L'Uomo E La Città

Piero Umiliani’s “L’Uomo e la Città” perfectly fits into the urban-themed section of Italian library music, an album where our Man is accompanied by jazz celebrities Bruno Tommaso, Oscar Valdambrini, Dino Piana and Nino Rapicavoli, all part of this Umiliani-led ensemble. “L’Uomo e la Città” takes less risks in favor of an extraordinary jazz tightness (“Rete Urbana”, “Quartieri Alti”, “Città Frenetica”), but amazes even more in the two excellent renditions of “Centrale Termica” and “Suoni della Città”, among the best tracks of the album.

L’UOMO E LA CITTÀ (1972)

In the intricate panorama of Italian library music, the themes of city, factories, metropolis,

work, urbanization and technology have always been among the most

fascinating (and used), relying on dozens of fundamental records by composers

such as Alessandro Alessandroni, Farlocco, Gerardo Iacoucci, A.R. Luciani,

Narassa and many others. The attempt to provide a plausible soundtrack to a

continuously and rapidly ever-changing world, especially in the hectic seventies,

has often produced masterpieces that combined avant-garde techniques with

sounds, risky experimentation with easy-listening songs, the traffic chaos and

assembly lines with the silence of the night, the end of the work shift with Sunday’s

rest.

Piero Umiliani’s L’Uomo e la Città perfectly fits into this rich and varied field, an

album where our Man is accompanied by a jazz musicians sublime parade that

includes celebrities like Bruno Tommaso, Oscar Valdambrini, Dino Piana and

Nino Rapicavoli, here delivering the most of a sound that is highly based on the

richness of the wind instruments and on the rhythm of the Umiliani-led ensemble.

L’Uomo e la Città is a less risky effort when compared to other releases by

Piero Umiliani, but that’s in favor of an extraordinary jazz tightness (Rete Urbana,

Quartieri Alti, Città Frenetica), but the wish to amaze appears when least expected

in the two excellent renditions of Centrale Termica and Suoni della Città,

among the best tracks of the album.