right|thumb|Quartetto Cetra in [[Belgrade c. 1950 from left to right: Virgilio Savona, Lucia Mannucci, Tata Giacobetti, Felice Chiusano]]

, ) was an Italian jazz vocal quartet established during the early 1940s and active until 1988.

Career

The band was based on the Mills Brothers and started performing under the name Quartetto Egie from the initials of the singers' first names: Enrico Gentile, Giovanni Giacobetti, Iacopo Jacomelli, and Enrico De Angelis. Although they sang American songs such as "Tiger Rag", they wrote songs and scatted in Italian. He later became one of Italy's leading post-war industrial designers.

When Italian television started broadcasting in 1954, Quartetto Cetra made its first domestic television appearance on In quattro si viaggia meglio ("You travel better when you're four"). They had appeared on British television in 1948 in Café Continental. With time the group worked on other TV programmes, including parodies of novels such as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.

The quartet's early style resembled the Mills Brothers' with jazz and swing vocal arrangements. They collaborated with Franco Cerri and Gorni Kramer. The group then performed catchy tunes with funny lyrics and sophisticated arrangements that were performed in comedy acts. Commercial success encouraged Quartetto Cetra to perform on radio, stage, and television. The band's repertoire included more than a thousand songs. Most were written by Giacobetti and Savona. These include "Il Visconte di Castelfombrone", "In un palco della Scala", "Un disco dei Platters","'Nella vecchia fattoria" (Italian version of Old MacDonald Had a Farm), "Vecchia America", "Che centrattacco" (dedicated to footballer Virgilio Levratto), "Un bacio a mezzanotte" and "I ricordi della sera". Their song "Crapa Pelada (Testa Pelata)" ("Bald Head") was used on the American television series Breaking Bad in the final episode of the third season. Quartetto Cetra performed for the last time on 1 July 1988, in Bologna, Italy.

Members

  • Felice Chiusano <small>(†1990)</small> – vocals, drums (1941–1988)
  • Tata Giacobetti <small>(†1988)</small> – vocals, double bass (1941–1988)
  • Lucia Mannucci <small>(†2012)</small> – vocals (1947–1988)
  • Virgilio Savona <small>(†2009)</small> – vocals, piano (1941–1988)
  • Enrico De Angelis <small>(†2018)</small> – vocals (1941–1947)

Discography

  • 1955 – I successi internazionali del Quartetto Cetra (Cetra, LPA 16)
  • 1955 – Lettere dal Sud America (Cetra, LPA 40)
  • 1956 – Le canzoni del festival di Sanremo 1956 viste dal Quartetto Cetra (Cetra, LPA 58)
  • 1957 – Le canzoni del festival di Sanremo 1957 viste dal Quartetto Cetra (Cetra, LPA 99)
  • 1957 – Hot Club per otto (Cetra, LPA 107)
  • 1961 – Il Quartetto Cetra alla TV (Dischi Ricordi, MRL 6011)
  • 1962 – Quartetto Cetra (Dischi Ricordi, MRL 6014)
  • 1962 – Le favole del Juke-Box (Dischi Ricordi) MRL 6024
  • 1967 – Ieri oggi (CBS, 62995)
  • 1968 – Non cantare, spara (CBS, 63325)
  • 1971 – Un LP per te (Carosello Records, CLN 25014)
  • 2006 – Il quartetto Cetra (Twilight Music, TWI CD AS 06 28)
  • 2009 – Tutto Cetra – Un bacio a mezzanotte (Rhino Records, 5051865-6726-5-4)

Bibliography

  • Virgilio Savona, Gli indimenticabili Cetra, Sperling & Kupfer, Milan, 1992
  • Matteo Ceschi, Singing What We Were to Know What We Are: The Quartetto Cetra and National History in Italian TV Entertainment, conference paper, London, 2009

References