VINCE TEMPERA trio - Blue Note Off, Milano 2024

On June 19th the VINCE TEMPERA trio performed at Blue Note in Milan, as part of the Off series. Titled "From Fellini to Tarantino," the concert paid homage to Italian music and cinema, with the maestro himself on stage as narrator and pianist, accompanied by Enrico Santarelli on bass and Sergio Bellotti on drums.
The concert also featured a tribute to the legendary Burt Bacharach, with Italian vocalist Marzia Bi taking center stage. 
Marzia Bi performed classic Bacharach songs like "Walk on By" and "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" in Italian, accompanied by VINCE TEMPERA and his rhythm section.
This segment was a special treat for fans of both Bacharach's timeless music and Italian artistry, since the songs were sung in Italian and arranged by Mr. TEMPERA for an album he had produced a few years ago featuring Marzia Bi and a full orchestra. 
1blog4u was there to be able to listen to and photograph an iconic Italian who has crossed and been part of the lives of millions of Italians, even if with different connotations. For some, VINCE TEMPERA is linked to the surge in popularity of Japanese cartoons, which for the first time were broadcast on television and quickly became a generational staple. Walt Disney cartoons were read or watched only at the cinema or at Christmas on TV, "Fantasia" was the most popular, but that was it. 
When Japanese anime started to broadcast on both public and private television, it quickly became something not to be missed by millions of adults and kids alike. And the same level of popularity was reached by the songs and the artists that interpreted it. All of this at a time in which there was no internet nor social media.
For others, the name VINCE TEMPERA relates to the greatest and most important Italian yearly musical event, the Sanremo Festival. An event that has always been (and still is) awaited for throughout the year with lots of anticipation and has always kept millions of people glued to the TV. A festival in which the competing singers as well as the musical guests have a full live orchestra at their disposal, with most performances starting with the host announcing “The Orchestra is directed by Maestro Vince Tempera” which can now be considered like a tattoo for most Italians collective memory. Yet others know him as a musician or composer, who has accompanied and/or composed for many great Italian singers or songwriters. Rather than just movie lovers for its soundtracks.
As narrated by Mr. TEMPERA himself, one may forget the title of a movie or who the actors were but will never forget its melodies.
These are the reasons that do define VINCE TEMPERA as a great Italian icon and a multifaceted and appreciated artist, who, needless to say, sold out at the Blue Note Off in Milan for the second consecutive time.
Below you will find brief bios of the musicians. 
Enjoy the reading
Sergio Bellotti for 1blog4u

VINCE TEMPERA is an Italian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and conductor.

Born in Milano as Vincenzo Tempera, he graduated in piano and composition at the Conservatory, then he started his musical activity collaborating with several beat groups such as “I Giganti” and “La Nuova Era”. He was later a member of the avant-garde musical project “The Pleasure Machine” and of the progressive group “Il Volo”.
In late 1970s he achieved a large commercial success as a composer of cartoon’s opening songs. 
He has been the composer and performer of numerous successful songs of television anime and TV series, both as conductor, composer and author of the lyrics, including Goldrake, Ape Maia, Captain Harlock, Nils Holgersson, Daitan III, Hello Spank.
The greatest success was undoubtedly that of 1978 with the song Ufo Robot, written together with Luigi Albertelli and Ares Tavolazzi, for which he even obtained the Gold Record, exceeding one million copies sold. 
The records of the singles were released under different pseudonyms, often inspired by the title of the anime of which Tempera wrote and played the music and lyrics.
He was conductor in many editions of the “Sanremo Music Festival” and in one edition of the “Eurovision Song Contest” (for Malta in 1975). 
He contributed several film scores including the Lucio Fulci films “Four of the Apocalypse” (1975), “Dracul in the Provinces” (1975), “Sette note in nero” (1977), “Silver Saddle” (1978), “Manaos” (1979), “The House of Clocks” (1989) and “The Sweet House of Horrors” (1989). 
The main theme from “Sette note in nero” was later included in the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill: Volume 1”.
His collaborations include, among others, Zucchero Fornaciari, Lucio Battisti, Francesco Guccini, Antonello Venditti, Mina, i Nomadi, Angelo Branduardi just to name a few.

