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Piero Umiliani

Country: Italy

Piero Umiliani (1926 to 2001) was a Florentine composer, arranger and bandleader whose work ran from jazz to lounge to early electronics. His score for Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti (1958) was the first true jazz soundtrack in Italian cinema, and ten years later "Mah Nà Mah Nà", written for a documentary about Sweden, became a novelty hit worldwide. He scored dozens of westerns, spy films, gialli and soft erotica in the 1960s and 1970s, and in his Sound Work Shop studio in Rome he was among the first Italians to use the Moog and other electronic keyboards.

Aliases: Moggi, M. Zalla, Rovi, Tusco
Vai Avanti tu che mi Vien da Ridere - C'È un Fantasma nel mio Letto
We continue our Ddj Dlx series dedicated to composers for ‘80s Italian cult cinema with this double bill dedicated to Maestro Piero Umiliani, including the scores for the classic cult comedy Vai Avanti Tu Che Mi Vien Da Ridere and a b-movie from the same decade, C'e Un Fantasma Nel Mio Letto.Both films feature great casts, in the former our beloved Lino Banfi and gorgeous Agostina Belli and in the latter the divine Lilli Carati and the great Renzo Montagnani. These two soundtracks, previously un…
Blue Nude
To describe Piero Umiliani's music, we have a word that often comes to mind and which the composer used to entitle one of his most beautiful cues: tensione (tension).Tension, depending on the circumstance to which we apply it, is a term with many meanings but which always expresses a condition of intense participation, of intellectual strife, of energy exerted in the pursuit of a goal.One of his lesser-known works, Blue Nude (1977) is a musically-rich effort that illustrates the artistic tension…
La Schiava Io Ce L'Ho E Tu No
Thanks to the partnership between Roman labels and distributors Cometa Edizioni Musicali, Beat Records and Four Flies Records, one of the most iconic and essential works by Piero Umiliani has finally emerged from the archives: La schiava io ce l'ho e tu no. The movie was directed by Giorgio Capitani starring Lando Buzzanca and Chaterine Spaak, its soundtrack recorded at Ortophonic Studios in Rome in September of 1973. Widely regarded as one of the most sought-after productions by the famous Ital…
Jerry Land Cacciatore di Spie
This month our flip-cover CD is dedicated to the mythical Tuscan-born, Roman-adopted Maestro Piero Umiliani and his wonderful score for the 1966 spy caper Jerry Land – Cacciatore di spie (aka ''Man on a Flying Trapeze'') by Spanish director Juan de Orduña. The movie starred Wayde Preston, Helga Sommerfeld and Reinhard Kolldehoff and followed the trail of the dynamite success of the Bond movies scored by one of the most talented Maestros of that genre. A previously-unreleased score that can easil…
Operazione Poker
A completely unreleased score (pay exception for a 45rpm single), Operazione Poker, in this De Luxe edition pays homage to one of the greatest Italian composer for cinema, Piero Umiliani. A 1967 movie in the trail of the bond series with a great soundtrack, jazzy, melodic, orchestral, by one artists that deserve the most respect and doesn't need introductions, author of hundreds scores, one better of the other. The product is released in Digipack case with a poster of 24x36cm featuring original …
La Legge Dei Gangsters
We continue our renaissance of the great Piero Umiliani's body of work with this 2-CD edition of the score of La legge dei gangsters (Gangster's Law), a movie directed by Siro Marcellini in 1969 starring Klaus Kinsky, Maurice Poli and Franco Citti . The backdrop for the Maestro's score is the streets of Genoa, a robbery, treachery and gunfights: fertile ground in which the Florentine composer put the roots of his talent with a dynamic and harmonic score, sophisticated and original, romantic and …
Agente X1-7 Operazione Oceano
In 2013, thanks to the collaboration with Sugar Group and the Umiliani Estate archives, we launched a new series dedicated to the discovery of the immense talent of this wonderful composer. Through our efforts we were able to retrieve many beautiful soundtracks, some of which we've already released: ''Intrigo a Los Angeles,'' ''Jerry Land Cacciatore di Spie,'' ''Il marchio di Kriminal,'' and sound library albums such as ''Discomusic'' and ''Tra scienza e fantascienza.'' Many others are just wait…
Intrigo a Los Angeles
Intrigo a Los Angeles aka ''Intrigue in Los Angeles,'' ''F.B.I. enquête à Los Angeles'' and ''Tom Collins jagt die schwarze Natter'') is a Giallo/Spy hybrid directed in 1964 by Romano Ferrara (under the pseudonym Roy Freemount), produced by Lucio Marcuzzo and Mario Perelli for Cinelions, Publitalia, and starring Mary Luger, Renato Terra Caizzi, Gaetano Quartararo, Stefano Pfau, Luciana Marina and Carol Walker. F.B.I. agents David Blair and Thelma Avery are assigned to search for Professor Weiss,…
Dossier
Another four Umiliani favourites remastered and reissued on seven inch for the first time. Dirty disco business on the A and super psych sounds on the B. Dossier is taken from Moggi - News! News! News! (Sound Work Shop) 1979 Discomania is from The Soundwork-Shoppers - Discomusic (Sound Work Shop) 1978 Mondo Dove Vai? (Complesso Beat Con Effetti Elettronici Version) from Piero Umiliani – Questo Sporco Mondo Meraviglioso (Omicron) 1971 Hippies (Part 2) from Piero Umiliani – Psichedelica (Omicron) …
Lost & Found Volume III: The Ambient Records (5LP)
Five LP set containing original copis of five rare diverse library albums recorded under his name or in disguise (Rovi, Moggi, Catamo) and released on his lables Videovoice, Omicron, Liuto Records, Telesound and Sound Work Shop between 1972 and 1983. Collected in a special tissue bag in an edition of 48 numbered copies in 2014.
