TROPICALE: When the Dolce Vita discovered exotica, calypso, mambo, samba and other tropical rhythms (1959–1969) 2LP

Tropicale is the explosion of joy of the Italian economic miracle, the promise of distant destinations becoming all of a sudden tangible, the illusion of a taboo world where everything seems possible.

Through rare and unreleased cuts from the CAM Sugar archive, Tropicale traces the incendiary liaisons between Italian film music and tropical culture in the 1960s across bossa nova, samba, Latin jazz, exotica, calypso, mambo and other tropical rhythms.

Featuring music by the likes of Ennio Morricone, Piero Piccioni, Bruno Nicolai, Armando Trovajoli and many more cult composers, the collection stands as the dancing side of the Dolce Vita years when Italian cinema, and society as a whole, looked for escapism via exotic music, design and lifestyle.

Across 26 tracks, the South-American and Caribbean soundscapes meet with the flamboyance of Italian jazz resulting in a one-of-a-kind hybrid of Mediterranean and Latin melodies and sensitivities, bursting with congas, igniting percussion, tense double-bass riffs, horns and uplifting drum breaks.

The collection stands as a testament of the fascination Italian cinema developed for tropical sounds, equally applied to carefree comedies and high-browed essai cinema from the likes of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Michelangelo Antonioni.

Tropicale includes 26 tracks, 8 of which are completely unreleased and 13 never before published in digital format.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Paura - Giovanni Fusco (Il Rossetto, 1960) 
2. Squillo (Titoli) - Zeno Vukelich (Squillo,1965) 
3. Solitudine - Armando Trovajoli (Il Mito, 1964) * 
4. Che Notte Ragazzi (Bossa Vocalizzata) – Piero Umiliani (Che Notti Ragazzi, 1966) * 
5. Duello nel Mondo (Bossa Nova) - Piero Umiliani (Duello nel Mondo, 1966) * 
6. Chiamate 22-22 Tenente Sheridan (Night Beguine) - Armando Trovajoli (Chiamate 22-22 Tenente Sheridan, 1960) 
7. Sambissima - Fiorenzo Carpi (I Cuori Infranti, 1963) 
8. Forse un Giorno Andrò a Rio - Gianni Marchetti (Top Crack, 1967)



Side B
9. Bianco e Nero - Ennio Morricone (I Malamondo, 1964)
10. Baleari Operazione Oro (Sambetta) – Benedetto Ghiglia (Baleari Operazione Oro, 1966) 
11. Easy Calypso - Piero Piccioni (Una Vita Violenta, 1962) 
12. Franca - Ennio Morricone (Diciottenni al Sole, 1962)
13. Zio Guida - Nino Olivero (Mondo Cane, 1963)
14. F.B.I. Operazione Vipera Gialla (Mambo) - Francesco De Masi (F.B.I. Operazione Vipera Gialla, 1966)
15. Top Sensation (Latin) - Sante Maria Romitelli (Top Sensation, 1969)
16. Mozarteum - Nino Oliviero, Bruno Nicolai (Il Pelo nel Mondo, 1964)

Side C
17. Afro - Piero Piccioni (L’Attico, 1962)
18. Consuelo (Danza Voodoo) 2a Versione – Luis Bacalov, Nora Orlandi (La Strega in Amore, 1966)
19. Frenesia - Armando Trovajoli (Il Vuoto,1964)
20. Un Mambo Sentimentale - Piero Piccioni (Un Tentativo Sentimentale, 1963)
21. Nudo, Crudo e Cha Cha Cha - Marcello Giombini, Mario Ammonini (Nudo e Crudo e…, 1965)


Side D
22. La Cento Chilometri (Mambo) - Armando Trovajoli (La Cento Chilometri, 1959) *
23. Pupa Cha Cha Cha - Nino Oliviero (La Pupa, 1963)
24. Mamma Roma (Cha, Cha, Cha) - Carlo Rustichelli (Mamma Roma, 1962)
25. Cha Cha Cha cantato - Piero Piccioni (La Commare Secca, 1962)
26. Mambo in Piscina - Piero Umiliani (Smog, 1962) *

*previously unreleased