Eduardo De Crescenzo

Eduardo De Crescenzo (born 8 February 1951) is an Italian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for the songs "Ancora" and "E la musica va".

Eduardo De Crescenzo
Born	8 February 1951 (1951-02-08) (age 74) Naples, Italy
Occupations	Singer-songwriter multi-instrumentalist

Background

Born in Naples, De Crescenzo approached music at very young age, as he began playing the accordion at 3 and made his first public exhibition at 5, in Teatro Argentina, Rome.^[1][2]

At 16 he founded a beat group, "Eduardino e i Casanova", with which he recorded the first 45rpm in 1967, "Hai detto no!".^[1] After studying classical music and law at the university, in the late seventies De Crescenzo signed a contract with Dischi Ricordi, with whom he published his first single as soloist, "La solitudine" (1978).^[3] His career was launched by the song "Ancora", a romantic ballad that he presented at the 1981 Sanremo Music Festival, winning the Critics Award;^[4] the song obtained an extraordinary success, selling several millions of copies^[1] and being covered by artists such as Mina, Anna Oxa, Ornella Vanoni and Thelma Houston (with the title "I'm Losing").^[5]

Despite that large success, in the following years De Crescenzo pursued different routes, exploring musical contaminations between Italian classical melodies, soul, rhythm and blues and folk; he took part at four more editions of the Sanremo Festival, in 1985 ("Via con me"), 1987 ("L'odore del mare"), 1989 ("Come mi vuoi") and in 1991 ("E la musica va").^[5] The song "E la musica va" was covered by Phil Manzanera with the title "The beat goes on".^[6] After the 1993 album Danza, danza De Crescenzo devoted himself mainly to the live concerts and charity projects. In 2012, after a four-year hiatus, he returned to live music with the "Essenze Jazz" Tour in which he reinterprets an important part of his repertoire in a jazz style.^[7]

Discography

Studio albums

• 1981 - Ancora
• 1982 - Amico che voli
• 1983 - Decrescenzo
• 1985 - Dove c'è il mare
• 1987 - Nudi
• 1989 - C'è il sole
• 1991 - Cante jondo
• 1993 - Danza danza
• 2002 - La vita è un'altra
• 2013 - Essenze Jazz

Live albums

• 1995 - Live
• 2006 - Le mani

Compilation albums

• 1996 - All The Best (1981 - 1991)
• 1998 - 80 minuti insieme (1981 - 1993)
• 2007 - Le più belle (1978 - 1991)
• 2011 - I miei successi (1978-1991)