SERGIO BELLOTTI – drums

Sergio Bellotti is an international artist. As a powerful and tremendously gifted drummer, he’s played with some of the world’s finest musicians. As an educator, he’s an in demand clinician as well as a professor at the esteemed Berklee College of Music. As an entrepreneur, he owns “247 Drums” which caters to the needs of drummers everywhere.
Hailing from Bari, Italy, Sergio’s passion for music and accomplished drumming spurred him to move to Boston in 1995 to attend the Berklee College of Music. Shortly after arriving in the U.S., Sergio met his longtime musical partner, fellow Italian and bassist extraordinaire, Tino D’Agostino. Together they founded and continue to lead “Spajazzy”, a jazz fusion group, which has featured guitarist Mike Stern on both of their cd releases. Good company indeed.
In addition to his professorship at Berklee, where students from all over the world come to study, Sergio Bellotti serves as a faculty member at the Conservatorio Della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland.
Sergio Bellotti is the founder of the “Do You Speak Drumming?” program and often travels to Europe to conduct clinics, concerts and master classes. He is a drum artist for both Yamaha Acoustic and Electronic drums.
Sergio Bellotti has recorded or shared the stage with world class musicians such as Blues Hall of Fame and Grammy nominated Joe Louis Walker, Mike Stern, The Platters, The Drifters, Tom Scott, Nathan East, Robben Ford, Alessandra Belloni, Bernard Purdie, Rocco Ventrella and Vince Tempera just to name a few. He has performed at international festivals such as the Montreal Drum Fest, The Golden Jazz 2015 in China, Bari In Jazz 2010, Cape Breton International Drum Fest, Berklee World Percussion Festival and the PASIC and 5 consecutive KOSA festivals.
Sergio Bellotti has been based in Boston ever since arriving in 1995 and is still immersed in the city’s lively music scene. He holds down the drum throne for his weekly gig  with “We Jazz Up”. Their Tuesday night show at Slade’s has become a time honored ritual and one never knows which talented musician might visit to sit in.
In addition to being an artist, educator and clinician, Sergio ministers to the needs of drummers with his shop, “247 Drums”. The major manufacturers of drum gear have recognized his talents, and besides Yamaha, Sergio Bellotti is also an endorser for Remo drumheads, Sabian cymbals, Vic Firth drum sticks and the Vibe T5 Stick which he designed himself.
Sergio Bellotti received the “Oustanding Contribution to Jazz Education” award in 2017 by the prestigious JEN (Jazz Education Network).
With more than 25 albums as a sideman and 5 as a leader, Sergio Bellotti‘s discography is varied and ranges from Jazz to Pop, fusion and Dance Music.
In 2023, as a composer, he won in the “best soundtrack” category at the prestigious RAI “Tulipani di Seta Nera” festival.
Whether playing, recording, teaching or supplying drummers with gear, Sergio Bellotti is truly a multifaceted artist.

Enrico Santarelli – Bass

Born in Milano Italy, started play piano at an early age eventually moving to electric bass. He graduated from CPM in milano with emphasis on modern music and attended the Musician’s Institute of Technology in Los Angeles and graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has vast experience in all musical styles performed in more than fifty musical production and travelled extensively with various musical acts. “I have been living in Las Vegas for the past ten years and I have performed with major headliners as well as leading my own jazz trio. I ve been teaching music for clark county school district for the past four years and I am very passionate and enthusiastic about sharing my knowledge of music and watch it grow in the hands of my students and it never cease to amaze me the wealth of perspectives that each individual brings to the table that often I feel we are all learning something new together”.

