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Grazie is the nineteenth album released by Gianna Nannini. It was released in 2006.

Track listing[link]

1. "Sei Nell'Anima" (Gianna Nannini, Gianna Nannini/L. De Crescenzo) - 4:29
2. "Possiamo Sempre" (Gianna Nannini/Wil Malone, Gianna Nannini/Isabella Santacroce) - 4:23
3. "L'Abbandono" (Gianna Nannini/Wil Malone, Gianna Nannini/Isabella Santacroce) - 4:01
4. "Grazie" (Francesco Sartori/Gianna Nannini, Gianna Nannini/Isabella Santacroce) - 3:31
5. "Le Carezze" (Wil Malone, L. De Crescenzo) - 4:10
6. "Babbino Caro" (Gianna Nannini) - 4:37
7. "Treno Bis" (Gianna Nannini) - 2:56
8. "Io" (Gianna Nannini, Gianna Nannini/Isabella Santacroce) - 4:37
9. "Mi Fai Incazzare" (Gianna Nannini) - 4:13
10. "Alla Fine" (Gianna Nannini) - 4:37

Personnel[link]

• Gianna Nannini – vocals, guitar, choir, drum sound
• Wil Malone – strings, grand piano, choir
• Davide Tagliapietra – guitar
• Rudiger Elze – guitar
• Fausto Mesolella – guitar
• Camilo Sampaolo – guitar
• Hans Maahn – bass
• Lino De Rosa – bass
• Thomas Lang – drums
• Sasha Ring – sound effects, groove
• Francesco Sartori – grand piano
• Ani Martirosyan – grand piano
• I Piccoli Cantori di Milano – choir
• Giulia Santaroni – choir, speaker
• Delay Lama – choir

• Production: Wil Malone and Gianna Nannini
• Sound engineers: Charlie Bohaimid, Philippe Rose
• Vocal engineers: Charlie Bohaimid, Raffaele Stefani
• Mixing: Pino Pischetola
• Mastering: Tony Cousins at Metropolis Studios, London
• Photography - Steven Sebring
• Art direction and design: Alberto Bettinetti

External links[link]

• Gianna Nannini homepage

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Edwige Fenech (Italian pronunciation: [edˈviːdʒe ˈfenɛk]) (born Edwige Sfenek; 24 December 1948) is a French-born Italian actress and film producer.

Biography[link]

Fenech was born in Bône (now Annaba), in Algeria to a Maltese father and Sicilian mother. From the late 1960s to early 1980s, Fenech starred in many types of European movies. She is best known for her Commedia sexy all'italiana films, and began to work in that field in the late 1960s with Austrian director Franz Antel. Fenech also achieved fame with giallo and sex films such as Five Dolls for an August Moon, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, Nude per l'assassino and Sex with a Smile, many of which were directed by Sergio Martino.

In the 1980s, she became a television personality, typically appearing with Barbara Bouchet on a chat show on Italian television. In the mid-1990s, she was engaged to the well-known Italian industrialist Luca di Montezemolo.

After many years of work in movie production (she produced, among others, The Merchant of Venice, 2004, with Al Pacino), Fenech accepted Quentin Tarantino's offer to star in another movie, Hostel: Part II (2007), directed by Eli Roth. A British general named Ed Fenech (played by Mike Myers) is a character in Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds.

External links[link]

• Edwige Fenech at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Fenech, by Luigi Cozzi, from around 1970
• Edwige Fenech Movie poster images

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2011)

Gianna Nannini
Gianna Nannini live at Villa Manin, Codroipo Italy in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Gianna Nannini
Born	(1954-06-14) 14 June 1954 (age 58)
Origin	Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Genres	Pop music
Instruments	vocals, piano, guitar, violin
Years active	1976–present
Website	GiannaNannini.com

Gianna Nannini (born 14 June 1954) is an Italian female singer-songwriter and pop musician. She may be best known for her 1986 song "Bello e Impossibile".

