While still unknown to many today, Enzo Minuti (1927–2000), aka Ezy Minus, left his unique mark on the kaleidoscopic world of Italian library music. One of the most versatile, skilled and authentic figures in the Bolognese music scene of the mid- to late 20th century, Minuti was a multi-instrumentalist, composer, music producer, and recording studio manager, as well as a painter, etcher, and graphic artist. He devoted his life to music (especially jazz, a genre that has enjoyed a long tradition in the city of Bologna), so much so that even his visual art was inspired by music.
After extensive touring in Europe and Turkey as a jazz musician, in the late 60s Minuti opened one of the first (if not the first) recording studios in Bologna, Studio 67. This is where, throughout the 70s and 80s, he composed and recorded his own library music under the monikers Ezy Minus, Maripal, and Cronomas. The fact that he was based in Bologna is in itself notable – at the time, Italian library music was produced almost exclusively in Rome and Milan. (Most of his output in this genre was released by Kronal, a sub-label of Fabio “Fabor” Borgazzi’s Rome-based Minstrel, and by Music Scene, a joint imprint of Minstrel and Milan’s Jump Edizioni Musicali.)
This collection brings together music composed by Minuti between the ‘70s and the early ‘80s. Within this timeframe, his early library compositions can be described as cheerful pop-jazz veering toward easy listening – with vocal harmonies, jazzy vocalizations, and rhythmic elements from bossa nova, samba, and swing – or as leaning toward psychedelia, using chromaticism and elements of experimental rock. Later, he also explored reggae and electronic music, incorporating synths, drum machines, and loop stations. Yet, throughout his work, his playful, light-hearted approach to composition remained a constant, marked by simple structures, terse arrangements, and linear melodies.
On a technical note, like more famous contemporaries such as Piero Umiliani and Giuliano Sorgini, Minuti frequently used overdubbing and personally played most of the instruments on his tracks – including flute, saxophone, organ, piano, and percussion – and even sang some of the vocals.
What is perhaps most striking about Minuti’s music is its powerful imaginative and visual quality, the ease with which it evokes images and moods. This quality links to his parallel activity as a figurative and abstract artist. Influenced by both his grandfather and father (a professional and amateur painter, respectively), he taught himself to draw and paint, exhibiting his works throughout Italy and abroad. He also designed the album covers for many of his releases – often surreal dreamscapes full of symbolic figures, echoing the emotional resonance and visual evocativeness of his music.
Music and art were inseparable in Minuti’s life. Whatever he saw, heard or touched, he translated into music or visual form. The title of this collection is a tribute to that intersection of sound and vision, and a heartfelt homage to the many-sided personality of this unsung maestro.
TRACKLISTING
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Situazione 02:25
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Afro Vocal 02:37
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Opening 01:57
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Tropical Dream 03:14
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Southern Traffic 01:58
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Vocal Blues 01:46
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The Island Of Secrets 03:48
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Etere 03:16
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Nuvole Che Passano 03:55
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Discoteca 02:44
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Arapuru 03:32
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Savannah Song 03:29