Gigi Campi

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Pierluigi “Gigi” Campi (born December 15, 1928 in Cologne ; † January 6, 2010 ibid) was an Italian jazz producer, architect and restaurateur living in Cologne .

Life

Campi's parents Paolo and Nuccia Campi had to end their train journey from Berlin prematurely in Cologne on the evening of April 25, 1926 because there was not enough money for two train tickets Cologne-Paris. They visited Luigina Vanoletti, a seamstress from the birthplace of Paolo Campi, who she welcomed in her apartment at 22 Small Greek Market. Instead of traveling on to Paris, the camps stayed in Cologne. Here they founded the first Italian ice cream parlor in Cologne in 1926 , and their son "Gigi" Campi was born two years later.

Campis ice cream parlor

Between 1948 and 1980, Gigi Campi initially ran an ice cream parlor on Hohe Straße with his mother and sister under the name Campis Eis-Diele, which he was able to turn into a meeting place for international celebrities, among other things by selecting the jazz music played there. It developed into a focal point for Cologne's cultural scene. In addition to jazz musicians, Beniamino Gigli , Juliette Gréco , Luise Rinser , Heinrich Böll , Ingeborg Drews , Joseph Beuys , Karlheinz Stockhausen , Maria Callas , Romy Schneider , John Cage , Pierre Boulez and Theodor W. Adorno met there . Caterina Valente caused a crowd in front of the café.

Jazz productions

The jazz fan and budding architect Campi became a jazz producer early on. In 1954 he founded Mod Records, the first European record label dedicated entirely to modern jazz . The label, which specializes in cool jazz from Europe, has released records by artists such as Hans Koller , Jutta Hipp and Attila Zoller . In 1955 his label Old followed as an equivalent. He also organized over 400 concerts, initially mainly in Cologne. In doing so, he contributed to bringing contemporary jazz out of the cellars into the concert halls and paving the way for artistically demanding music and civil recognition. He also organized festivals at the Tanzbrunnen in Cologne .

As a guest at the rehearsals of Kurt Edelhagen's band , Campi was impressed by the arrangements written by the Belgian Francy Boland . In 1959, Campi engaged this and five other jazz musicians as a band during the Cologne Carnival to entertain the guests in his ice cream parlor: This was to be the birth of the Kenny Clarke / Francy Boland Big Band . Campi was so enthusiastic about the music that he built a larger band around this core. In May 1961, the ensemble, expanded to an octet , recorded its first record with Boland's arrangements - initially under the name The Golden Eight (with, among others, Dusko Goykovich , Carl Drewo , Derek Humble , Jimmy Woode ). Together with Wolfgang Hirschmann as sound engineer, he produced almost all of the music recordings for this jazz band. The first live appearance of the internationally acclaimed big band around drummer Kenny Clarke and pianist Francy Boland did not follow until 1966. In the following three years Campi acted as band manager and organized guest performances for the group. The press enthusiastically celebrated the band as a “volcano of musical surprises”. The band's guest stars included Stan Getz , Albert Mangelsdorff and Dave Pike , but also pop singer Gitte , who was able to persuade her record company to do an album with this band.

gastronomy

Together with Alfred Biolek and junior partners, Campi rented the old waiting room under Cologne Central Station from the Deutsche Bundesbahn in October 1983 . After extensive restoration of the Art Deco rooms, concerts, television and dance events take place there. The former canteen of the WDR radio station on Wallrafplatz , which was run by the Campi family as a bistro, was also rebuilt in 1997 according to Campi's plans . The Westdeutsche Rundfunk (WDR) did not extend the lease contract due to a different conception of Campi's catering concept. The Bistro Campi moved out in June 2012 and moved into new premises with 130 seats under the name Campi Volksbühne in Aachener Straße 5 as the immediate neighbor of the Millowitsch Theater in May 2014 . Campi is one of the few restaurateurs who have been honored by a festschrift for their 70th birthday.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Robert von Zahn (ed.), Campiana: Ein Stück vor dem Beat , 1999, p. 28
  2. ↑ FAZ No. 176 of July 31, 2012, Ciao, Campi , p. 29
  3. ↑ Martin Woltersdorf: A Cologne legend has died ( Memento of the original from November 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ksta.de, obituary in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, January 7, 2010. Retrieved January 8, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ksta.de
  4. ↑ Ciao, Campi! Frankfurter Allgemeine - Feuilleton, July 30, 2012, accessed on September 26, 2012 .

literature

  • Robert von Zahn (Ed.): Campiana: a piece before the beat . Verlag Dohr, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-925366-72-5 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Campi, Gigi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Campi, Pierluigi (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian jazz producer, restaurateur and architect
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH January 6, 2010
Place of death Cologne