Arrigo Polillo

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Arrigo Polillo (born July 12, 1919 in Pavullo nel Frignano , † July 17, 1984 ) was an Italian jazz author and jazz journalist who was a central figure in the Italian jazz scene.

Polillo studied law and was initially a lawyer before joining the Mondadori publishing house , where he rose to the position of publishing director. In 1968 he left Mondadori to devote himself entirely to jazz. As early as 1945 he founded the most important Italian jazz magazine " Musica Jazz " with the songwriter ("Paroliere") Giancarlo Testoni (1912–1965), who was the founder (1935) of one of the first Italian hot clubs (in Milan) with the pianist Ezio Levi “In Milan. He was their deputy editor under Testoni and, after Testoni's death, editor until his own demise. In 1954 he and Testoni wrote the first Italian (and the world's first) jazz encyclopedia "Enciclopedia del Jazz". His main work is the book "Jazz", which is also considered a standard work in Germany and which was first published in Italian in 1975. A large part of his jazz book consists of biographies of central jazz musicians, some of whom he also knew personally: Jelly Roll Morton , King Oliver , Sidney Bechet , Bessie Smith , Fletcher Henderson , Louis Armstrong , Earl Hines , Fats Waller , Duke Ellington , Bix Beiderbecke , Coleman Hawkins , Benny Goodman , Count Basie , Lester Young , Art Tatum , Roy Eldridge , Django Reinhardt , Charlie Christian , Billie Holiday , Ella Fitzgerald , Charlie Parker , Dizzy Gillespie , Bud Powell , Thelonious Monk , Lennie Tristano , Gerry Mulligan , Sonny Rollins , Charles Mingus , Miles Davis , John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman . In the new edition after his death, additional biographies by Louis Sclavis , Joe Henderson , Bill Evans , Wynton Marsalis , Dave Douglas and Keith Jarrett were added.

In Italy, Polillo was also known for radio and TV broadcasts on jazz. He also wrote columns in "Il Giorno" and "Panorama". He also organized many jazz concerts and festivals in Italy. In 1955 he was one of the founders of the Festival Internazionale del Jazz di Sanremo .

The Centro Nazionale Studi sul Jazz in Siena , founded in 1989, is named after him. Polillo was also an amateur caricaturist, painter and cineast. His son Roberto Arrigo (* 1946 in Milan) is a jazz photographer. An Italian jazz prize is named after Polillo (Premio Arrigo Polillo).

Remarks

  1. ↑ and author of the first book on jazz in Italy “Introduzione alla vera musica Jazz” in 1938
  2. ↑ In Italy, two audio books were also published in 1976

Works

Jazz, history of jazz

  • with Giancarlo Testoni, Giuseppe Barrazetta, Roberto Leydi, Pino Maffei "Enciclopedia del Jazz", Edizioni Messaggeri Musicali, Milan 1954
  • "Il Jazz moderno, musica del dopoguerra", Edizioni G. Ricordi, Milan 1958
  • "Il jazz di oggi", Edizioni G. Ricordi, 1961.
  • "Conoscere il Jazz" 1967
  • "Jazz - die neue Enzyklopädie", Herbig Verlag 2003, revised (that means supplemented with newer developments, the text by Polillo himself has not been revised) by Hans-Jürgen Schaal , with supplementary biographies by Franco Fayenz, ISBN 3-7766-2350- 0 , first Italian “Jazz” Mondadori 1975, 1983, German first “Jazz history and personalities”, Goldmann 1981, Piper Verlag 1984
  • with Roberto Polillo “Swing, Bop & Free. “Jazz degli anni 60”, Edizioni Polillo.
  • “Stasera Jazz”, 1978, Edizioni Polillo

Children's book

  • "L'omino che fermava i sogni", Edizioni Carlo Signorelli, Milan 1950, new edition Mondadori 1966. Dt. 1966 under the title "Onir the valley of dreams"

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Polillo, Arrigo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian jazz author and jazz journalist
DATE OF BIRTH July 12, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Pavullo in Frignano
DATE OF DEATH 17th July 1984