Biography:

Jimmy Villotti , stage name of Marco Villotti ( Bologna , 7 December 1944 – Bologna , 6 December 2023 [1] ), was an Italian musician .

He studied piano and guitar at a very young age . In 1963 he was called by the Meteors , with whom he recorded two LPs published by RCA Italiana and with whom he accompanied Gianni Morandi in the evenings . He then plays with other beat groups, including I Baci from Forlì, with Vasco Rossi ‘s future bassist , Claudio Golinelli , and Ivan Graziani ‘s future drummer , Gilberto Rossi , nicknamed “Attila” (former member of Fred Bongusto ‘s group ). In the seventies he formed the progressive rock group Jimmy MEC with Fio Zanotti , which released a 45 for Fonit Cetra , and began to collaborate as a session man with important artists, such as Augusto Martelli (1974), Andrea Mingardi (1977).

In 1978 he composed the rock opera Giulio Cesare , with thirty orchestra members, numerous choristers and singers. In the following years he produced the album Pesissimo! by Skiantos (1980) and Marginal Tango by Flaco Biondini and dedicated himself to collaborations with successful artists: Lucio Dalla (1977), Francesco Guccini (1979), Claudio Lolli , Sergio Endrigo , Ornella Vanoni , Luca Carboni , Gianni Morandi (1981 – 1984), Stadio (1982 – his is the classical guitar intro in the famous song Grande Figlio di Puttana ) and Paolo Conte (1981 – 1991). The latter dedicates a well-known song to him:

« Jimmy, you don’t think we can
treat ourselves to a pasha’s lunch
at this point in our lives,
autumn wind…
so let’s come in here… »

( Jimmy, dancing , Paolo Conte )

After a life as a session musician Jimmy decides to dedicate himself to his true passion, jazz , immersing himself daily in study and dedicating himself to experimentation. His references include Steve Grossman , Tony Castellano , George Coleman , Al Bacon and René Thomas . Despite this, his albums are singular: among the first Jimmy Villotti (1993) – which contains the original and partly autobiographical Drin drin and Si fidi ci ho il fez (1994), where jazz is mixed with easy pop listening and ironic lyrics, sung by Villotti himself. In recent years his creative flair has led him towards writing, dedicated to fictionalized stories about himself and his Bologna. He wrote the intense I am a train for Gianni Morandi , about the lives of musicians on a continuous journey.

His latest musical works (such as Naturally imperfect in 2002) are marked by a certain disengagement and a style that have little to do with jazz. In 2008 he won the third edition of the I ordini della Canzone award, established by the Tenco Club of Sanremo in recognition of musicians who collaborate or have collaborated with the great names of Italian song, and awarded during the annual review of songwriting. In 2019 Jimmy Villotti wrote Onyricana published by the Calamaro Edizioni publishing house. In the book, the Bolognese musician fearlessly talks about his hidden world, the fruit of his imagination that comes from his unconscious, from his dreams. The book cover was designed by Paolo Conte and contains the introduction by Francesco Guccini .

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