Personal life[link]

Born in Siena on 14 June 1954^[1], Nannini studied piano in Lucca and then composition in Milan. She is the older sister of former Formula One racing driver Alessandro Nannini. She graduated in philosophy from the University of Siena in 1994. The following year she took part in a protest organized by Greenpeace at the French embassy in Rome against the decision of the French government to pursue nuclear experiments at Mururoa. In August 2010 she announced that she was pregnant and that she would dedicate the upcoming album to her child.^[2] Gianna showed off her pregnancy on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine wearing a T-shirt with the inscription ‘God is a woman’. On 26 November 2010 at 12am Nannini's daughter Penelope Jane Charlotte was born on the seventh floor of the Madonnina Clinic in Milan. The girl weighed 2.530 kilos and was 48 cm long.^[3]

Musical career[link]

Her first hit was in 1979 with the single "America" and the album California, which became a success in several European countries. The rise to fame in Italy started in 1984 with the release of her sixth album, Puzzle. This album peaked in the top 10 at the Italian, German, Austrian and Swiss hit-parades. She sang for the videoclip "Fotoromanza" (directed by Michelangelo Antonioni), won several musical awards and started a European tour, including a participation at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In 1986, her hit "Bello e Impossibile" was a huge success and brought her more awards in Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Her 1987 compilation Maschi e Altri sold over a million copies.

In 2004, she released a kind of Greatest Hits compilation, but the songs were all re-recorded for the occasion. The CD Perle contains a number of her former hits in new arrangements. Backup-musicians were Christian Lohr on piano (who also is co-producer), and a stringquartet: Vincenzo di Donna (first violin), Luigi de Maio (second violin), Gerardo Morrone (viola), Antonio di Franca (violoncello). With this orchestra Gianna went on a "Perle-tour" in central Europe during 2004-2005.

The album Grazie was released in February 2006, and peaked at number one of the Italian hit-parade with the single "Sei nell'anima". During the summer of 2006, she toured all over Italy as promotion for the album. "Io", another track from the album, also became a big hit.

In April 2007, she released Pia Come la Canto Io, a collection of songs written for a pop opera that was performed in 2008. This work was eleven years in the making, and is based on the medieval Tuscan character Pia de' Tolomei (mentioned briefly in Dante's Purgatorio). The album was produced by Wil Malone, who also produced Grazie.

An acoustic version of her song Meravigliosa Creatura (from Perle) has been used in a 2008 advertisement spot for the Fiat Bravo directed by Matthias Zentner. The song and the spot have achieved such a success to take Perle to the Italian top 50 in sales, and Fiat would later include a Gianna Nannini song Aria in another Fiat Bravo ad.

Duets[link]

In 1987, selling over a million copies with the compilation and other Males: The male is the new hit premiered at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo. On 1 May 1987 he performed with Sting and Jack Bruce Threepenny Opera (Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill) at the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. In 1990, she and Edoardo Bennato sang "Un'estate italiana", the official song of the Football World Cup 1990. In September 2006, she recorded the CD single "Ama Credi E Vai" with Andrea Bocelli. Nannini was also featured on Einstürzende Neubauten member Alexander Hacke's solo album Sanctuary, on the track "Per Sempre Butterfly". In 2008 she duetted with the Italien rapper Fabri Fibra in his videoclip version of the song "In Italia".In summer open concert of Bon Jovi in Germany during their Lost Highway Tour, proving a great success. She also sang the song "Aria" with the Macedonian singer Toše Proeski.

Actuality[link]

Gianna Nannini is very popular both in Italy and elsewhere in Europe and well established abroad. In her long career spanning thirty-six years she has received over 61 platinum and diamond disks, establishing herself as one of the greatest Italian rock artists.

Retires in 2012, throughout the year, the music scene to concentrate on production of a new album and the growth of Penelope.

Discography[link]

• Gianna Nannini (1976)
• Una radura (1977)
• California (1979)
• G. N. (1981)
• Sconcerto Rock (1981, soundtrack)
• Latin Lover (1982)
• Puzzle (1984)
• Tutto Live (1985, live)
• Profumo (1986)
• Maschi e Altri (1987, compilation)
• Malafemmina (1988)
• Scandalo (1990)
• Giannissima (1991, live)
• Maschi e altri [Chicos y otros](1992, Spanish language version)
• X Forza E X Amore (1993)
• Dispetto (1995)
• Bomboloni (1996, compilation) including a song about bombolone (pastry)
• Cuore (1998)
• Momo (2002, soundtrack)
• Aria (2002) #7 (ITA), #29 (SUI)
• Perle (2004) #6 (ITA), #22 (SUI)
• Grazie (2006) #1 (ITA), #12 (SUI), #32 (GER) ( Italy 7x platinum )
• Pia come la canto io (2007) #5 (ITA)
• Giannabest (2007, compilation) #1 (ITA), #15 (POR), #23 (SUI), #32 (GER) ( Italy 7x Platinum )
• Giannadream - Solo I Sogni Sono Veri (2009) (ITA #2) ( ITA 4x Platinum )
• Extradream - Solo I Sogni Sono Veri (2010)
• Io e te (2011) ( ITA #1 ) ( ITA Gold )

