The musician Marcel Zanini, great of French jazz and known for his hit ” Do you want it or not “died this Wednesday, January 18 at the age of 99, we learned from his family.
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He died in hospital in Paris, his son, writer Marc-Édouard Nabe (pseudonym of Alain Zanini) told AFP.
Recognized as a variety singer
Marcel Zanini, born Zannini in Istanbul on September 7, 1923, comes from a Franco-Italian father and a Greek mother from Asia Minor, who had left Turkey for Marseilles in 1930. He himself found his way in the clarinet and saxophone, and was swept away by the post-war jazz explosion in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district of Paris.
He left for New York in 1954, where for four years he saw the biggest names in music of the time play: Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday and others.
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Despite the recognition he has obtained in the jazz world, the general public retains more the facetious figure, with bob, mustache and big glasses, of a variety singer. His 1969 hit, ” Do you want it or not “is a quickly conceived adaptation of a success of the Brazilian Wilson Simonal, “Nem vem que não tem”.
Having become rich and famous, and even a film actor, he will remain faithful to his first love, jazz. He performed on stage in various formations until the end of the 2010s, including with his writer son.
