M. Zalla
M. Zalla was a pseudonym of the Italian composer Piero Umiliani (1926-2001), used for library albums he recorded in Rome as sound accompaniment for radio and television documentaries. Umiliani, born in Florence and known for film scores such as I soliti ignoti and the song Mah-nà mah-nà, used this name for some of his more experimental studio work. Zalla records include Problemi d'oggi and Africa. Umiliani made much of this music at Sound Work-Shop, the private studio he set up in Rome in 1968 and named after the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Problemi d'oggi came out in 1973 on Liuto Records.
Aliases: Piero Umiliani
Suspense
**CD version** Among all the aliases used by the great Piero Umiliani, M. Zalla is perhaps his richest and surprising: mainly used to produce experimental records that had little commercial appeal, this ‘nom de plume’ (along with Moggi) is tied to memorable episodes of his career, releases such as “Problemi d’oggi” (literally “Today’s Problems”), “Mondo inquieto” (i.e. “An Unsettling World”), and also “Suspense”, now reissued by Schema Records.
And if titles such as those mentioned above may som…
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Audace Colpo Dei Soliti Ignoti
First ever issue in its entirety for this indispensable score by Italian cinematic jazz- father Piero Umiliani, obtained by having access to the original reels with the complete soundtrack's recording. Top class Italian crime jazz composed for a 1959's comedy directed by Nanni Loy (sequel of "I Soliti Ignoti", realized by Mario Monicelli just the year before, with almost the same artistic cast of "Audace"). Chet Baker, who was at that time in Italy, joined Umiliani's octet with his unmistakable …
Switched On Naples
Sonor is glad and proud to announce the reissue of a very underrated Piero Umiliani's masterpiece. "Switched On Naples", originally released in 1972 on OmiCron LP 0023, is an outstanding library with pure touch of genius: Maestro Umiliani revisits Naples popular songs in an electronic way with the use of synthesizer. The record is entirely carried out with electronic sounds.
Edition of 500 copies.
I Piaceri Proibiti
**blue vinyl** A beautifully jazzy soundtrack from the great Piero Umiliani – one that features solo work by some of the key members of the Basso Valdambrini sextet! The style here is very much in the mode of the best jazz soundtracks used during the French new wave years – simple themes that burst out boldly, and allow plenty of space for jazz improvisation – often along highly rhythmic lines! The music would be very much at home in a Roger Vadim film – and includes plenty of trumpet and tenor …
L'uomo nello spazio
MILESTONE!!!!Fantastic space themed music from the great Piero Umiliani, released in 1972 on his own Omicron record label and finelly reissued in a limited edition of 500 copies on transparent clear blue vinyl. These tracks, which utilise a range of electronic instruments are generally claustrophobic and tense and experimental. "I have dedicated these compositions to the spaceman, this new, modern Ulysses going adrift on the galaxian oceans..." ~ P. Umiliani, 1972. The words of the great Pi…
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Genti e Paesi del Mondo
The mid 70s presented mature, fertile grounding for maestro Piero Uimiliani’s Sound Workshop Studio, exploring side ways explorations in to gravitational soundscapes and beyond.... Released in 1975 via his prolific Omicron imprint, Genti e Paesi Del Mondo (‘Peoples and Countries of the World’) is a return to the ethnic flavours so beloved of Umiliani’s zeitgeist.
Umiliani turns anti-clockwise launching a left field mental audio pad to uncharted territories. On Genti e Paesi Del Mondo spa…
Mondo Inquieto
Maestro Piero Umiliani returns in the alter ego guise of M. Zalla for the 1974 compositional library piece Mondo Inquieto (‘Restless World’) via his far reaching, experimentalist imprint Sound Work Shop. Ambient tensions are represented via a dramatic cross fertilisation of orchestral strings, layered synths and primeval percussion with the Maestro on moody, reflective compositional duties. Stand out cut Strategia (‘Strategy’) harnesses the dopest Wu Tang Beats alongside swathes of high end …
The Folk Group
**CD version** Piero Umiliani’s rich and diverse discography got us used to bold experimentalism, to excursions into popular music as into avantgarde. Nonetheless, while “The Folk Group” makes no surprise, it still represents a peculiar work within Umiliani’s seemingly endless career. Originally published under the name of M. Zalla, an alias he especially used for those albums that were difficult to classify – and among which we must mention the extraordinary “Mondo Inquieto” and “Problemi d’ogg…
Questo Sporco Mondo Meraviglioso
**CD version** “Questo sporco mondo meraviglioso” is one of the numerous collaborations between the director Luigi Scattini and Piero Umiliani, and one of the most interesting and varied soundtracks within the composer’s repertoire. Produced in collaboration with Piero Loy, the picture falls into the Mondo Movies genre, documentaries dedicated to controversial and shocking topics (without aspiring to be journalistic or adhering to scientific evidence). In this case, Scattini’s direction focuses …
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La Ragazza dalla Pelle di Luna
“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 protagonist thanks to a casual encounter between the director and the beautiful model Zeudi Araya, the first element…
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Psichedelica
**CD version** 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 of Umiliani's most popular works, would be later selected for this library release. Originally issued …
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Il Mondo dei Romani
First vinyl reissue. Limited edition of 500 orange LPs (vinyl only; no digital release). Remastered from the original reels. The sought-after experimental gem Il Mondo Dei Romani, by soundtrack and avant-garde maestro Piero Umiliani, is now available on vinyl for the first time since its original release in 1972. Originally recorded for a TV documentary about ancient Rome and released on Umiliani's Omicron label, Il Mondo Dei Romani finds Umiliani experimenting with electronic instruments (Suoi …
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La Legge Dei Gangsters
First complete vinyl edition of the great Piero Umiliani's jazz score for La legge dei gangsters (Gangster's Law), an obscure 1969 Italian crime film starring the mighty Klaus Kinski. Featuring a large ensemble of the country's strongest players (including Oscar Valdambrini on trumpet), the score is full of sophisticated, groovy, and romantic tunes. Two LPs on colored vinyl, released in a limited numbered edition of 1000.
