Farewell to Gino Paoli, icon of the Genoese school and author of masterpieces of Italian song

The songwriterGino Paoli has died at the age of 91. 'Tonight Gino left us in serenity and surrounded by the affection of his loved ones,' the Paoli family stated in a note requesting the utmost confidentiality. Born in Monfalcone in 1934, raised in Genoa where he still lived, he was a central figure of the so-called 'Genoese school' In his career of more than 60 years, he wrote and performed songs of great popularity, from Il cielo in una stanza to La gatta, from Che cosa c'è to Senza fine, from Sapore di sale to Una lunga storia d'amore, up to Quattro amici with which he won Festivalbar 1991. Paoli also participated in five editions of the Sanremo Festival.

The path that led him to success is the classic one of the deraciné artists of the 1950s: a listless student, fond of painting and jazz, he preferred a boheme made of little money, endless nights and friends like Luigi Tenco, Bruno Lauzi, Umberto Bindi, Giorgio Calabrese, the Reverberi brothers, in short, the names of the founders of the 'Genovese School' that, nourished by the songs of Brassens and Jacques Brel, in fact founded Italian songwriting.

It was Gianfranco Reverberi who opened the way for him in Milan, where he came into contact with the music industry, but also with Giorgio Gaber and Mina, who recorded 'Il cielo in una stanza', achieving great success. This success was repeated by another song, an almost jazzy 3/4: 'Senza fine', interpreted by Ornella Vanoni, who at the time was still 'the singer of the mala' and who would live a long relationship with him.

The song toured the world but above all marked the beginning of a lifelong partnership celebrated a few decades later when, after a long period of crisis, Paoli and Vanoni toured together to resounding success. In the 1960s, at the height of the 45 rpm boom, they released one of the titles that marked the history of custom: 'Sapore di sale', arranged by Ennio Morricone with the famous sax solo by Gato Barbieri. A tormented man, already married, he lived an overwhelming love affair with Stefania Sandrelli, then a teenager, a relationship from which Amanda was born.

Then, on 11 July 1963, a gesture that still has mysterious contours: Paoli attempted suicide by shooting himself in the heart. The bullet, however, did not hit vital areas and remained lodged in the pericardium, from where it was never extracted. The great success did not last long: in the second half of the 1960s he began a long period of professional and human crisis, also marked by alcohol and drugs, culminating in a frightening car accident. For his comeback as a protagonist, we have to wait until the 1980s when he first recorded a beautiful tribute album to his friend Piero Ciampi, 'Ha tutte le carte in regola' and then, in 1985, he regained the charts with 'Una lunga storia d'amore'.