Berto Pisano was a bassist, composer, arranger and orchestra
director. He is mostly remembered as
lover of tv osts and italian jazz. He
has been a musician and composer of a great number of movie osts as well as tv
fictions, jazz records, music libraries and songs.
Berto begun his activity in Sardinia, together
with his elder brother Franco Pisano during the last war, with the Quintetto
Aster and then went to the Asternovas as member of the group that accompanied Fred Buscaglione.
 |
| Fred Buscaglione and the Asternovas
Among the not very many, but always interesting
osts composed by him, we can find Interrabang, which was created for a
noir/erotic movie back in 1969, which at the time was quite out the usual framework
as it joined both the esotic/erotic
genres, together with a psychological
thriller. The movie was directed by Giuliano Biagetti, script signed by Giorgio
Mariuzzo (first movie and also assistant director) and Luciano Lucignani, based on a subject written by a mysterious
Edgar Mills.
 
The ost was published in 1970 as part of the series sp 8000 of the Italian
Rca, in exclusively promotional edition.
For this work Maestro Pisano availed himself of the
cooperation of Edda Dell’Orso as solo
voice and that of Gino Marinacci, for flute and bass flute.
|
The main theme of the ost, “Tema di Valeria”, is
unusually found on flip side. The introduction lasts about one minute and it is
entrusted to cello and guitar, it explodes afterwards in a jazzed theme
supported by strings, woodwinds, vibraphone and a soft drum played with percussion
brushes. The theme is repeated, but with different tempos and keys in other tracks. In the first track of
the LP , “A piedi nudi sulla spiaggia”, it starts
in part with flute and woodwind which
dominate Edda’s vocals, then follow strings that “surround” the final slow
waltz. On “La Scogliera dell’Amore”, a brief but intense track, piano and
strings excel. We carry on with one of
the most relevant tracks on the album l “ Il Colore degli Angeli”, a splendid
bossanova with Edda’s outstanding voice on the foreground. The track is intensified by a heavy harpsichord a supported by a powerful bass and by very light brushes
play on percussions’ dishes.
On “Sabbia e Mare” the harp creeps over
accompanied by violins while the following track closes the first side of lp with a mid-tempo shake titled “Little Snack Bar” that detaches completely from
the rest of tracks. Here we find the organ prevailing, sporadically leaving
space to a semi-acoustic guitar and flute solos.
On first track of flip, “E il sole scotta”,
Pisano synchronizes Marinacci’s vibrating flute with Dell’Orso’s vocalization,
and gives a wholesome result and enhances the track with a grip interrupted
subsequently by wind instruments that tune up a dynamic jazz swing. “Tramonto
sulla scogliera” is the main theme and is played by violins while “La Vallata
Sommersa” is handed over to the harp. On “Luci sulla baia” we again find a vibe
organ which mixes up bass flute and strings
tune up a slow tempo.
The movie at the time was heavily censored by Judge Occorsio who ordered its confiscation from movie theatres, and eliminated any trace of the soft morbosity which pervaded the movie
itself. Seen in its entirety, Interrabang
is an overall well done movie with some stylistish intuitions. The
judge, at the time, without knowing it, has priviledged the ost of Berto Pisano
which has survived in time, up to the
stage where some of the tracks have been used by the author for the movie
Giallo a Venezia, a noir of Mario Landi.
With this Lp Maestro Pisano has shown to be a
good composer of movie osts , the refined beauty of the masterpiece and the
extreme rarity of the original vinyl, has
made it a very much sought-after delight appreciated by record collectors.
made it a very much sought-after delight appreciated by record collectors.
