Vincenzo "Enzo" Jannacci (; 3 June 1935 – 29 March 2013) was an Italian singer-songwriter, pianist, actor and comedian. He is regarded as one of the most important artists in the post-war Italian music scene.
Jannacci is widely considered as a master of musical art and cabaret, and in the course of his career has collaborated with many famous Italian musicians, performing artists, journalists, television personalities and comedians. He has written around thirty albums and soundtracks, some of which have since come to be seen as milestones in the history of Italian popular music.
A cardiologist in his day job, he is also regarded as one of the founders of Italian rock and roll music, along with Adriano Celentano, Luigi Tenco and Giorgio Gaber, with whom he collaborated for over forty years.
Early life
Enzo Jannacci was born in Milan on 3 June 1935 to a Lombard mother and a father of Apulian descent – his paternal grandfather, also called Vincenzo, had moved to Milan from Bari just before the onset of the First World War.
His father was an aeronautical official and worked at Forlanini airport (now more commonly known as Linate). During the Second World War he took part in the Italian resistance movement, in particular during the defense of Milanese aviation at Piazza Novelli, an act which later inspired songs such as Sei minuti all'alba ("Six Minutes to Dawn").
After finishing high school at the Liceo Scientifico Leonardo da Vinci, Jannacci graduated in harmony, composition and conducting at the Milan Conservatory. Later in 1967 he graduated with a degree in medicine from the University of Milan. He left Italy for South Africa and United States to specialise in cardiac surgery, where he joined the team of Christiaan Barnard, the famous surgeon. On 23 November 1967 he married Giuliana Orefice, who gave birth to Paolo, their only child, five years later. Today Paolo is a musician and conductor.
Career
Jannacci started his musical career in 1956, becoming the keyboardist of the group "Rocky Mountains". Lead member of the group initially was Tony Dallara, later replaced by Giorgio Gaber. In 1957 he became the keyboardist of the Rock Boys, a rock'n'roll group accompanying Adriano Celentano. In 1958, while continuing to perform with Rock Boys, he formed with Gaber the musical duo "I due corsari" with whom he made his first recordings. In the same years he was able to accompany as a jazz pianist several great names such as Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Bud Powell and Franco Cerri, with whom he recorded several albums.
Jannacci started his solo career in early sixties, recording two songs, "L'ombrello di mio fratello" and "Il cane con i capelli", that already revealed his ironic and surreal style. In 1962 he debuted on stage with the recital Milanon Milanin. The following year he made his debut as stand-up comedian in the Milan comedy club Derby; there he met Dario Fo and the duo Cochi & Renato, with whom he collaborated several times over the years.
In 1964 his popularity grew significantly thanks to the recital 22 canzoni, of which he was the author together with Dario Fo, and thanks to the song "L'Armando", his first real success. In 1968 he topped the Italian hit parade with the main success of his career, "Vengo anch'io (no tu no)". The same year he took part at the musical contest Canzonissima; he reached the final, but the song he had chosen for the final, "Ho visto un re", was censored by RAI and replaced with "I due zingari". "Ho visto un re" despite the ostracism (RAI even forbade the radio broadcasting of the song) became a classic and reached 7th place on hit parade.
Between 1968 and 1972 Jannacci temporarily slowed his activities focusing on his activity as a doctor; during these years he however appeared as leading actor in two films, Mario Monicelli's Le coppie (in the segment Il frigorifero) and Marco Ferreri's L'udienza. In 1973 he wrote the comedy play Il poeta e il contadino, that was later turned in a TV-series broadcast by RAI, and in 1974 he wrote, together with Beppe Viola, the book L'incompiuter. In these years he also successfully composed several film soundtracks, including Mario Monicelli's Come Home and Meet My Wife and the Academy Award-nominated Lina Wertmüller's Seven Beauties. In 1975 he published the album Quelli che... and the eponymous single became one of his most known songs, especially thanks to the variety show Quelli che... il Calcio that used it as the theme song for eight years.