Jerry Mengo

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Jerry Mengo (actually Giuseppe Mengozzi , born April 17, 1911 in Nice , † April 23, 1979 in Boulogne-Billancourt ) was a French entertainment and jazz musician ( drums , guitar , vocals ), band leader , film composer and arranger .

Live and act

Mengo had Italian roots and grew up in England. During his studies in Paris he appeared as a singer and on March 6, 1935 had the opportunity to take part in Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli's recordings for Ultraphone ( Lily Belle My June, Continental and Sweet Sue, Just You ); In the 1930s and 1940s he played as a drummer and guitarist in the bands of Alix Combelle , Bill Coleman (1937), Danny Polo and Noël Chiboust , before performing with his own formations. In 1943 he worked with the singer Martha Love. From the beginning of the 1940s, he made recordings under his own name for the Swing label ( Blues du matin , SW 187, with Pierre Delhoumeau (cl), Hubert Rostaing and Jacques Diéval ) and Telefunken ( Jerry's Boogie ). In 1945 he had the label on the first recording session Blue Star of Eddie Barclay with.

Mengo then musically concentrated on dance music (in the 1960s also on Easy Listening ) in order to record a number of long-playing records ( Club De Danse ), EPs (such as Samba Fantastico ) and singles for labels such as Columbia and Ducretet-Thomson with his orchestra . In addition, he worked as a film composer and musician for films such as Hafengasse 5 (1951, director: Jean Delannoy ) or When night falls in Paris (1954, director: Jacques Becker ). In the Jean-Pierre Melville films Two Men in Manhattan (1959) and L'aîné des Ferchaux (1963) he was also seen as a supporting actor. With his orchestra and as an arranger and composer, he worked with singers such as Bourvil ( Les Sourires De Paris 1961, Pathé ), Pierre Perrin , Giuseppe Torrebruno and France Gall ( Don't Make War, Captain, Make Love 1968). Tracks written by Mengo such as Twistin 'The Twist or Popocatepetl-Twist were covered by artists such as Dalida and Caterina Valente during this period .

Discographic notes

  • Jerry Mengo, Hubert Rostaing, Pierre Spiers: Encore! Encore! (Vega)
  • Orfeo Negro (Columbia EP, 1959)
  • Red Roses for Rudy (Columbia)
  • From Jazz to Rock and Pop (Mondiophone, 1976)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Dregni: Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend , pp. 106 ff
  2. ↑ Here again I made recordings with Reinhardt. See Max Harrison , Charles Fox, Eric Thacker: Essential Jazz Records: Volume 1: Ragtime to Swing
  3. ↑ Marianne Klaric, Emile Henceval: Dictionnaire Du Jazz a Bruxelles et en Wallonie , S. 203rd
  4. ↑ Swing Discography ( Memento of the original from April 22, 2011 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.78discography.com
  5. ^ Reuben & Naomi Musicians: Conductors and Composers of Popular Orchestral Music , 1998 p. 12
  6. ^ Filmography at Notre Cinema
personal data
SURNAME Mengo, Jerry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mengozzi, Giuseppe (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French jazz musician, band leader, arranger and composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Nice
DATE OF DEATH April 23, 1979
Place of death Boulogne-Billancourt