Rio de Gregori

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Rio de Gregori (born September 22, 1919 in Zurich ; † May 22, 1987 in Munich ) was a Swiss jazz musician (piano, vocals).

Live and act

De Gregori received classical piano lessons from the age of seven. When he was fourteen he started buying records from Duke Ellington and other jazz musicians. Although his parents wanted him to be a classical pianist, he began performing professionally as a jazz musician. First he played with Willie Mac Allen (1939-40), then with James Boucher (1940-41), The Lanigiros , Jo Grandjean (1942) and then until September 1944 with René Weiss. Then he was engaged by Fred Böhler , in whose big band he stayed until 1945. In the same year he founded his own dance orchestra, in which some of the best Swiss jazz musicians - mostly from western Switzerland - such as Stuff Combe , Bob Jaquillard, Jean Pierre Dupuis, Luc Hoffmann, Raoul Schmassmann and, from 1952, Kurt Weil worked; he was also able to win the American Glyn Paque as a guest soloist. After giving up his international big band, he continued to work in a trio or as a soloist; he ran a bar in Ascona before moving to Munich, where he opened a nightclub as Rio Gregory . In this bar in Ascona he encouraged Suzanne Doucet , for whom he also composed, to sing chansons.

Because of his cultivated touch and his sense of harmony, De Gregori enjoyed an excellent reputation and was obliged to record instead of the regular pianists. Fred Böhler and other orchestra conductors commissioned him as arranger.

Discographic notes

  • Peckin ' (2xLP: EMI-Columbia C-152-33894).
  • René Weiss: Boogie Woogie (CDx4: Elite 9544002-1)
  • Lanigiro: St. Louis Blues (LP: Harlekin HQ 2011 and HQ 2961)
  • Philippe Brun : Blue Party (Harlequin HQ 2011).
Arrangements
  • Fred Böhler: Gregori Stomp (CDx4: Elite 95440021-1 / CH-records 10-4193)

Lexigraphic references

  • Bruno Spoerri (Hrsg.): Biographical Lexicon of Swiss Jazz CD supplement to: Spoerri, Bruno (Hrsg.): Jazz in Switzerland. History and stories . Chronos-Verlag, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0739-6
  • New Grove Dictionary of Jazz (Macmillan, 2002)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The result was the album "Rot wie Rubin", on which he accompanied Doucet. See Rot wie Rubin ( Memento of the original from August 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / covergalerie.org
personal data
SURNAME Gregori, Rio de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gregory, Rio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss jazz musician and parquet floor installer
DATE OF BIRTH September 22, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1987
Place of death Munich