Michele Lacerenza was born on January 7, 1922 in Taranto, Puglia, Italy. One of the great trumpet players of the Spaghetti western genre. When Ennio Morricone was composing the score for “Fistful of Dollars”, Sergio Leone wanted Italy’s premiere trumpet player Nini Rosso but Lacerenza heard about it and wanted to play the trumpet for the film score, and Michele knew it well. So he played that solo in such a breathtaking manner that he himself was driven to tears. And in the end Sergio too was moved by that heartbreaking sound". Vinicio Capossela, a renowned Italian singer, admits: "That trumpet breaks Leone's long, silent sequences like a cry rising from the desert stones. The Lord's trumpet calls the souls to judgment, Lacerenza's calls them to the final showdown". In 1964, after the exploit of "For a Fistful of Dollars", Lacerenza's trumpet became a fetish for an endless number of spaghetti-western movies. Lacerenza's trumpet immediately evokes the gritty and grimy West of Sergio Leone and of his countless imitators. Lacerenza became a composer and composed scores for three Euro-westerns and played on ten. Michele died on November 17, 1989 in Rome. Today we remember Michele Lacerenza on what would have been his 90th birthday.
Thank you Tom,
ReplyDeleteInteresting piece love his stuff, think he did Teme de Jonny from $10,000 on the black (If the title is right?)
David.D
Yes David he was featured on many of the SW scores including "$7.00 on the Red" which is one of my favorites and $10,000 for a Massacre".
ReplyDeleteI sit and listen to the sound track from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly every night just to hear that trumpet. I am so sorry to find out now that he died, he was fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI have the sound track from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I listen to it constantly and I had to do some Google searching to find out who played that BEAUTIFUL trumpet. A trumpet is not an easy instrument to play, I know. But he made it sound easy. ABSOLUTELY GREAT! So sorry now that I have found out who it was, that he is gone. The worlde has lost a great musician.
ReplyDeleteI have been listening to Michele from the age of 7, although sadly I never knew who he was. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly has some of most expressive trumpet playing ever, never mind the technical difficulty of some of it, just amazing!!! From the age of 9 I wanted to play the theme from A Fistful of Dollars - its taken me many many years and every time I get close I still miss some of the beautiful sutblties. Only a true master can turn style, intonation, and melody into emotion, he bares his soul in his music.
ReplyDeleteGutted that he has sadly passed away - an unsung hero of the trumpet and a wonderful musician.