Michele Lacerenza (born January 7, 1922 in Tarent, Italy - died November 17, 1989 in Rome) was the trumpeter who performed the unforgettable solo in the score of Sergio Leone's “For a Fistful of Dollars”. Ennio Morricone remembers him as “a sublime trumpeter. I had his trumpet in mind when I composed that solo. In the beginning, Sergio Leone wanted Nini Rosso, a famous italian trumpeter, to play the trumpet for the film score, and Michele knew it well. So he played that solo in such a breathtaking manner that he himself was driven to tears. And in the end Sergio too was moved by that heartbreaking sound”. Vinicio Capossela, a renowned Italian singer, admits: “That trumpet breaks Leone’s long, silent sequences like a cry rising from the desert stones. The Lord’s trumpet calls the souls to the judgment, Lacerenza’s calls them to the final showdown”. In 1964, after the exploit of “For a Fistful of Dollars”, Lacerenza’s trumpet became a fetish for an endless number of spaghetti-western movies. Lacerenza’s trumpet immediately evokes the gritty and grimy West of Sergio Leone and of his countless imitators. A West closer to Southern Italy than to John Ford’s films. Michele Lacerenza was not simply a performer, his interpretation of the final solo of “For a Fistful of Dollars”, according to Morricone himself, was his own interpretation of the score. A musical attitude which had its roots in Lacerenza’s origin: born in the Apulian town of Trinitapoli, he had grown musically in the local citizens band, thus acquiring the peculiar passionate style of those popular ensembles.
2013
Kronos Records
CD, Album, Ltd
2008
GDM
CD, Album, Ltd, RM
2008
2006
GDM
CD, Album, Ltd
1978
Philips
7"
1977
1973
CAM
LP, Mono, Promo
1973
Erre Records
7"
1969
1968
Bluebell Record, Bluebell Record
7"
1968
1967
Bluebell Record
7", Promo
1967
1966
Ariel
7"
1966
Ariel
7"
1966
Ariel
7"
1966
1965
Sunset Records (4)
7"
1965
1965
Bis Record
7", Promo
CBS
7"
2025
Cam Sugar
2xLP, Ltd
2022
Universal Music France, Label Panthéon, Decca
14xCD, Comp + Box
2021
2020
2019
2014
GDM
2xCD, Album, Comp, Ltd, RE, RM
2008
GDM
CD, Album, Ltd, RM
2007
2006
2005
GDM
6xCD, Comp + Box
2000
1997
1995
Rhino Records (2), BMG Direct Marketing
2xCD, Comp, RM
1994
Fremus
CD, Comp
1994
Seven Seas
CD, Comp
1994
Seven Seas
CD
1990
1989
1984
1983
1981
1980
Mirlo
Cass, Album, RE
1980
1980
1979
Sound Work Shop
LP, Album
1977
CAM
LP, Album, Mono, Promo
1977
1975
CAM
LP
1975
CAM
LP
1975
CAM
LP
1974
1973
1969
RCA Italiana, Reader's Digest
10xLP, Comp + Box
1968
1966
Cetra Commenti Musicali
LP, Promo
1966
1966
1966
1965
RCA Italiana, RCA Italiana
7", Mono
1965
Vik
LP, Comp, Mono
1965
1964
1963
Vergara
7", EP
1962
Cetra
7"
1957
Durium
7"
Robar, Robar
7", Single
RCA
LP, Comp, Mono
2013
Semi-Automatic Records
2xLP, Comp, Ltd
2013
Semi-Automatic Records
2xLP, Comp, Ltd
2013
Semi-Automatic Records
2xLP, Comp, Ltd
1972
CAM
LP
1971
RareScores Team
2xCD, Unofficial
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza
Michele Lacerenza