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gianna Nannini

• Gianna Nannini official site
• Review of Giannadream (in English)

Antonello Venditti
Antonello Venditti in 2008
Background information
Born	(1949-03-08) 8 March 1949 (age 63) Rome, Italy
Genres	Pop Pop rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1971–present
Labels	It RCA Italiana Philips Heinz Music Buena Vista/Walt Disney
Website	www.antonellovenditti.it

Antonello Venditti (born 8 March 1949) is an Italian singer-songwriter who became famous in the 1970s for the social themes of his songs.

Biography[link]

Antonello Venditti was born in Rome, the son of a police commissioner from Molise, who would later become deputy-chief of police in Rome.

He studied piano in his youth and made his debut in the music world in the early 1970s at the Folkstudio of Rome, together with singers like Francesco De Gregori and Giorgio Lo Cascio. In duo with the former he released in 1972 his first LP, Theorius Campus. The LP scored little success, but Venditti at least made himself noted for the strength of his vocal qualities and for his attention to social issues, evidenced by pieces like Sora Rosa which is sung in Roman dialect. Also in dialect was Roma Capoccia, a declaration of love for his city, which later became one of his most famous songs. Curiously, Venditti refused to sing it for several years, as he considered it not politically or socially "engaged" enough.

Venditti subsequently moved to Milan and released L'orso bruno (1973), made in collaboration with musician Vince Tempera; this album included another song in dialect, E li ponti so' soli, but otherwise was marked by an even stronger attention to social themes. His next work, Le cose della vita ("Things of Our Life"), released the same year for the colossus RCA Music, confirmed this tendency. The following LP Quando verrà Natale ("When Christmas Comes") was similar; its even more naked arrangements emphasize the strength of Venditti's denunciation. After a live performance of the song "A Cristo" ("To Christ"), he was denounced by an Italian police officer for blasphemy. Venditti, however, was later totally acquitted.

Although Venditti's use of religious language was not typical of the culture of the left, his manner of life in the late '60s and the '70s was, as he later told the journalist Giampaolo Mattei, a "secular" one: "They were years in which the influence of the left was really strong and the life of us young people then was somewhat orphaned of God. I think it was the everyday life of the time that led me to participate in and embrace certain things. I emerged from that when I realised it was a dead end because it took away people's happiness. Maybe it did give them social growth, but about happiness it had nothing to say. Too much materialism and too little spirituality. A whole generation grew up with that materialism, with certain slogans."^[1]

Venditti's fortunes grew and peaked in 1975, with the LP Lilly. The yearning title-track was another strong accusation, this time against drugs, but it achieved an outstanding success anyway. Other famous pieces in the album were "Compagno di scuola" ("Schoolmate") and the long ballad "Lo stambecco ferito" ("The Wounded Ibex"), the story of a corrupt Northern Italian tycoon. Venditti continued to deal with front-page matters in his next LP, Ullalà (1976), whose "Canzone per Seveso" was about the industrial accident in July that year.

Political involvement, however, had side-effects on Venditti's inspiration in the late 1970s, marked in Italy by the growing menace of terrorism and by the strategia della tensione: some events (like the public booing of his friend De Gregori by politicized fans during a show) forced him to rethink his way of being a public personality. Sotto il segno dei pesci ("(Born) Under Pisces", 1978) contained more personal and intimate themes. The eponymous track scored a great success, but was largely misinterpreted as a song about a woman: it actually referred to Venditti's career, as he was in fact born "under the Pisces sign".

Success was, however, marred by his divorce from his wife Simona Izzo. She won custody of Venditti's son, Francesco Saverio. The following LP, Buona domenica (1979), was strongly marked by this difficult period. It contained, however, several classics, like the title-track and the ballad Modena, which featured Gato Barbieri on saxophone and is considered one of Venditt's finest works.

