MARINO MARINI 78 VOLARE/COME PRIMA UK DURIUM DC16632 E-

Marino Marini brought a breath of fresh air to the traditional Neapolitan repertoire, by injecting his own quicker tempo and clearing too many out-of-date "tics". The result was an astonishing cocktail of rejuvenated standards (E' calosce, Stornelli popolari, Palumella, Pulecenella) blended with new compositions with a faster tempo (Serenatella sciuè sciuè, Spingule francese, Io mammetta e tu, La pansè).

His own interpretations of US standards are also remarkable (Premier Bal, Mr Sandman, Lullaby of Birdland) while he also offered fine compositions to the French repertoire (Jacqueline, Chu Chu Bella, Je suis fou de toi). In France, he was instrumental to the stardom of singer Dalida, who interpreted no less than fifteen songs from Marino Marini's repertoire. To a lesser extent, the multilingual singer Caterina Valente was also in debt to him.

In the Italian repertoire, his initial trademark was his fondness for the tarentella rhythm, with an off-beat tempo accentuated by the piano on the second and fourth beat, giving lightness and grace to the music.

Another trademark of the quartette was the import and crossbreeding of music from other countries – or continents. Before importing the twist in Turkey, the cha-cha in Lebanon and the letkiss in Italy, he had made his first success in Italy and France by launching bayons, sambas and cha-chas from South America (Rico Vacilon, Pimpollo), occasionally giving the tunes new Neapolitan lyrics (Don Ciccio o'piscatore, Miguel, Sophia).

In many respects, Marino Marini was also an innovator. He pioneered the echo chamber and multisound effects on stage – many of his interpretations were just as good in the concert hall as in the studio, and this in a period where electronics as we know them today were still in infancy. The now standard formation, consisting of: piano, electric guitar, double bass and drums, has no doubt been rendered popular in the world after Marino Marini's many tours.

However, besides his own excellent compositions (La più bella del mondo, Jacqueline, Tel-Aviv, Palma di Mallorca, Petronio etc…) Marino Marini's major contribution remains that he put the Italian pop songs on the World map, with his interpretations of fellow-Italian composers such as: Renato Carosone (Maruzella), Rocco Granata (Marina) and most definitely Domenico Modugno (Lazzarella, Piove, Volare, and Libero).