Io sono Tony Scott, ovvero come l’Italia fece fuori il pi� grande clarinettista del jazz (I am Tony Scott. The story of How Italy Got Rid of the Greatest Jazz Clarinetist)

Tony Scott (Anthony Joseph Sciacca, June 17, 1921 – March 28, 2007) was a jazz clarinetist known for an interest in folk music around the world. Born in Morristown, New Jersey Scott attended Juilliard School from 1940 to 1942.

In the 1950s he worked with Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. He also had a young Bill Evans as a side-man. In the late 1950s, he won the Down Beat critics poll for clarinetist in 1955, 1957, 1958, and 1959.

Despite such success and accolades, he remained relatively little-known as the clarinet had seemed to all but disappeared from jazz since the emergence of bebop. In 1959 he left the United States for a time. In the 1960s he toured South, East, and Southeast Asia. This led to his playing in a Hindu temple, spending time in Japan, and releasing Music for Zen Meditation in 1964 for Verve Records. In 1960 a Down Beat poll for Japan saw readers named him best clarinetist.

He settled in Italy in the 1980s, working with Italian jazz musicians such as Franco D’Andrea and Romano Mussolini. In later years he began showing an interest in Electronica and in 2002 his Hare Krishna was remixed by King Britt as a contribution to Verve Remixed.

In 2010, Italian director Franco Maresco released his documentary about the life of Tony Scott, Io sono Tony Scott, ovvero come l’Italia fece fuori il più grande clarinettista del jazz.

Discussion to follow: Antonio Monda, NYU and Anthony Julian Tamburri, Calandra Institute, moderated by Letizia Airos, i-Italy.org (IADP).