Marzia Bi is an artist from Italy, a singer with a very particular and personal vocal timbre that maestro Vince Tempera discovered in a pop-jazz concert held at the Auditorium Verdi of Milan during a charity evening.
MARZIA Bi recalls the English singers of the 60s and 70s in her voice and appearance.
Under idea and guidance of Maestro Vince Tempera he created an album on the songs of Burt Bacharach, rediscovering the Italian lyrics which were therefore written for the American master.
Among the authors we find Mogol, Bardotti, Testa, Ornella Vanoni, Don Backy and others.
The title of the album is "Everyone Who Has a Heart" (Tutti quelli che hanno un cuor).
All the songs were arranged under the direction of Maestro Vince Tempera and performed by a large orchestra, composed of important jazz musicians from the Milanese scene.
MARZIA Bi, after various musical experiences, found her style in these songs by Burt Bacharach, giving them a modern and personal interpretation.

Vince Tempera: “So I reread Bacharach's music, Burt Bacharach obviously, but not the usual one, the one with the lyrics in English that you can easily listen to on a piped broadcast, and it's the same” points out maestro Vince Tempera. 
“Not, the Bacharach which, as often happens in the Sixties and Seventies, comes to us translated into Italian, with versions signed by people who count in music such as Mogol, Giorgio Calabrese, Don Backy, Garinei & Giovannini, who reinvent the lyrics because it is impossible to translate simply: they use truncated words, we use whole words when we compose. Songs that open a breach memories of those who listened to them then, the parents who tell the emotion to their children, ours young years.
Songs that you can now listen to interpreted by the special and unique voice by singer Marzia Bi. Marzia Bi also has an extraordinary resemblance to the singer Sandie Shaw, the legendary “barefoot singer””.

Burt Bacharach: …speaking of Italy, you have worked with Chiara Civello, Karima, Mario Biondi, and now in the recent CD ‘Tutti quelli che hanno un cuor’, 13 your songs are reinterpreted by the talented Marzia Bi in the Italian versions signed by people like Don Backy , Mogol, Ornella Vanoni… What do you think of this album? “Marzia Bi sang very well, adapting to the spirit of the pieces and even Vince Tempera, who produced her, respected the original orchestrations.
Marzia Bi has beautiful colors in her voice, she is sweet and sensual as I like her and she excites me especially in Alfie, Magia, A boy who loves you. Who knows, maybe one day I'll call her on a US tour with me”. 
But is Burt Bacharach still writing at 91? 
“Of course I still write! Music is always in my head and my fingers still run on the keyboard. I confess that even the joy of meeting passionate young people like Marzia Bi, who I met in person during my Italian tour, gives me the inspiration to write other new songs”.

Lalla Francia: “A special album that will remain forever in my heart, made with passion by musicians and wonderful singers! Marzia, Mara, Carolina, Simona, all under the watchful eye of maestro Vince Tempera... come on, me too with all my love, thank you”!

Marcello Merlini (Opera tenor): “Dearest Marzia, as you know, tenacity, application, perseverance, passion, talent are words much used and abused nowadays, but not always applied.
You are proving to everyone that you are not the "talkative" kind. 
Without useless chatter and with lots and lots and lots of silent work, you are making us discover a true artist, a true warrior, a true woman with a capital W.
Musical projects like yours are rare nowadays.
The care of the arrangements, the atmospheres that recall the Jazz Clubs of the 70s, the grace and the subtle and modulated sensitivity of your voice, the splendid collaborations with great musicians of the jazz and pop-jazz scene of the moment, the charm of melodies and harmonies will be, for our ears of listeners accustomed to plastic sounds and the voices of desperate screamers, a velvety and sincere but equally explosive and disruptive musical cocktail. I hope the world will understand!
A million compliments to Maestro Vince Tempera (who never denies his fame as a great arranger and pianist!!!), to your colleague Lalla Francia for the splendid coaching work and then a sincere BRAVA to you! I am proud to have been your first teacher and to collaborate with you again!
Long live good music, long live those who work with their heart every day, long live MARZIA BI”.


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