliant instrumental ornamentation that ranges from blues to jazz, from the tango of the River Plate to cabaret music, from the most audacious experimentalism to the band music of the Mediterranean peoples. The avant-garde notes to African or South American music, such as rumba, or ralsa. Paolo Conte is one of the most influential European musicians and singers of recent decades.

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Paolo”s father was a lawyer with a passion for music (he was an amateur jazz pianist) and his mother Tina was the daughter of a landowning family. The young Conte began taking piano lessons as a child, with his brother Giorgio, four years younger. Graduated in Law (which is why he earned the nickname “Avvocato”), he followed the notarial career, approaching the world of jazz as a vibraphone enthusiast in some Asti groups. It is with one of these groups, Paul Cuarteto Conte (in which Giorgio played drums), with which he makes his recording debut in 1962, releasing an EP on the RCA label, which does not obtain any success. At the same time, he began to write his first songs in collaboration with his brother.

In the mid-sixties he became known as an author, with songs such as ‘La coppia più bella del mondo’ y ‘Azzurro’, both sung by Adriano Celentano (who also has a birthday today), or ‘Insieme a te non ci sto più’ (Caterina Caselli), ‘Tripoli ’69’ (Patty Pravo) y ‘Genova per noi’ (Bruno Lauzi). In 1974, he debuted as a singer, recording two albums that bear the title only his name:  ‘Paolo Conte’. In 1979, the song ‘Un gelato al limón’ it is well known by the public, especially in France.

In the eighties, he published several albums of unreleased songs and, in the meantime, he was busy with the many tours he made in Europe where, as in Italy, he would get a full house in his select presentations. As a result of these tours, the albums ‘Concerti’ (1985) and ‘Paolo Conte Live’ (1988). Other well-known songs by Conte are:‘Genova per noi’, ‘Come di’, ‘Dancing’,  ‘Via con me’, ‘Una giornata al mare’, ‘Sotto le stelle del jazz’ y ‘Parole d’amore scritte a machina’.

He has released sixteen studio albums since 1974, the most recent, ‘Amazing Game’, released in 2016, an instrumental album with a collection of rarities recorded in the 90s. In 2017 the University of Parma appointed him Professor Emeritus of Contemporary Musical Languages and awarded him an honorary doctorate in musicology. His most recent album was the live ‘Paolo Conte Alla Scala – Il Maestro È Nell’Anima’ in 2023.

Paolo Conte – Sotto Le Stelle Del Jazz (Live Amsterdam)

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Adriano Celentano

Today is the 88th birthday of the Italian musician and singer-songwriter, Adriano Celentano, born in Milan. He is one of the pillars of Italian music thanks to his career of more than fifty years. He has released more than 60 albums and has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide. In addition to being a musician, Adriano is an actor and TV presenter.

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Celentano soon left his studies to work as a watchmaker. His extroverted character led him to perform as a comedian and impersonator in various cabarets in Milan. In 1956 he founded his own group, the Rock Boys and the following year he began his singing career at the Milan Festival. In 1958 his first hit was released, ‘Il tuo bacio è come un rock’ and then he was called by Fellini to play a small role in the film “La dolce vita”.

At the beginning of his career he was very influenced by Elvis and the rock revolution of the fifties, recording songs such as “Jailhouse rock”, “Rock Matto” or “Personality”. Later he had great success with songs such as ’24 mila baci’ (1961), ‘Pregherò’ (1962), ‘Il ragazzo della via Gluck’ (1966), ‘La storia di Serafino’ (1969) y ‘Chi non lavora non fa l’amore’ (1970). He has maintained his popularity in Italy for the last forty years, selling millions of records and appearing in numerous television shows, as well as dozens of films. In which he created a new comedy genre (with influences from Jerry Lewis) with his facial expressions and characteristic gait.

During the seventies, he was the king of the box office of Italian B films. “Serafino” (1968) by Pietro Germi, is considered his best performance. That same year he also obtained his greatest recording success with Paolo Conte”s song “Azurro”.
On November 3, 1972, the following was published: ‘Prisencolinensinainciusol’,  A song written in a strange language, ‘Celentanesque’, sung with labyrinthine sounds in pseudo-English that conquered the charts of half the world. The song, in fact (considered by Celentano to be the first Italian rap), entered the Billboard charts before Italy. Her biggest hit in Latin America was ‘Susanna’ (1982).

Celentano has been married since 1964 to Claudia Mori, an Italian actress and singer, who since 1994 has been the CEO of the family’s record company, Clan Celentano S.R.L.. Adriano has released nearly 50 studio albums in his career. The most recent was ‘Adrian’, in 2019. In 2021 the compilation ‘MinaCelentano – The Complete Recordings’ containing all the duets recorded by Mina and Celentano throughout their careers including an unreleased song, ‘Niente è andato perso’.

Adriano Celentano – Chi Non Lavora Non Fa L’amore (San Remo 1970)

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