In 1982 the bitter Sotto la pioggia marked Venditti's passage to his own label, Heinz Music, and the beginning of the long-lasting collaboration with producer Alessandro Colombini. The following year A.S. Roma, his city's football team, won its long-awaited second scudetto: Venditti was therefore called upon to take part in the official celebration show, and the song that he composed for the occasion, "Grazie Roma" ("Thank You Roma"), turned into a great success, surprisingly not just in Rome. Venditti had already composed several songs about his favourite football team; some people criticized them harshly, mostly because of the strong contrast with the political-social themes of his other songs.

In the following years, and notably in the 1990s, Venditti's inspiration seemed to become more mainstream and commercial. His LPs (Cuore, In questo mondo di ladri, Benvenuti in Paradiso, Prendilo tu questo frutto amaro) were very successful, but his former themes were absent, or generally less stressed. Pieces like "Notte prima degli esami" or "Ma che bella giornata di sole" (about the Italian Liberation Day of September 1943) were anyway praised by critics. Among the songs of this period, "Dolce Enrico", from the LP Benvenuti in Paradiso (1991), was dedicated to the former leader of the Partito Comunista Italiano, Enrico Berlinguer, who died in 1984.

Antonello nel Paese delle Meraviglie ("Antonello in Wonderland") of 1997 featured his greatest hits accompanied by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra of Sofia, directed by Renato Serio. Goodbye Novecento (1999) gave increasing attention to social and historical themes, but had a sub-par success by Venditti's standards. In 2001 A.S. Roma again won a scudetto, and Venditti played again in a free concert in the Circo Massimo for an immense audience of tifosi and lovers of his songs. His latest studio release is Che fantastica storia è la vita ("What a Fantastic Story Life Is", October 2003). Gato Barbieri played with Venditti in this release. After resolving the difficulties in his friendship with Venditti, told in the latter's 1979 song "Scusa Francesco" ("Sorry Francesco"), De Gregori is also present as singer in "Io e mio fratello" ("Me and My Brother"). The album also contains a satire of Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi ("Il Sosia").

In April 2008, in an interview with a Catholic website, Venditti spoke of his faith in Christ, his devotion to Padre Pio and his respect for Pope Benedict XVI, and also mentioned having been assaulted when he was sixteen by a malevolent entity which he identified with Satan.^[2] This led the media to class Venditti with other high-profile show-business converts like Claudia Koll (who was also attacked by a malevolent entity) and Giovanni Lindo Ferretti,^[3] although actually his conversion long predates theirs.^[1][4]

In October 2009 Venditti was criticized for asking, during a concert in Sicily, "Why did God create Calabria?" and declaring that "there is really nothing" in Calabria. Calabria is a region in South Italy. In the past it was colonized by the ancient Greeks and became the cradle of Magna Graecia, but now it is also the base of the modern crime organization 'ndrangheta. Venditti later made peace with Calabria over a cup of good coffee at his house in Rome with the mayor of Reggio Calabria, Giuseppe Scopelliti.^[5]

Soundtracks[link]

Venditti released the soundtrack for the 1985 movie Troppo forte by his friend, the Roman director Carlo Verdone. Verdone also occasionally played drums in Venditti's concerts.

Discography[link]

• Theorius Campus (1972) (With Francesco De Gregori under the collective byname of Theorius Campus)
• L'orso bruno (1973)
• Le cose della vita (1973)
• Quando verrà Natale (1974)
• Lilly (1975)
• Ullalà (1976)
• Cronach (1977)
• Sotto il segno dei pesci (1978)
• Buona domenica (1979)
• Sotto la pioggia (1982)
• Circo Massimo (1983, live)
• Cuore (1984)
• Centocittà (1985, live)
• Venditti e Segreti (1986)
• In questo mondo di ladri (1988)
• Gli anni ’80 (1990, collection)
• Diario (1991)
• Benvenuti in Paradiso (1991)
• Gli anni '70 (1992)
• Da San Siro a Samarcanda – L’amore insegna agli uomini (1992, live)
• Prendilo tu questo frutto amaro (1995)
• Antonello nel Paese delle Meraviglie (1997, live)
• Goodbye Novecento (1999)
• Se l'amore è amore... (2000, collection)
• Magic in the Streets: Parade Memories (2001, track 9 only)
• Circo Massimo 2001 (2001, live)
• Il coraggio e l’amore (2002, collection)
• Che fantastica storia è la vita (2003)
• Campus Live (2005, live)
• Diamanti (2006, collection)
• Dalla pelle al cuore (2007)
• Le donne (2009)
• Unica (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Solegemello, Antonello Venditti-Solegemello-web site
• Vendittando, Venditti blog