Luna Park (LP)
Original edition on the microscopic Telesound label of the 1983 circus library album by Umiliani in disguise as Tusco.
Suspence Elettronica (LP)
Original edition on the microscopic Telesound label of the rare and great experimental electronic library album by Umiliani in disguise as Tusco.
Mr. Mah-Nà Mah-Nà. Piero Umiliani e la sua musica (book-EP)
2016 biography of the jazz, electronic and library music master published by Bloodbuster in a limited edition of 500 copies including a 7"EP with tracks from Sweden Heaven And Hell, Piano Fender Blues and Aragosta A Colazione.
Fantasy
On Fantasy, Piero Umiliani resurfaces four decades late with a perfectly preserved final statement: a 1983 library dream where analog synths, light orchestration and soft rhythms drift between science‑fiction shimmer and easy‑listening warmth, closing his universe on a quietly visionary note.
La Luce dell'Alba
La Luce dell’Alba is the new LP by Jolly Mare, conceived as an imaginary meeting with Piero Umiliani (on the centenary of his birth) and made possible by access to the original multitrack tapes provided by the Maestro’s family. Recorded between the legendary Sound Workshop in Rome and Oister Studio in Milan, the album weaves rearrangements and new overdubs, creating a suggestive dialogue between past and present. An ambitious, visionary project that renews Umiliani’s sonic legacy through Jolly M…
Smog
On Smog, Piero Umiliani weaves Italian cinematic cool, West Coast jazz and vocal chiaroscuro into a quietly devastating portrait of early‑60s Los Angeles, with Chet Baker and Helen Merrill tracing the city’s alienated glamour in smoke.
Drammi E Speranze
Originally released in 1976 on Piero Umiliani’s own Sound Work Shop imprint, Drammi e Speranze -issued under the pseudonym Rovi - stands as a refined example of his late-period library work. Performed by a compact string ensemble and subtly augmented by piano, Hammond organ, Eminent organ, and Rhodes, the album unfolds through a series of classically-informed compositions where melody takes center stage. Each piece is concise, evocative, and purpose-built - reflecting the functional yet highly e…
5 Bambole per la Luna d'Agosto
To mark the centenary of composer Piero Umiliani, born in Florence in 1926, Cinevox Record is pleased to reissue his fabulous score for the 1970 film 5 Dolls for the August Moon, directed by Mario Bava, on a double CD. To produce this double CD, we were able to access the original mono and stereo sessions once again, which allowed us to discover previously unreleased material. CD1 features the Cinevox MDF 33/33 album released in 1970, with fourteen mono tracks selected by Maestro Umiliani himsel…
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Il Ponte Dell'Asia
Holy Basil Records reissues Piero Umiliani’s “Il Ponte Dell’Asia”—a rare, remastered vinyl with original artwork. Celebrated for blending jazz, funk, and world music, this deluxe edition honors Umiliani’s visionary legacy.
