Renato Carosone – Io, Mammeta e Tu

Renato Carosone (3 January 1920 20 May 2001) was among the greatest figures of the Italian music scene in the second half of the 20th century. He was also a modern performer of the so-called canzone napoletana, Naples’ song tradition. Carosone was born in Naples. He studied piano at his hometown’s Conservatory and obtained his diploma in 1937, when he was just 17. He soon signed a contract as a band leader for a tour of Africa. After that job, he ended up in Addis Ababa working as a pianoplayer. In a short while he became quite famous there and had several gigs as band leader. He returned to Italy only in 1946, after the end of World War II. Those ten years spent abroad had exposed him to new rhythms and new sounds, but, in spite of his international success, Carosone was a stranger to the Italian audience. He had to start his career afresh, playing the piano in some small dance-hall bands. In 1949 he was asked to put together a group for a club’s opening night. After some auditions, he signed the Dutch guitarist Peter Van Wood and the Neapolitan drummer Gegè Di Giacomo, so the Trio Carosone was born. The trio became quartet with the Hungarian Gypsy musician Elek Bacsik on bass, guitar and violin. Afterwards Van Wood and Bacsik left the group to pursue solo careers. Gegè Di Giacomo remained with Carosone, who contacted other musicians to finally form a real band. During 1950s Carosone became more and more popular, his orchestra was on high demand both in Italy and abroad …
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