“And there is nothing sadder on days like these than remembering happiness,” he wrote on social media, quoting verses “Tomorrow is another day”shared a photo of a tender hug with the diva from Milan. Paolo Fresu’s trumpet notes would be the ideal soundtrack for the final farewell Ornella Vanoniduring the funeral that will be celebrated today at 15.00 in the church of San Marco in the Brera district, where the great player lived in Milan. Vanoni is associated with Fresu, 64 years old, who left Berchidda (in the province of Sassari) to conquer the international jazz scene, through a very strong artistic and humanitarian connection. It’s a voice “Appointment” in 2020 to express to Fresu his desire to play during her funeral, indicating exactly what he should do. Fresu, yesterday, after leaving the chapel of rest at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, did not want to reveal the title of the work: «I believe that at this moment I have no words to add compared to the friendly silence. Ornella represents something very big for the whole world,” he said.
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The meeting between the two occurred in the early 90s. Vanoni read a short article in Corriere della Sera that reported a performance by “a Sardinian trumpeter who plays like Chet Baker” at a club in Milan, Tangram. The diva decided to show up at the club and attend the concert, being so impressed by the trumpeter’s talent that she left him a message: “Come and visit me.” “I saw him arrive on stage in ankle-length trousers, a pair of strange shoes, his hair tied with an elastic band with the locks falling to the side, and sitting in a chair curled up like a python. But when he started playing, I realized that after Chet Baker I had found another trumpet capable of moving me”, he said years later. The day after that show, Fresu appeared at Vanoni’s apartment and great artistic feelings arose between the two which in 1997 led to the birth of an album,“ Clay”with which the singer revisits some of his repertoire in jazz keys accompanied by Paolo Fresu’s trumpet. Last March the two appeared together in Bologna on stage at the Jazz on Symphony event: «In “The Man I Love” arranged by Celso Valli sounds like Billie Holiday.” When in June the University of Milan decided to award an honorary degree in Music, Culture, Media, Performance to Vanoni, the singer asked to be accompanied by the hand to the podium by Fresu.
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“It is almost impossible to talk about Ornella. It is impossible to describe a life full of successes and triumphs, falls, ascents and passions. She was an elusive woman who hated the obvious and the superficial. An artist who destroyed the delicate balance between art and life and made the stage her home where she accommodated and channeled human feelings. The world has lost a unique voice that responded, like Raphael, Miles Davis and Vinicius De Moraes, to one name: Ornella”, recalls the trumpeter.
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