Marino Marini & His Quartet

Marino Marini (February 27, 1901 - August 6, 1980) was an Italian sculptor. Born in Pistoia, Marini is particularly famous for his series of stylised equestrian statues, which feature a man with outstretched arms on a horse. Probably the most famous example is The Angel of the City at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice. Born in 1924 (four years after Renato Carosone, and four years before Domenico Modugno) in a family of musicians, Marino Marini graduated from the Conservatorio di Bologna and made a difficult living by teaching music, until called by the army. In 1947, while being appointed artistic director of the Metropolitan music-hall in Napoli, he tried various forms of musical ensembles. However, his posting in that city was for him a revelation: he felt he was re-born to the Neapolitan music, and he dug in that colourful repertoire for his first interpretations. 1949 was the date of his first visit to the USA, where he met Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Kenton and Charley Ventura: this was for him a first hand exposure to be-bop and more generally to the US jazz scene, which was influential in his later style. On his return, he started writing music scores for the film industry and various revues, while playing in cabarets in Rome and Napoli (La Conchiglia) then frequented by GI's and the local rough.