Freedom Power -

Freedom Power was the name of a library/studio project comprised of Italian jazz musicians. The project yielded a self-titled album of jazz-funk/psych instrumentals, released in 1976 on Cometa Edizioni Musicali.

Members: Gabriele Ducros (flute), Alessandro Brugnolini (saxophone), Silvano Chimenti (guitar), Enrico Pieranunzi (piano)

Background

Freedom Power was a Rome library-music collective centered on arranger-flautist Gabriele Ducros, saxophonist-composer Sandro Brugnolini, guitarist Silvano Chimenti, and pianist Enrico Pieranunzi.

Ducros worked as a composer, arranger, and flautist by the mid-1970s, with LDC credits on Animali e no and La goccia d’acqua.

Brugnolini studied piano and clarinet and co-founded the Junior Dixieland Jazz Gang with bassist Carlo Loffredo in the postwar Rome jazz scene. He renamed the group Modern Jazz Gang in the mid-1950s and switched from clarinet to alto saxophone. Brugnolini moved into film and documentary cues in the early 1960s, then concentrated increasingly on library music.

Chimenti came to Rome with Taranto beat group The Planets for a 1964 Ariccia competition. RCA executive Guido Podestà called him for a June 1966 studio date with Luis Bacalov. Chimenti then became a regular session guitarist in Rome.

Pieranunzi began piano lessons at age five under the guidance of guitarist Alvaro Pieranunzi and classical teachers. He joined trombonist Marcello Rosa quartet in the late 1960s and earned a classical-piano diploma from the Conservatory of Reggio Calabria. In 1975, Pieranunzi made his leader debut with Jazz a Confronto 24 for Horo Records.

Pieranunzi and Chimenti also teamed with drummer Vincenzo Restuccia as Pulsar Music Ltd. for scores to La poliziotta fa carriera, Milano Violenta, Taxi Girl, and La ragazza alla pari. Freedom Power united musicians from overlapping Rome jazz, session, and library circles associated with Cometa Edizioni Musicali. The 1976 recording ensemble also included Paolo Casa and Adriano Declich. Freedom Power brought the players together for the Cometa session that became the self-titled CMT 4 album.

Discography: