Gianni Basso

Gianni Basso was one of the lights who began shining on the European jazz scene following the end of World War II. He began as a clarinetist and first played professionally in Germany and Belgium in the late '40s with the Raoul Falsan Big Band. By the beginning of the next decade, he was established as a commercial "GB" or "General Business" player in Milan, but one with a steady presence at jazz events, including some of the early Italian attempts at post-fascist festivals. From about 1954, a collaboration with trumpeter and composer Oscar Valdambrini began that resembled the relationship between Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, minus the former man's household-name status.

Basso studied music in the busy northern city of Turin, where Oscar Valdambrini was a homeboy. It was more than just two Italian lads growing up with a fascination for American jazz -- this was a case of a...

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Albums featuring Gianni Basso

1 record