Gorni Kramer (1913 – 1995) Italian accordionist, double bass player, composer, conductor, and television writer was a leading figure in the Italian jazz and popular song scene between the 1930s and 1970s
The Mantuan musician, endowed with excellent technical qualities and improvisational skills, is credited with having been the first in Italy to introduce the accordion as a solo instrument in the jazz context
In 1930 he graduated in double bass from the Conservatory of Mantua. Soon after, he began artistic activity in the milieu of the Milanese music scene
In 1934 he formed the first swing band in Italy, during the period when the great swing orchestras of Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Casa Loma Orchestra and several others were in operation in the United States
In the following years, Gorni Kramer formed several ensembles such as the Circolo Ambasciata Orchestra of Milan and the trio “The Three Niggers of Broadway”
During the period of World War II, he collaborated with singer Natalino Otto and the Cetra Quartet
In 1949 as a double bassist he participated with pianist Armando Trovajoli and drummer Gil Cuppini in the Jazz Festival organized by Charles Delaunay at the Salle Pleyel in Paris
The Lombard accordionist and double bass player was the author of more than a thousand songs, including “Crapa pelata” and “Pippo non lo sa,” and of themes for musical comedies and TV shows that have remained in the collective memory, mirroring the change in Italian culture and customs from Fascism to the post-’68 period.