Bundle
Piero Umiliani Bundle
This bundle includes the following albums:Piero Umiliani "La ragazza dalla pelle di luna" (LP, 1972)Piero Umiliani "La ragazza fuoristrada" (LP, 1973)Piero Umiliani "Il corpo" (LP, 1974)Piero Umiliani "Psichedelica" (LP, 1968)The Braen's Machine "Underground" (LP, 1971) Few composers captured the eclectic beauty of Italy’s golden age of soundtracks like Piero Umiliani. A master of mood, texture, and subtext, Umiliani created a vast discography that blurred the lines between jazz, lounge, funk, p…
La Ragazza dalla Pelle di Luna
500 copies, audiophile pressing. Perfect replica of the original packaging, newly remastered for optimal sound. “La ragazza dalla pelle di luna” is the first chapter of Piero Scattini’s acclaimed movie trilogy,completed by “La ragazza fuoristrada” (1973) and “Il corpo” (1974), whose soundtracks were all entrusted into Piero Umiliani’s expert hands. With a title taking inspiration from the fame of Seychelles’ indigenous beauties (a myth later dismissed by Scattini himself) the film found its prot…
Psichedelica
500 copies, audiophile pressing. Perfect replica of the original packaging, newly remastered for optimal sound. Before talking about "Psichedelica", one of the many and rare library albums signed by Piero Umiliani, we must step back in time, until June 1968, when Umiliani was working on the score of "Svezia Inferno e Paradiso" (Sweden Heaven and Hell), one of the many collaborations between director Luigi Scattini and the Maestro. In fact, a large part of the music recorded for that movie, one o…
Olimpiade
Trumpeter Francesco "Cicci" Santucci and saxophonist Enzo Scoppa got their start in the late '50s with the Italian group Italian group Modern Jazz Gang, along with other Italian jazz greats  such as Sandro Brugnolini and Amadeo Tommasi. In June 1971, "il maestro" Piero Umiliani offered them his Sound Workshop recording studio located in the heart of Rome, to create an album to create an album under his supervision. The result was Olimpiade, a jazz-funk album driven by the electric piano of Franc…
Italian Library Songbook Vol. 2: Piero Umiliani
The Italian Library Songbook series, where contemporary producers and songwriters breathe new life into hidden tracks and outtakes from Italian soundtrack maestros, is back with its second installment. This time, beat-maker and bass player Moonbrew, along with composer and keyboardist Paolo Apollo Negri, reimagine the iconic Piero Umiliani, whose influence resonates deeply with anyone who grew up with a passion for b-movies, library music, and soundtracks.
Guerra e Distruzione
Huge Tip! Dive into the evocative soundscapes of the past with the first ever vinyl reissue of Piero Umiliani's 1972 library masterpiece, "Guerra E Distruzione." Known for his innovative and genre-defying compositions, Umiliani's work on this album encapsulates the raw emotions and tumultuous energies of war and destruction through a unique blend of orchestral finesse and experimental brilliance. This exclusive reissue has been remastered for vinyl by Davide "Bassi Maestro" Bassi to capture the …
The Complete Liuto and Sound Work Shop Heritage
For the first time ever, the whole Piero Umiliani’s production on his Liuto and Sound Work Shop record labels is collected in a two sensational box sets.
The Complete Sound Work Shop Heritage
For the first time ever, the whole Piero Umiliani’s production on his Sound Work Shop record label is collected in a unique 17-CD sensational box set
The Complete Liuto Heritage
For the first time ever, the whole Piero Umiliani’s production on his Liuto record label is collected in a unique 19-CD sensational box set
Tropicale - When La Dolce Vita Discovered Exotica, Calypso, Mambo, Samba and Other Tropical Rhythms (1959-1969)
Tropicale is the explosion of joy of the Italian economic miracle, the promise of distant destinations becoming all of a sudden tangible, the illusion of a taboo world where everything seems possible. Through rare and unreleased cuts from the CAM Sugar archive, Tropicale traces the incendiary liaisons between Italian film music and tropical culture in the 1960s across bossa nova, samba, Latin jazz, exotica, calypso, mambo and other tropical rhythms. Featuring music by the likes of Ennio Morricon…
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Orgasmo - Paranoia
** Deluxe edition. Lavish 650-gram single tip-on jacket adorned with new artwork ** Four Flies is thrilled to announce a reissue of Piero Umiliani’s soundtrack to the 1969 giallo thriller “Orgasmo” (called “Paranoia” in English speaking countries), the first of three erotically charged films directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring cult siren (and Oscar nominee) Carroll Baker. Back in 2020, we unveiled the first-ever release of this iconic soundtrack, whose master tapes were thought lost for decad…
L'Arcangelo
