r.i.p. Gigi Campi (1928-2009)

[king ubu]

Gigi Campi died on January 6, 2009.

Pierluigi (Gigi) Campi (* 15. December 1928 in Köln; † 6. January 2010) was an Italian jazz producer and architect, from 1949 to 1980 he ran the famous 'gelateria' cafe Campi in Cologne which hosted many jazz concerts and soon became an established meeting point not only for local artists of all kinds but also for international musicians, in the 1950s he founded Mod Records and the label Old. Since 1983 he was involved in the renovated Art Deco location 'Alter Wartesaal' inside Cologne's central station, since 1997 his family also runs the bistro inside the WDR main building.

Campi's discogs entry:

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Gigi+Campi

some german links:

wikipedia entry

campi im funkhaus

obituary from "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger"

Campi had Francy Boland play at his gelateria for the 1959 carnival in Cologne, with a few other musicians. This marked the beginning of the Clarke-Boland big band, which Campi designed around Boland and those musicians. In May 1961 they recorded "The Golden Eight" for Blue Note, and then in 1966 the Clarke-Boland Big Band played its first gig. Campi managed the band until 1969.

This is roughly my own paraphrase of the jazz-relevant bit of the German wiki entry, or rather of the CBBB relevant bits... for his own Mod label, he had started recording artists like Jutta Hipp, Hans Koller or Attila Zoller back in 1954.

[Big Beat Steve]

Sad to say time flies by and that generation of pioneers inevitably steps down one after another. R.I.P.

BTW, not wanting to belittle the CBBB in any way but to hardcore German jazz fans a major legacy of his undoubtedly will be his activities on the MOD label(s) in the 50s. The reissues of the rare MOD originals on the Jazz Realities label are highly recommended, and for an additional appreciation of Gigi Campi's groundbreaking promotional activities the "Jazz in Köln" book by Robert von Zahn is recommended.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Big Beat Steve

[sidewinder]

Oh, what a shame - although he lived a good long life and left the fabulous legacy inc. CBBB of course. For sure, lovers of jazz big band music will forever be grateful for his backing of the band. By total coincidence before even seeing this thread I had the CBBB 'More Smiles' BASF vinyl on the turntable platter. RIP.

Edited January 8, 2010 by sidewinder

[BillF]

Very sorry to hear this. Saw Campi on film for the first time a couple of weeks ago - introducing the CBBB on their Live in Prague in '67 DVD.

[brownie]

How sad!

A good man goes...

[sidewinder]

I'll be playing a few of the CBBB LPs and also watching that film of the band with Carmen McRae by way of tribute tonight. First up - Francy Boland 'Flirt & Dream'.

[jazzbo]

R I P Gigi! DAMN!

[clifford_thornton]

RIP. It's through this board that I've really begun to appreciate his efforts and those of the musicians/composers that he championed.

[mikeweil]

R.I.P.

Considering his age, I wasn't too surprised to read this - my thoughts are with his family. I once talked to him shortly omn the phone, he was a very nice man dedicated to his work. The German jazz scene would be a lot poorer without him.

[sidewinder]

Yeah, that Clarke/Boland Big Band material (I don't know the other German recordings he was involved was) was incredible. Beautifully recorded and presented, comes across as a total labour of love. Thank goodness for people like Gigi Campi.

Edited January 9, 2010 by sidewinder