Description
イタリアの至宝Nicola Conteが、ブラジルの忘れられた名源泉を掘り起こした『Viagem』シリーズに続き、ついに自国の音楽遺産へとその探求の目を向けた。本作『Viaggio』は、1970年から1979年にかけてイタリアで花開いた「ライブラリー・ミュージック」の黄金期を巡る、驚異的なコンピレーションだ。
ライブラリー・ミュージックとは、テレビや映画の背景音楽として、専門家向けに制作された実用音楽のこと。一般のリスナーを想定していないからこそ、そこには極めて自由で実験的な創造性が許されていた。Amedeo Tommasi、Alessandro Alessandroniといった、歴史に埋もれかけた天才作曲家たちが、ジャズやファンク、さらには初期のシンセサイザー技術を惜しみなく投入し、映像のための「音の風景」を描き出している。
中心人物であるAmedeo Tommasiは、Chet Bakerとも共演した気鋭のジャズ・ピアニスト。彼がアメリカのモーダル・ジャズをイタリア独自の感性で解釈し、電子音と融合させたサウンドは、今聴いてもなお鮮烈だ。イタリアらしい眩い陽光を感じさせる旋律から、ミステリアスでシネマティックな雰囲気まで、12曲の珠玉のトラックが並ぶ。
かつて放送局や映画業界の内部者だけが手にすることができた希少な録音たちが、ヴァイナルの重厚な溝を通して、現代のリスニング・ルームへと鮮やかに解き放たれる。スピーカーから溢れ出す濃密な音像は、忘れ去られていたはずの70年代イタリアの空気感を、手に取るようなリアリティで再現する。
アーティスト・プロフィール
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Nicola Conte（ニコラ・コンテ）：イタリアを代表するプロデューサー、ギタリスト、DJ。Blue NoteやSchema、Far Outといった名門レーベルから作品をリリースし、ジャズとブラジル音楽を融合させた洗練されたサウンドで世界的に支持されている。
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Amedeo Tommasi（アメデオ・トンマージ）：イタリアのジャズ界を支えたピアニスト。ジャズ奏者として活躍する傍ら、映画音楽やライブラリー・ミュージックの分野で膨大な数の実験的な楽曲を残し、イタリアの音楽史に多大な足跡を刻んだ。
A1. Amedeo Tommasi - Brasilia (The Sound)
A2. Max Rocci & His Friends - Colorombo (Il Mondo Dei Giovani, Vol. 4)
A3. Max Rocci & His Friends - Niagara Falls (Il Mondo Dei Giovani, Vol. 4)
A4. Alessandroni E Il Suo Complesso - Via Mare (L'Ora Del Cocktail)
A5. Joël Vandroogenbroeck - Electronic Jungle (Images Of Flute In Nature)
A6. Kema - Pescatori (Canto Femminile) (La Natura E L'Uomo)
B1. Desert - Leaving (Desert)
B2. The Swingers - Depressione (Jazz Video)
B3. Latrudi - Feeling (Teleobiettivo)
B4. Narassa, Amedeo Tommasi Trio - Lalo (Made In The USA)
B5. The Swingers feat. Marco Di Marco - Meditazione (Il Mondo Dei Giovani, Vol. 1)
B6. The Swingers - Nostalgia (Il Mondo Dei Giovani, Vol. 3)
Following his acclaimed five-part Viagem compilation series celebrating Brazil's forgotten bossa nova and samba jazz, Far Out, Blue Note and Schema recording artist and international DJ Nicola Conte turns his curatorial attention homeward with Viaggio, an extraordinary exploration of Italy's library music renaissance 1970-79.
The 12-track compilation spotlights the remarkable creative explosion that occurred during the seventies: when some of the greatest yet most historically overlooked composers, including Amedeo Tommasi, Alessandro Alessandroni and Max Rocci, were composing and recording huge amounts of original music for film and television libraries.
Unlike commercial releases designed for mass consumption, library music was created specifically to accompany images on screen. This meant creative freedom for composers who imagined scenarios, feelings and worlds to soundtrack. Pressed in limited quantities, these recordings were distributed only to internal circles of music supervisors, journalists, and television professionals – making them virtually invisible to the general public for decades.
"This is a journey through a largely forgotten world," explains Conte. "While major jazz recording opportunities were scarce, an incredible network of small labels owned by publishing companies – often created by the composers themselves – began to flourish. This created an open space where musicians could express more experimental and free thinking sounds."
At the heart of Viaggio stands Amedeo Tommasi, the sophisticated jazz pianist who emerged in 1960 backing international stars like Chet Baker, Bobby Jaspar, and Jacques Pelzer. Tommasi was among Italy's earliest artists to introduce Black US modal jazz influences, and when traditional recording opportunities dwindled, he pivoted to soundtrack and library music, helping define a distinctly Italian sound that bridged experimental jazz with the emerging possibilities afforded by developments in synthesizer and recording technologies.
The compilation features rare gems from small label outputs, namely the Cenacolo and Rotary label catalogs. Tommasi's contemporaries include the great Alessandro Alessandroni and his vocalist wife Giulia De Mutiis (Kema), Stefano Torrosi (under the alias Farlocco - meaning fake/phony), and Belgian composer Joël Vandroogenbroeck. The recordings capture the technological evolution of the era as beguiling synthesis often combines with global influences spanning Brazilian rhythms, jazz-funk explorations, and Middle Eastern scales.
"You can hear both the haunting melodies and sun-kissed atmospheres so typical of Italian culture from that era," Conte observes. "Some of these albums could have been proper artist releases, while others were specifically designed for accompanying images on screen, yet all were crafted with exploratory creativity that still resonates powerfully today."
