Henri Crolla (born Enrico Crolla; 26 February 1920 – 17 October 1960) was an Italian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

guitarist and film composer. Born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Campania (man), it, Campana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demog ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, to a family of itinerant Neapolitan musicians, he moved with his family to

Porte de Choisy The Quartier asiatique (Asian Quarter), also called Triangle de Choisy or Petite Asie (Chinese: 巴黎唐人街, Vietnamese: ''Phố Tàu Paris'') is the largest commercial and cultural center for the Asian community of Paris. It is located in t ...

in France in 1922 following the rise of

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

in Italy. One of his neighbours was a young

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

, with whose family he became close. He also put to music many poems from Prévert's

Paroles ''Paroles'' (; "Words") is a collection of poems by Jacques Prévert, first published in 1946. Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-f ...

with

Joseph Kosma Joseph Kosma (22 October 19057 August 1969) was a Hungarian-French composer. Biography Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Ákos. A maternal relative was the photographe ...

. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

from lung cancer.

Discography

* ''Jacques Prévert dit "paroles"'' (1954) * ''6 jolis petits airs'' (1955) * ''Henri Crolla et son Ensemble (Mon Homme)'' EP (1955) * ''Henri Crolla et son Ensemble (There's a Small Hotel)'' (1955) * ''Le Long des Rues'' (1957) * ''C'est Pour Toi Que Je Joue'' (1957) * ''Quatre classiques du jazz'' (1957) * ''Chansons dans le sang'' with

Jacques Prévert Jacques Prévert (; 4 February 1900 – 11 April 1977) was a French poet and screenwriter. His poems became and remain popular in the French-speaking world, particularly in schools. His best-regarded films formed part of the poetic realist moveme ...

(1960) * ''Le Paris sentimental d'Henri Crolla'' (1962) * ''Notre Ami Django'' (2001) * ''Begin the Beguine'' (2002) * ''Quand refleuriront les lilas blancs?'' (2002)

Filmography

*' (1950) as a cameo guitarist *''Champs Élysées'' (1953) *''Enrico cuisinier'' (1954) also starring in it *'' L'Étrange Désir de monsieur Bard'' (1954) features his song ''Car je t'aime'' * ''

Gas-Oil ''Gas-Oil'' is a 1955 French crime drama film directed by Gilles Grangier and starring Jean Gabin, Jeanne Moreau, Gaby Basset and Ginette Leclerc. It was shot at the Epinay Studios in Paris and on location at a variety of places. The film's s ...

'' (1955) *''Les Bras de la Seine'' (1955) *'' À propos d'une rivière'' (1955) *'' Mon chien'' (1955) *''Le Ciel par dessus le toit'' (1956) *''

Léon la lune ''Léon la lune'' ( eng, Leon the Moon) is a 1956 French short documentary film directed by Alain Jessua. The film won the Prix Jean Vigo in 1957. The film documents an old drifter in Paris in the ''poetic realist'' style. Jessua was inspired ...

'' (1956) in collaboration with André Hodeir *'' Naughty Girl'' (1956) in collaboration with René Denoncin and

Hubert Rostaing Hubert Rostaing (17 September 1918 – 10 June 1990) was a jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He also did film composition and classical music. He began his career in Algiers with the "Red Hotters" and later moved to Paris. He might be best ...

*''

La Parisienne LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'' (1957) in collaboration with André Hodeir and Hubert Rostaing *''

'' (1957) as a performer guitarist * ''

Fugitive in Saigon ''Fugitive in Saigon'' (French: ''Mort en fraude'') is a 1957 French war film, war drama film directed by Marcel Camus and starring Daniel Gélin, Anne Méchard and Lucien Callamand. It was shot location shooting, on location in Cambodia. The film ...

'' (1957) *'' Péché de jeunesse'' (1958) with André Hodeir * ''

And Your Sister? ''And Your Sister?'' (French: ''Et ta soeur?'') is a 1958 French comedy film directed by Maurice Delbez and starring Pierre Fresnay, Arletty and Jean-Claude Brialy.Parish p.98 Cast * Pierre Fresnay as Bastien du Boccage * Arletty as Lucrèce ...

'' (1958) with André Hodeir *'' Paris mange son pain'' (1958) with André Hodeir *'' Le vent se lève'' (1959) with André Hodeir *'' Les Motards'' (1959) *' (1959) *''

Black Orpheus ''Black Orpheus'' ( Portuguese: ''Orfeu Negro'' ) is a 1959 romantic tragedy film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus and starring Marpessa Dawn and Breno Mello. It is based on the play ''Orfeu da Conceição'' by Vinicius de Mora ...

'' (1959) as guitarist *'' The Golden Fish'' (1959) *''

The Restless and the Damned ''The Restless and the Damned'' (also known as ''L'Ambitieuse'') is a 1959 French-Australian film co produced by Lee Robinson. It was shot on location in Tahiti and the Tuamotu Islands. There are French and English-language versions. Synopsis I ...

'' (1959) with André Hodeir *'' Come Dance with Me'' (1959) with André Hodeir *''Photo souvenir'' (1960) *''

Love and the Frenchwoman ''Love and the Frenchwoman'' is the US title of a 1960 French anthology film originally entitled ''La française et l'amour''. It starred Jean-Paul Belmondo and Dany Robin. The movie was a big hit in France with admissions of 3,056,736.

'' (''Le Divorce'' segment) (1960) *' (1960) with André Hodeir *' (1960) with José Toledo *' (1960) *' (1961) with André Hodeir *' (1961) *'' Le bonheur est pour demain'' (1962) with

Georges Delerue Georges Delerue (12 March 1925 – 20 March 1992) was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for '' A Little Romance'' (1980), three C ...

*'' Le Tout pour le tout'' (1963) with Renato de Oliveira *''

World Without Sun ''World Without Sun'' (french: Le Monde sans soleil) is a 1964 French documentary film directed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. The film was Cousteau's second to win an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, following ''The Silent World'' in 1956. ...

'' (1964) with

Serge Baudo Serge Baudo (born 16 July 1927) is a French conductor, the son of the oboist Étienne Baudo. He is the nephew of the cellist Paul Tortelier. Baudo was conductor of the Orchestra of Radio Nice from 1959 to 1962. He then served as permanent conduct ...

and André Hodeir *'' La Faim du monde'' (1969) *''Saint-Paul de Vence'' composed the song for Mouloudji with words from a poem by

Sources

* ''Les Ballades de Crolla'' by Norbert Gabriel and Sophie Tournel * :fr:Henri Crolla 1920 births 1960 deaths French jazz guitarists French male guitarists Italian jazz guitarists Italian male guitarists Musicians from Naples 20th-century classical composers French film score composers French people of Italian descent French male film score composers 20th-century guitarists 20th-century French composers 20th-century French male musicians French male jazz musicians Italian emigrants to France {{jazz-guitarist-stub