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Il pianista Zoot Money (George Bruno Money) fu l'esponente piu` noto di una versione
clownesca del rhythm and blues.
Giunto a Londra, si arruolo` nella legione blues di
Alexis Korner e poi formo`
una sua Big Roll Band, che ottenne un timido successo con
Big Time Operator (1965).
Sul primo album, Live At Klooks Kleek (CBS, 1966), la band comprendeva
Nick Newall al sax, Colin Allen alla batteria e Andy Summers alla chitarra.
Johnny Almond suono` nell'ultima line-up
della Big Roll Band. Poi Bruno formo` i Dantalian's Chariot (un trio con
Summers e Allen) per inseguire la nuova moda del 1967, la psichedelia.
Il bizzarro singolo
The Madman Running Through The Fields usci` nel settembre
1967, all'apice del fenomeno.
Bruno e Summers si trasferirono a San Francisco, dove accompagnarono
Eric Burdon.
Nel 1970 Money lascio` Burdon e registro` Welcome To My Head.
Poi inizio` a fare da session-man, riuscendo sempre a lasciare un'impronta
personale, in particolare
su In Living Black And White (Virgin, 1976) di Kevin Coyne.
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(Translated and updated by Ellie Buchanan)
Piano player and organist Zoot Money (George Bruno Money) was the most
colourful exponent of early British rhythm and blues, legendary for
his outrageous live appearances. Born in Bournemouth to Italian
parents, he moved to London in the early 1960s where he worked with
Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated in between spells with his own Big
Roll Band, with whom he had a minor hit ('Big Time Operator') in 1965.
On their first album, 'Live At Klooks Kleek' (CBS, 1966, produced by
Gus Dudgeon), the band comprised Nick Newall on sax, Colin Allen on
drums and Andy Summers on guitar, joined by Johnny Almond in later
line-ups of the Big Roll Band. Money went on to form Dantalian's
Chariot, (a psychedelic trio with Summers and Allen), in response to
the new mood of 1967. In September 1967, at the height of the "summer
of love", they released a typically bizarre single, 'Madman Running
Through the Fields'. The trio broke up soon after and Money and
Summers moved to San Francisco to join Eric Burdon's New Animals for a
spell. In 1970 Zoot released his first solo album, 'Welcome to My
Head'. By this time he was also in demand as a session man, always
managing to leave his personal stamp on a recording, in particular on
Kevin Coyne's 'In Living Black And White' (Virgin, 1976). During the
1970s Zoot Money developed a parallel career as a film actor, which
has continued to the present day. The past thirty years have seen him
continue to record and perform, both as a featured artist with fellow
1960s stars such as Spencer Davis and Alan Price and in his own right
with the Big Roll Band, who are enjoying a renaissance as Zoot
introduces his unique brand of blues to a new generation.
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