Director Luca Conti Founder Gian Carlo Testoni First issue August 1945 | Frequency Monthly Year founded 1945 | |
Categories Music magazine, jazz, music journalism | ||
Musica Jazz is an Italian monthly magazine specializing in jazz. Founded in 1945 by journalist Gian Carlo Testoni, it is one of the world's longest-running jazz magazines, printing music reviews and news articles covering the genre; it once published Italy's jazz record charts. The magazine is currently directed by editor-in-chief Luca Conti.
History
Italian journalist Gian Carlo Testoni found Musica Jazz in 1945. It was published for its first 36 years by Messaggerie Musicali, beginning with its first issue in August of that year. Testoni directed the magazine through 1965, when Arrigo Polillo became its editor-in-chief. Based in Milan, the magazine served as Italy's only monthly magazine which specialized in jazz, publishing news articles, music reviews, and at one point the country's jazz record charts.
In November 1981, Rusconi Editore—one of Italy's four publishing giants—assumed Musica Jazz's publication. By this point, it had been the country's only monthly magazine which specialized in jazz. The publishing company guaranteed a wider distribution of the magazine throughout Italy as well as improvements to its content. Each issue was subsequently packaged with an LP record by the musician who was covered in the main feature story; in later years, CDs were included in their place.
Pino Candini, the head executive of Rusconi's television and entertainment division, became the deputy editor under Polillo, before assuming his role a few years later. A long-time jazz enthusiast, Candini directed the magazine until November 1997, when he died after a five-year battle with cancer. Jazz Journal International wrote a piece on Musica Jazz and Candini after his passing, crediting the magazine's success to him; it has been "one of the better jazz magazines on the world market", the journal wrote, featuring "first class photography" and a quality informed by Candini's "good taste and sound judgement".
Subsequent editors included Claudio Sessa, Filippo Bianchi, and Luca Conti, who has directed the magazine since January 2012. One of the longest-running jazz journals worldwide, Musica Jazz produced its 750th issue in May 2013. It is currently published by 22Publishing.