Renato Sellani Trio
A Bruno Lauzi

THE REVIEW

We pay tribute to the little great Bruno with a homage. First, because it is a great album, and then because in Lauzi’s available discography, for now, there's a big mess, like with Jannacci and all the other underrated greats. A mess in the sense that, in normal distribution, you find what you find, and generally, not much. And it's certainly not because Lauzi, like Jannacci, made only a few great records.

He actually had a vast and beautiful production, deep and diverse. But record companies, more shortsighted than marmots, more stupid than a reality show, and more juvenile than a pedophile, just aren't interested in certain records and their re-release on a large scale. It's as if being over thirty means you're no longer human because you're apparently less interesting to the market. Now, however, the market might have opened its foolish eye and noticed, only for a brief time, of course, this little Genoese-Piedmontese singer-songwriter, author of beautiful songs, poet, writer, and above all, an incomparable performer. It's true that a certain circle snubbed him for a long time because he was "liberal," but "liberal" was also Battisti, who wasn't snubbed. And it's also true that some other circle certainly snubbed him because he didn't fit the aesthetic standards of the dumbest part of the crowd, the ones for whom making them understand that Bertoli and Lauzi were great was impossible since they judged music with their eyes. However, fortunately, another circle, and certainly not right-wing this time, in recent years, has given him great rewards: the “Premio Tenco” dedicated its last edition to him, and the jazz world has taken notice of him.

He, for his part, had noticed jazz a long time ago: the rare (and beautiful) "Back To Jazz," which I have on an old bootleg cassette, is now an antique piece that, until now, no one has ever dreamed of re-releasing on a large scale (much of the repertoire can probably be ordered from his website, published "in-house"). So much so that it seemed easier and quicker, as well as more enjoyable, to create another jazz record, that "Nostaljazz" which I've already spoken about and is a piece of extraordinary and undeniable beauty. Here we are partially in another realm. Here there is a wide-ranging project by two great men: Renato Sellani, pianist, and Paolo Piangiarelli, producer of Philology. People who have spent time, energy, and money on producing some beautiful albums dedicated to the greats of Italian song (and hopefully, this will continue…): among the best are those for Gino Paoli and Mina.

This album for Lauzi is marked 2004, truly beautiful, where Sellani's classical piano style and impeccable harmonies are perfectly combined with the bass and drums of the trusty Massimo Moriconi and Massimo Manzi. The tracklist, understandably and rightly, draws from the best Lauzi repertoire, from “Ritornerai” to “Margherita,” from “Il Poeta” to the beautiful “L’appuntamento,” famous for Vanoni's unforgettable interpretation. In three tracks, Bruno himself makes an appearance with his beautiful voice. And if “Garibaldi Blues” has the value of mere "entertainment" (perhaps more for them than for us, given the modesty, albeit high quality, of the result), “Poi Sei Venuta Tu” and “Il Tuo Amore” are truly beautiful.

I'm not sure if these are Bruno's last recordings. Probably not, and something new, since the market and the Scythe get along well, will now emerge. And if something comes out and if someone decides to re-release the old records enough to make them easily found all over our poor country, well… we'll have to reward it, wrinkling our Piedmontese noses. Anyway, we'll do it for Him, to let his music and his voice be heard, even copying what we've bought for those who don't want to spend money on this little great Artist who left us too soon, just when he and one of his old and beloved companions, Jazz, had met again and found themselves still in fine form.

Goodbye Bruno, you lost your battle with that terrible disease, as was expected. But the one with Art, against the stupid people, against mental schemes, and against the narrow-mindedness of the truly small Italians… well… you won that one. And big time.