Effetti Musicali
Effetti Musicali is a 1968 Piero Umiliani homemade album that exposes his art and his versatility. Listening to this album seems to show him among his keyboards and other implements to overlap sounds and create situations with no outside producer influence, in full artistic freedom. The result is an experimental psychedelic electro-acoustic album. From the original Umiliani family master tapes. Limited edition of 500 copies in a glossy cover.
We all love a bit of Umiliani, and here on this excep…
Svezia Inferno e Paradiso
*2022 stock* One of the greatest soundtracks ever from the mighty Piero Umiliani is finally available again, in a faithful replica of the original edition on Omicron. A sublime mix of erotic elements, playful funky numbers, and warm jazzy tunes – all supposedly scored for an exploitation documentary about sex in Sweden – but music that really stands strongly on its own! There's a number of cuts with those cool Hammond organ tricks that Umiliani does so well – and lots of others have cool female …
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La Morte bussa due volte
A stellar cast doesn’t always guarantee a magnificent film and, from a strictly cinematographic point of view, “La morte bussa due volte” (Death knocks twice) is one of many examples of this kind; This thriller was in fact quickly forgotten at the time (1969), despite the presence of the charismatic Adolfo Celi and the beautiful Anita Ekberg.However, even for less ‘important’ productions, the likes of Morricone or, in this case, Piero Umiliani, were sometimes bothered: composers but also …
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Synthi Time
*2022 stock* Synthi Time is perhaps one of the most suitable albums - within Umiliani's incredibly vast discography - to fully appreciate the composing and experimental genius of the Maestro. For once away from the classic soundtracks that made him popular, this project veers away also from refined works of library music such as Genti e paesi del mondo (People and countries of the world) or Problemi d'oggi (Today's issues), released under the moniker of Zalla. In this case, we like to imagine hi…
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Fischiando in Beat
*2022 stock* Due to a perhaps too buoyant and unfitting title and to a ridicolously limited distribution (even at the time of its original release), Fischiando in beat (Whistling in beat) has often been ignored despite being one of the most entertaining works signed by Piero Umiliani (here accompanied by his orchestra). Originally released in 1969, Fischiando in beat presents twelve gems of instrumental beat music, fabulous specimen of that music genre often labelled with the much-abused term 'l…
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Tra Scienza e Fantascienza
2015 restock - "Tra scienza e fantascienza", is an album of histrionic Piero Umiliani recorded under the pseudonym Moggi. A Master gifted with a never ending passion for music, innovator by vocation, experimenter in his genetic code now at ease with synths in order to forge sound that could be reductively termed as avantgarde. Timeless atmospheres, alien hypnotic sonorities, modern and charmingly retro, minimal and complex arranged with an impressive taste for the unknown substance the Maes…
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Intrigo a Los Angeles
Hold your breath. This is the soundtrack to the 1964 spy movie directed by Romano Ferrara (Roy Freemount) and starring Carol Walker, Luciano Marin and Mary Luger. Composed and directed by Piero Umiliani, Intrigo A Los Angeles is one of the best and rarest soundtracks he ever did, with original copies sold for around 600 euro. This de-luxe double lp reissues comes in a beautiful gatefold sleeve that reproduces the original artwork outside and has a reproduction of the original movie poster insi…
Angeli Bianchi... Angeli Neri
**CD version** “Angeli bianchi... angeli neri” is one of the best results of the collaboration between Piero Umiliani and director Luigi Scattini. Filmed in Brazil, “Angeli bianchi... angeli neri” (also known as “Witchcraft 70”) is one of Scattini’s most popular mondo films. However in an exagerated way, as was common at the time, the aim of the movie was to document the world of black magic, devil worshipping and pagan rituals. Through the years it has reached the status of “cult movie” along w…
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Il Corpo
*2022 stock* “Il corpo” is the last movie of Luigi Scattini’s trilogy, which started with “La ragazza dalla pelle di luna” (1972) and then continued with “La ragazza fuoristrada” (1973), all skillfully orchestrated by maestro Piero Umiliani. Here we are dealing with an erotic-noir film which has many elements in common with movies like “Ossessione” (“Obsession) or “I diabolici” (Les Diaboliques) and it centres on the relationship between Enrico Maria Salerno and the sensual Zeudi Araya. Inevitab…
