RIP Augusto Martelli

By Marco Molendini

November 3, 2014

He leaves at 74 Augusto Martelli, the multi-talented musician, who followed in his father's footsteps, his grandfather’s footsteps and  his great-grandfather recited by Eleonora Duse, his grandfather was violinist of Mascagni and his father, Giordano Bruno Martelli, a well-known jazz musician and conductor), composer, arranger, producer. Ill for some time, he emerged from a long silence as a professional musician, but continued to write music finally devoted himself to sacred songs, having done so much in his long career, including a slew of well-known jingle, acronyms that characterized TV channels of Fininvest and Mediaset then, by Telemike Bim Bam Boom, to The Price is Right, Casa Vianello, to Risatissima, as well as the official hymn of Milan. But Martelli, a native of Genoa, Milan adoption, in his life as a musician has also made other, as well as having a safe background avid listener of jazz and Brazilian music. In his resume there are hits like Djamballà, which was on the soundtrack of the film The Serpent God with Nadia Cassini as the protagonist, which was also successful abroad. He worked with a lot 'of the great interpreters of the Italian song as Jovanotti, Iva Zanicchi, Ornella Vanoni, Giorgio Gaber, Johnny Dorelli, Giuni Russo and as with Mina, who was married to Corrado Pani. Then Augusto had just started his career as a musician working for the record company re-Fi. Among the singers of the label was then Mina for which he composed and arranged several songs, So che non è così, Tu farai, Ero io, eri tu, era ieri, Una mezza dozzina di rose, e altre. He also arranged and conducted the orchestra for albums such as A year of love / And if tomorrow, Dedicated to my father and others. To halt the career of Augusto was the judgment, which became final in 2007, which sentenced him to one year and six months in prison for possession of child pornography pictures. He accused the lawyers which had defended him claiming to have stumbled in the investigation because he was investigating those trades, "In the manner of Father Di Noto."

Born: 3/15/1940, Genoa, Liguria, Italy

Died: 11/3/2014, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Another Dollar for the McGregors – 1970 [composer],“Still Water” [singer]

Ballad of Death Valley – 1970 [composer], “A King for a Day” [singer]