Pippo Barzizza

The Orchestra had two fixed members, Gianni Miglio and Luigi Balma, and included many others. Pippo played nine instruments and selected the members of his orchestra with a simple rule: each member must play at least three instruments, read music and play a wide list of songs from memory. The band soon held seven musicians, who played 36 instruments including the mellophone. “Pics of this time show a group of seven performers and all around a huge scenery of instruments, in one of these you can count at least 26: almost four each! It must have been an astonishing show to see them!”.[4]

Blue Star Orchestra, 1928 or '29. Barzizza is to the left on violin.

Blue Star's debut show was 25 July, at Sempioncino; then at Cova with great success and at Olimpia; it became known as one of the greatest Italian orchestras. Thanks to Eugenio Pugliatti, Blue Star performed in France and Switzerland. They played at Casino de Cannes, at Saint Raphael, at Ciro in Paris, at Palace Hotel in Saint Moritz. Accompanied by Pugliatti, they played in Costantinople part of a financially successful tour. He purchased a flat for his parents in Pegli and a Fiat 507 Torpedo. He played in Genova at Grand'Italia. In the following years he performed in Cannes, Saint Raphael and again in Paris and Milan (at Olimpia, Cova, Birra Italia). The Blue Star Orchestra broke up in 1933.

From 1931-36 Pippo focused on making recordings. He worked with the labels Fonit, Columbia, La Voce del Padrone, Odeon, Brunswick and Fonotipia. In 1934, Carisch released Pippo Barzizza, King of Italian Jazz; and then New series of Blue Star arrangements. In 1935 he was noticed for jazz recording sessions. In 1936 he received from EIAR a proposal to conduct Cetra Orchestra in Torino. He moved there with his family.

Cetra Orchestra. Late 30s. 18 members.

Cetra Orchestra, under Claude Bampton's direction, a good English musician and conductor, debuted with 16 musicians, growing to 28, producing "strong form and special characteristic, so to be soon considered the best among big Italian orchestras talking jazz language".[4]

The Fascist Regime required only that he translate titles into Italian; so "In the moon" became "Con stile"; "Whoodchoppers" became "Al ballo del taglialegna". Pippo composed songs such as "Domani", "Sera", (a beautiful piece “with a harmony almost too high for that period”,[4]) and solo orchestra songs as "Do sol la si do" and his extraordinary “Adagio”. On 8 December 1942, during World War II EIAR headquarter was bombed, causing serious damage. The Orchestra moved to Firenze, where it performed on the radio for the following year. They returned to Torino at the end of 1943, partially formed and broadcasting at EIAR, which at that time was garrisoned by German soldiers.

Pippo Barzizza and his children : Isa and Renzo. Torino, 1939.

The war had little influence on their music. Notable pieces include "Il Boscaiolo" ("The Woodsman"). "Marilena", and many other members were 'removed' after the Liberation. In 1946 the Orchestra's activity increased, but never reached pre-war heights. Pippo remained highly active, performing concerts for EIAR (later RAI), and touring. In 1947 he started to compose film soundtracks. He worked in Roma (movies) and Torino (RAI). He also wrote his Barzizza, a notebook for modern classical, jazz and pop: “for me there's no pop music or serious music, for me there's only good music!”[3]

Cetra Orchestra, 40s. 27 members.

In 1948 he composed the soundtrack for Fifa e Arena with Totò and Isa. His "Paquito Lindo" set a sales record for 78 rpm sides. "Ay Nicolete" was another hit. He made many tracks with Totò, including "The Turk from Naples", "Six wives of Bluebeard", "Misery and Nobility", "Totò to Hell". With Macario, Walter Chiari, Marcello Marchesi and other actors. In 1949 he won the Silver Microphone Award as best Italian Orchestra. "The enormous discography of Cetra Orchestra with Barzizza between 1936 and the late 1948 has not rebuilt yet, because of difficulties with such a huge opera. Bombing of Second World War destroyed the archives of Italian labels, with original sheets.[4] In a comment Barzizza spoke of about 3500 78 rpm discs; this means almost 7000 sides, referring to his production between 1931 and 1936.

In 1951 he moved to Rome, the Cetra Orchestra ended and he conducted The Modern Orchestra, with 50 musicians. His venues included "Red and Black", a broadcast conducted by Corrado. In those years a young Ennio Morricone worked for him.

The Modern Orchestra ended in 1954 after disputes with RAI. In 1954 Pippo moved to London and Paris to study new recording techniques. In the same year he made a short movie, The Fox, as writer, director and editor. It was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and won the third film award and the first script award.

Pippo Barzizza among the instruments of his orchestra.

In 1955 he composed and arranged the Valentina soundtrack, a comedy movie written and directed by Marcello Mastroianni. The protagonist is Isa. His songs and the film were successful, in particular, "Valentina" and "Sposi in Sogno". That year he signed for Polydor and records operas at Monaco di Baviera. He won the international “The Song Award", as best Italian orchestra. Pippo attempted to leav RAI on 15 March 1955, after another dispute, but was unable to break his contract.