Una Bella Grinta
n amazing set of modern jazz – penned by Italian film composer Piero Umiliani, but also played by a very hip group headed by a young Gato Barbieri! Although Gato's probably best known for his late 60s appearances on the American scene, and his 70s dates for Impulse and Flying Dutchman – his earlier work in Italy is all pretty darn great, and this set shows the budding modernist to be in very strong company with a lineup that includes Enrico Rava on trumpet and Franco D'Andrea on piano, plu…
Lost & Found Volume V: The Jazz Library Records
Dead stock of some ultrarare original editions of four jazz/easy listening Umiliani albums. Nearly impossible to find at reasonable prices, with this boxset you can get them all in a special and beautiful hand-screened box made especially for this occasion. After the four previous sold-out volumes, we are glad to announce the “Piero Umiliani - Lost & Found Volume V: The Jazz Library Records”. Some gorgeous Jazzy tunes from the mighty Piero Umiliani, plenty of trumpet and tenor lines throughout t…
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10 Bianchi Uccisi Da Un Piccolo Indiano
The film music composed by Maestro Piero Umiliani is very appropriate, the orchestration is really good and the workmanship is excellent. The various musical atmospheres accompanying the scenes are very live. They create the pathos that binds viewers and force them to hold their breath for the duration of the film.
Lost & Found Volume IV: The Background Records
Outstanding fourth box, including dead stock find of some incredible original editions of the best background music library Piero Umilani LPS. Each one is worth already some money, but here's your chance to get them as a beautiful handscreened box made especially for this occasion in order to give 'new life' to this wonderful ageless music.After the first appreciated edition of the three boxes (containing his ethnic compositions, then his weird electronic music and the ambient ones), we are …
Da Roma A New York ("10)
Remastered from the original master tapes with superior sound quality, replica of the original RCA 10"(with bonus CD) in a limited edition of 500 copies. This is one of the most important albums in Umiliani’s career. There are ten original tracks, an ambitious project that surprises and captures jazz lovers. The reviewer of Musica Jazz magazine, who usually writes about American artists, in the issue no. 11 dated November 1957 writes: “I can’t remember what other ambitious and successful attempt…
I Soliti Ignoti
Replica of the legendary 1958 EP, this is Piero Umiliani at his best: groundbreaking modern jazz music soundtrack with top jazz italian musicians and guest star Chet Baker on trumpet. Umiliani was the first Italian to bring jazz to the big screen and experimented by using legendary trumpeter Chet Baker; a collaboration and friendship that gave life to a fine collection of recordings.
Lost & Found Volume III: The Ambient Records
*** 3 copies back in stock*** Dead stock find of some incredible original editions of the best ambient / suspence / dark atmospheric flavor library Piero Umilani LPS. Each one is worth already some money, but here's your chance to get them as a beautiful handscreened box made especially for this occasion in order to give 'new life' to this wonderful ageless music.After the first appreciated edition of the two boxes (containing his ethnic compositions and his weird electronic music), we are glad…
Lost & Found: The Electronic Records
MINDBLOWING! Dead stock find of some incredible original 70s editions of the best experimental and electronic Piero Umilani LPS. Each one is worth already some money, but here's your chance to get them as a beautiful handscreened box made especially for this occasion in order to give 'new life' to this wonderful ageless music.After the first appreciated edition of Umiliani box, containing his ethnic compositions, we are glad to announce the "Piero Umiliani - Lost & Found Volume II: The Electro…
Lost & Found: The Ethnic Records
MINDBLOWING! Dead stock find of some incredible original 70s editions of the best Piero Umilani LPS, including the amazing 'Continente Nero' Lp. Each one is worth already some money, but here's your chance to get them as a beautiful handscreened box made especially for this occasion in order to give 'new life' to this wonderful ageless music.The italian composer Piero Umiliani become famous in the 1968 with the hit song "Mah NàMah Nà", like many of his Italian colleagues at that t…