“L'arcangelo” (The Archangel) is a 1969 comedy characterised by police and judiciary tones, directed by GIorgio Capitani and starring, among others, Vittorio Gassman, Pamela Tiffin, Adolfo Celi, Irina Demick and Carlo Delle Piane. This soundtrack follows the previous “La notte è fatta per... rubare” (Night is Made for Stealing) which marked the beginning of Umiliani’s collaboration with the director. Mainly displaying a Latin American flavour, it contains several elements typical of the composer…
Piero Umiliani In Parole E Musica (Book)
* Italian Language Edition * 2023 Stock * Piero Umiliami era un grande musicista, tra i padri del moderno jazz italiano. Era un compositore di musiche per il cinema: oltre a "I soliti ignoti", ne ha firmate altre 150 almeno. Piero Umiliani ha scritto "mah-nà mah-nà", sigla del Muppet Show, e "Il valzer della toppa", col testo di Pasolini. Ha scritto anche sigle televisive per 90° minuto, la Domenica Sportiva, La Corrida... Piero Umiliani era un artista di talento, ma anche un artigiano interessa…
A Tempo Di Jazz
Sonor Music Editions proudly presents "A Tempo Di Jazz" by Maestro Piero Umiliani. This lost gem captures the formative years of modern jazz in late 1950s Italy – alongside the legendary Basso-Valdambrini recordings in the early 1960s, as well as the early years of Piero Umiliani's long and prolific career as a composer with over 190 soundtracks, 40 library albums, and 35 TV title themes recorded. A Tempo Di Jazz includes seven original compositions by Piero Umiliani recorded in 1959. Here, at t…
Gli Italiani e L'Industria
From the legendary Omicron label secret archives, one of the rarest and nearly impossible to find album signed by Piero Umiliani. Awareness of Piero Umiliani’s genius is widespread nowadays,not least on this incredible Gli italiani e l’industria, a soundtrack of a mysterious TV documentary by Romolo Marcellini broadcasted in 1967, and never appeared again from then, which was focused on virtue and vice of Italian post-economic boom industrialization. The music perfectly reflects the contrasts of…
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Due Ragazzi Da Marciapiede (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Quartet Records, in collaboration with Beat Records and Liuto Edizioni Musicali, presents world premiere release of the catchy, infectious score by Piero Umiliani for the successful Spanish-Italian comedy Due Ragazzi da Marciapiede, directed by Ramón Fernández in 1969, and starring Alfredo Landa, Jean Sorel and Ira von Fürstenberg.  The film is about Dr. Andréu, who runs a gynecological practice in a provincial town without any success because he’s too handsome for the husbands of his patients. …
Angeli Bianchi Angeli Neri
Another Piero Umiliani classic gets its first-ever release on 7" vinyl! Shortly after 'Sweden: Heaven and Hell', in 1969 'Angeli Bianchi, Angeli Neri' continued the collaboration between Umiliani and director Luigi Scattini, this time in the direction of magic and esotericism, as the English title of the film, "Witchcraft '70", makes abundantly clear. The two tracks included in this release reflect that direction, which informs more or less the entire score written by the Florentine composer. On…
Temi Descrittivi Per Piccolo Complesso
Originally released in 1976 as part of the "Background Music" series on Piero Umiliani's own Liuto Records, "Temi Descrittivi Per Piccolo Complesso" is a real gem in the maestro's vast and and intricate catalogue. Flutes and horns alternate with pianofender to create some magical, sweet and intimate atmospheres, crafting an abstract and mysterious soundscape that could reminisce of medieval times as much as some distant galaxies. We are happy to bring back "Temi Descrittivi Per Piccolo Complesso…
Il Corpo
Four Flies is proud to present the very first 7" version of music from "Il Corpo", Piero Umiliani's acclaimed soundtrack to the 1974 film that ends the exotic/erotic trilogy directed by Luigi Scattini and starring Zeudy Araya, where the Florentine composer reached one of the peaks of his creative powers. "Chaser", featured on side A in an exclusive extended version (previously unreleased in any form), is a track with a dreamy groove that blends rock, funk, jazz, exotic and psychedelic elements i…
Tra Scienza E Fantascienza
Timeless atmospheres, hypnotic sonorities, minimal arrangements. And a composer gifted with a never ending passion for music, experimenter in his genetic code, innovator by vocation, at ease with various instruments in order to forge avant-garde themes. Piero Umiliani was already forward in building completely new sounds in the late Seventies. “Tra Scienza E Fantascienza” finds his alter ego Moggi experimenting with alternative grooves, electronic music, jazz tunes and soundtrack motifs. One of …