One secret to her European success was wherever she was popular people instantly mistook her as being native singer to that country. The style was spearheaded by artists like Caterina and started in the mid fifties but has increasingly been replaced by other pop music styles. Lyrics were typically centred on love and relationships. Schlager music was characterised by sweet, overly sentimental ballads with a simple and memorable melody on the one hand and light, pleasant and forgettable pop tunes and arrangements on the other hand. Today the style is considered rather camp and frequently is seen at the Eurovision Song Contest. Ganz Paris träumt von der Liebe (1954) sold 500,000 copies and is considered typical of Schlager music. A recording contract with Polydor soon followed and her recording career took off. Kurt Edelhagen was a well-respected bandleader whose orchestras played swinging dance music with boppish solos. In 1953 she joined Kurt Edelhagen’s band in Germany. She performed in Europe as a singer for several years and thanks to her first husband Erik van Aro (Gerd Eric Horst Scholz) who recognized her talent and encouraged her. As Caterina grew older she began to sing and was a guitar virtuoso. She started her stage career early as a child performer and joined her three siblings, but only Silvio Francesco pursued a career in show business. He father Giuseppe was a well known accordion player and her mother Maria Valente, a musical clown. These tracks, according with Jack Chambers, author of a interesting biography “Bouncin’ with Bartok: The Incomplete Works of Dick Twardzik” ( Berkeley Hills Books, Berkeley, CA, 2004 ): « may represent the apogee of Baker’s talents as a pure musician».ġ965 1980 abbey lincoln ahmad jamal anthony braxton art blakey art pepper barry altschul billy higgins blues for fisherman bovisa new orleans jazz band bruno biriaco charlie haden chick corea circle claudio angeleri dado moroni dannie richmond dave holland dino rubino don cherry enrico intra enrico rava francesco cafiso franco cerri franco d'andrea giancarlo barigozzi gianni basso gil cuppini giorgio azzolini giovanni tommaso guido manusardi horace silver jack dejohnette jay jay johnson jazz italiano john abercrombie larry nocella la swingera lenny white lino patruno michele ascolese michel petrucciani micho leviev misterioso original lambro jazz band paolino dalla porta paolo fresu.Caterina was born into an Italian circus family circa 1932.
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The following album contains the two dates recorded in Paris on october 11 and 14 with the quartet, including also bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Peter Littman in addition to the nine original issue in LP this album includes four bonus tracks from a concert given in Stuttgart on october 15, with the same group plus local guest musicians: the baritone sax player Lars Gullin and the singer Caterina Valente, before issued in different albums.