Italian Comic Book Movie Jazz

Italians love their fumetti neri or Italian crime, mystery or spy comic book anti-heroes. Diabolik, Satanik and Kriminal are among the most famous, and each was translated to film during the 1960s.

Roberto Pregadio and Romano Mussolini’s Kriminal (’66) features a swinging beat jazz theme — heard in two instrumental versions. There are other similarly styled tracks, featuring chugging rhythm guitar and bass with organ or horns and crisp drumming. Other jazzy tracks offer intrigue, sex appeal and action, occasionally taking a lush lounge approach. The intrigue numbers sound like Barry’s music for Thunderball, which was released a year earlier, but overall the music can be described as noir crime jazz.

Pregadio and Mussolini also provided a jazz score for Satanik (’68), Piero Vivarelli's flick about an old hag who drinks a youth potion that turns her into a hot chick (Magda Konopka) known as "Satanik." Unlike the movie, the Satanik score does not disappoint. By turns jazzy, loungy, psychedelic, suspenseful, bluesy and Latinesque, Pregadio and Mussolini keep the listener guessing what's next.

Better than both is Ennio Morricone’s psycho beat score for Danger Diabolik (’67), orchestrated by the composer’s frequent collaborator Bruno Nicolai. It features wild electronic abstractions, avant-garde trumpet solos, mystical sitar-laden intrigue cues and surf rock guitar-driven action cues that rival Neal Hefti’s “Batman” theme. The music electrifyingly complements the comic book dynamism of Mario Bava’s wildly colorful film, making Diabolik one of the essential crime soundtracks of the period.

Art Blakey: The Leader Of The Cool

Art Blakey
(drums, b. 1919 - d. 1990)


Art Blakey was the founding member of one of the most important collectives in jazz history, The Jazz Messengers. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers included such luminaries as Clifford Brown, Lou Donaldson, Benny Golson, Bobby Timmons, Kenny Dorham and more. Art Blakey's band also helped launch the careers of more recent artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Mulgrew Miller and Terence Blanchard.

Art Blakey was a ferocious drummer who allowed his fellow band members to also rise above the chords they are playing. Art Blakey not only personified this image, he was the benchmark of great drummers as well as band leaders. All of his groups explored different styles including African rhythms, hard bop and standards. As with many of the jazz musicians of his stature they have recorded a large body of work so it is often a daunting task as to where to start your listening journey.

In the case of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers there isn't a really satisfying collection; I would highly recommend any of the live albums from any period. The various line ups may differ but raw emotion of the performances stays true to Blakey's vision of a high energy, free flowing gig. My three personal favorites are A Night At Birdland Vol. 1 and 2 (Blue Note), Meet You At The Jazz Corner Of The World (Blue Note) and The Complete Concert At St. Germain (Gambit). All were record in a short period ('54-'58) but with completely different groups which gives you a great insight into each musician and the sets that were played.

If you ever wondered why the name Art Blakey is so revered in jazz music these are good starting points. Below is a smokin' performance of "A Night In Tunisia" (written by Dizzy Gillespie).

Charles Mingus: The Best Of The Great

Charles Mingus
(bass, b. 1922 - d. 1979)

While the albums I discussed this week all represent the wider array of thinking this great composer and bass player encompassed, I thought that if this was a bit too much for some to bite into perhaps maybe a few suggestions of just the nuggets would be in order. It's hard to find a solid Charles Mingus compilation like for Miles, Monk, Ellington, Armstrong and more obscurely, Rashaan Roland Kirk. But there are a few that will fit the bill and at least help you understand the music and hopefully you can investigate more titles further afterwards.

The obvious one would be Thirteen Pictures: The Charles Mingus Anthology (Rhino Records) which covers pretty much everything you need from early works for Bethlehem, Savoy, Columbia , Impulse and Atlantic plus a few choice live cuts. It's three CDs but worth the money.

The other would be The Very Best of Charles Mingus (Atlantic Records). This is a single disc which covers the Atlantic years but don't think this was strictly the best period. I would say it is for the adventurousness of the composer but not for the thickness. For that I would suggest the Impulse and the Columbia years if you are just getting into Charles Mingus. I think both compilations cover the major material but if you really really want to dig more I highly suggest some of albums discussed this week in addition to the following:

1) The Complete Savoy and Period Masters (Fresh Sounds)
2) Pithecanthropus Erectus (Atlantic)
3) Tijuana Moods (RCA)
4) Mingus Three/Trio (Blue Note)
5) Mingus Dynasty (Columbia)
6) Charles Mingus Presents Mingus (Atlantic)
7) The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady (Impulse)
8) Mingus Mingus Mingus (Impulse)
9) Mingus Plays Piano (Impulse)
10) In Paris - The Complete America Session (Sunnyside)

I hope our journey into Mingus was an interesting one for you. If you end up listening to any of these please let me know what you think. I can't again say how much I recommend you buy Beneath The Underdog while you listen any of these CDs. The book reads like a story of a soul reaching for the answer but never truly finding it. It's been criticized for not containing much about music but I feel that's what makes this an even better read. Its about a glimpse of a life and how the music was shaped.

I hope you enjoy the complexed journey of this enigma who turned music and composition on its head during the 60s and foreshadowed a lot of the avant garde like a prophet. This is pure genius. This is Charles Mingus.

Charles Mingus: Live Enigma

Charles Mingus
(bass, b.1922 - d. 1979)

Continuing our discussion this week on Charles Mingus I wanted to present to you my favourite Mingus live recordings.


Live At Antibes Jazz Festival (Atlantic, 1960) is a fantastic example of Mingus' versatility as he performs on both bass and piano. Antibes is a live performance in which all musicians; Mingus (bass, piano), Eric Dolphy (alto sax), Booker Ervin (tenor sax), Ted Curson (trumpet), Bud Powell (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums) work in true simpatico.

The Antibes gig came just a few months after Charles Mingus left Columbia Records and had his two final recordings Ah Um and Dynasty were released for the label in '59.


The album feels like a precursor to the avant garde movement but also maintains a structure in which the uninitiated will definitely enjoy. The performances from Dolphy and Ervin are definite standouts.

This was an album that had remained unreleased for years until after Mingus' death in 1979. It had been one of those highly talked about shows that you wished you were there. With its emergence on CD back in the '90s, history now has a marker. Once you've listened to Ah Um this is great record to check out immediately afterward.


The Great Concert Of Charles Mingus (aka The Great Concert, Paris April 1964) (Atlantic Records)is my second favourite. This was significant for multiple reasons. First, this was a grueling European tour which took its toll on the band especially trumpeter Johnny Coles who collapsed from an ulcer during rehearsals. Second, this would be the last performance for the great saxophonist Eric Dolphy with the Mingus band (he would pass away two months later). Dolphy's presence in the group gave the band a large degree of its "free form" distinction and complimented Mingus' arrangements perfectly.


The show itself encapsulates all the elements Mingus had worked on since Ah Um and the previous four years to a wonderful conclusion despite the harsh difficulties of the reality around him and the band. The relationship with Clifford Jordon (trumpet) and Eric Dolphy during the gig is amazing and well worth turning up the volume up on the stereo.

This is one of those concerts that lives up to every expectation and more. The audience is very attentive and aware of all the nuances and provides the extra impetus for the band as it blisters its way through what would become a great but legendary concert indeed.

Below is footage from a performance in Oslo just a few days before The Great Concert set.