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

Max Pezzali
Background information
Birth name	Massimo Pezzali
Born	(1967-11-14) November 14, 1967 (age 44)
Origin	Pavia, Lombardy, Italy
Genres	Pop music
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Piano
Years active	1991 - present
Labels	Warner Music Italia
Website	http://www.maxpezzali.it/

Massimo "Max" Pezzali (b. Pavia, 14 November 1967) was the singer and main song writer of the pop group "883".^[1] He released his first solo album in 2004, "Il Mondo Insieme A Te". The album was successful in Italy and from then on Pezzali decided to continue his work as a solo artist.

Early life[link]

Max Pezzali was born on November 14, 1967 in Pavia, Italy. His parents owned a florists near the family home. During his high school years Pezzali was held back for one year because he did not achieve the required pass grades. It was in this class that he would meet his friend and future band mate, Mauro Repetto. Pezzali and Repetto both shared a love for rock and roll music and it was this that led to the idea of starting a band. Together they went on holiday to the USA. During their stay they purchased a cheap synthesizer, a drumkit and some CDs, and on their return to Pavia immediately began writing music.

883[link]

Being a big fan of motorbikes, especially Harley Davidsons, they decided to name the group 883 after the mark's Sportster. Pezzali and Repetto started their singing career at the Castrocaro Festival in 1991, with the song "Non me la menare", also included in # 1 hit LP "Hanno ucciso l'Uomo Ragno" ("They killed Spider-Man"), in 1992. In 1994 Repetto left the band on good terms to pursue his dream of becoming a movie director in America. The band continued without him until 2002 when Pezzali announced his plans to begin a solo career and to take full credit for his songs. During their career (1992–2003), 883 published nine studio albums, released over 25 music videos and frequently toured Italy.

Solo career[link]

In 2002 Pezzali began work on his first solo album which was released in 2004. His style of writing differed very little from his music with "883". The main themes in his songs were still friendship, honesty, and relationships. In 2005 an "883" and "Max Pezzali" greatest hits album was released which included a DVD with all the music videos to date and stayed at the top of the album chart for 10 weeks. His latest album, "Time Out",^[1] was released during the summer of 2007. It proved a great success with the most popular songs remaining at the top of the charts throughout the summer. Pezzali is well accepted by his fans for his friendly approach, great stage performances, and his commitment to his music.

Other work[link]

1. In 1998 he dedicated much of his time to writing a book. The book went into deeper detail about the experiences he described in his lyrics. It was titled Stessa Storia, Stesso Posto, Stesso Bar.
2. During the same year he starred in the movie Jolly Blue, along with his other band mates. The film featured many of 883's biggest hits and the story was based on the lyrics of certain songs.
3. In 2002 he was selected to write the lyrics and record the vocals for the theme-tune of the Italian version of the movie Treasure Planet.
4. On April 8, 2008, he released his first novel, Per Prendersi Una Vita.

Personal life[link]

He is currently living in Rome with his wife Martina. They married on 2 April 2005.

Discography[link]

1. - 1992 - Hanno Ucciso L'uomo Ragno (en: Spiderman has been killed)
2. - 1993 - Nord Sud Ovest Est (en: North South West East)
3. - 1994 - Remix 94
4. - 1995 - La Donna Il Sogno e Il Grande Incubo (en: The Woman The Dream and The Great Nightmare)
5. - 1997 - La Dura Legge Del Gol! (en: Goal's hard law)
6. - 1998 - Gli Anni (en: Years)
7. - 1999 - Grazie Mille (en: Thank You Very Much)
8. - 2000 - Mille Grazie (en: Very Much Thank You) (Only Released in Austria, Switzerland and Germany)
9. - 2001 - Uno In Più (en: One More)
10. - 2002 - Love/Life: L'amore e la vita al tempo degli 883 (en: Love/Life: Love and life in 883's time)
11. - 2004 - Il Mondo Insieme a Te (en: The World with You)
12. - 2005 - Tutto Max (en: All Max)
13. - 2007 - Time Out
14. - 2008 - Max Live 2008
15. - 2011 - Terraferma

References[link]