He moved back to Sanremo, but continued working and traveling. In 1956 he worked in Rome with a line up of 36 musicians. In 1956 Pippo produced 128 arrangements, his highest ever. On 28 February 1957, he and Angelini with other musicians are fired without explanation. "Shame!" he wrote in one of his sketches. In 1960 he performed in Rome for five months and declared this was probably the best group in which he worked. His father died 21 December 1959 while on 3 June 1960, Isa's husband, Carlo Alberto Chiesa, died in a car crash.

Pippo Barzizza in his studio. Sanremo, 1980s.

From the 1960s to 1994 Pippo lived in Sanremo with Tatina. After a long convalescence he returned to music, teaching in his home. His office became a recording studio, employing five multitrack mixers, eight keyboards, a drum machine and a looper. His only compositions were "Pagine d'Album" and "La Messa della Mercede" composed on request from a Franciscan friar who was his friend.

He appeared on television with Mike Bongiorno (“Flash"); in 1984 with Renzo Arbore (“Cari amici vicini e lontani") where he conducted two pieces. In the same year and for RAI's 60th birthday, in his final performance he conducted the orchestra proposing "Il boscaiolo" and "Sera".

He died at the age of 92 on 4 April 1994.[5]

In his honor, "Centro Studi Stan Kenton" in Sanremo, instituted an award for arrangers[6] (interrupted since 2004) whose jury was formed by Morricone. The winners were Enrico Blatti (Roma) and Stefano Zavattoni (Perugia) and in 2002 and Antonello Cpuano (Campobasso) in 2003. Arranger award recipients were Virgilio Savona, Piero Piccioni, Gianni Ferrio, Roberto Pregadic and Riz Ortolani.[7]

Blue Star, 1927. Barzizza is in the middle with the accordion

• Pippo Barzizza – sax, tenor, violino, pianoforte, banjo, arrangement
• Giovanni Miglio – trumpet, pianoforte, French horn
• Carlo – trumpet
• Mazza – trombone
• Gino Della Santa – violino, clarinet, sax / Giuseppe Cattafesta – sax, clarinet
• Luigi Balma – basso, drum, oboe, canto

Barzizza with Pizzini, Rabagliati and Petralia. Turin, late 30s

• Pippo Barzizza – sax, tenor, violino, pianoforte, banjo, arrangement
• Potito Simone – trombone, basso
• Leo Hermann – trumpet / Giuseppe Alù – trumpet
• Giovanni Miglio – trumpet, pianoforte, French horn
• Raymond – Alto sax, clarinet
• Luigi Balma – basso, drum, sax, oboe, canto
• Alfredo Spezialetti – violino, bass saxophine, soprano sax

In 1936 Barzizza signed with broadcaster EIAR to conduct Cetra Orchestra, inherited by Claude Bampton. Pippo immediately substitutes some members and totally reforms the line-up and modern arrangements. In the early 1940s Cetra was considered the best among Italian jazz orchestras.

Pippo's autographed photo. 1941

• Pippo Barzizza – director, arrangement
• Emanuele Giudice, Claudio Pasquali, Michele Garabello – trumpet
• Luigi Mojetta, Beppe Mojetta – trombone
• Sergio Quercioli, Domenico Mancini – clarinet, sax alto
• Marcello Cianfanelli – sax tenore
• Cesare Estill – clarinet, sax baritono
• Agostino Valdambrini, Piero Filanci, Felice Abriani, Adriano La Rosa – violino
• Gino Filippini – pianoforte
• Saverio Seracini – Guitar
• Aldo Fanni – contrabbasso
• Francesco Bausi – drum

Pippo Barzizza concert in Florence. 1940

• Pippo Barzizza – director, arrangement
• Gaetano Gimelli, Emanuele Giudice, Claudio Pasquali, Michele Garabello – trumpet
• Luigi Mojetta, Beppe Moretta, Clinio Bergamini – trombone
• Sergio Quercioli, Domenico Mancini – clarinet, sax alto
• Tullio Tilli, Marcello Cianfanelli, Battista Gimelli – sax tenore
• Cesare Estill – clarinet, sax baritono
• Agostino Valdambrini, Piero Filanci, Felice Abriani, Adriano La Rosa – violini
• Francesco Ferrari – pianoforte, fisarmonica, arrangement
• Gino Filippini – pianoforte
• Aldo Tonini – Guitar
• Aldo Fanni – contrabbasso
• Francesco Bausi – drum

In 1951 Barzizza moved to Rome; the Cetra Orchestra disbanded, leading to the Modern Orchestra, with 56 members. He conducted almost fifty-four successful broadcasts, like "Red and Black".

In 1936 Barzizza composed and arranged a piece for Orchestra: "Marilena", and it will become their theme song. It was a: a swing piece. Another piece was "Il boscaiolo", a happy country song made with Rabagliati and Lescanos.

"The enormous discography of Cetra Orchestra conducted by Barzizza between June 1936 and the end of 1948 it hasn't been rebuilt yet, because of the great difficulty of such a great opera. Bombing of Second World war destroyed the archives of Italian labels, losing the originals".