Pino Presti

**Pino Presti** (pseudonym of **Giuseppe Prestipino Giarritta**, is an Italian bass player, arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, born 23 August 1943, in Milan. He is a 5th-dan black belt in Shotokan Karate.

Presti, son of an accomplished violinist, Arturo Prestipino Giarritta, has been studying music since the age of 6. He was seventeen years old when he first entered the music business. Presti started as a bass guitar player, than gradually began as an arranger, a composer, an orchestra conductor and a producer. Among his collaborations in different genres of music like jazz, pop, funk, soul, we can find great names such as Mina (the most famous Italian pop singer), Gerry Mulligan, Ástor Piazzolla (the bassline in the famous composition "Libertango" belongs to him), Quincy Jones, Wilson Pickett, Shirley Bassey, Maynard Ferguson, Franco Cerri, Stéphane Grappelli, Aldemaro Romero and many others. He is considered one of the most important Italian arrangers/conductors.

### Albums

- _1st Round_  -  Atlantic Records (1976)
- _Maja Andina_ -  Saar Records (1990)
- _A La Costa Sud_ -  Edizioni Curci (2009)
- _Café Ipanema 2011_  - Rambling Records (2011)
- _Shirley Bunnie Foy (60th Anniversary)_  - MAP Golden Jazz (2013)
- _Deep Colors_ - MAP/ Paper Moon (2014)
- _Sharade_ - Best Record Italy (2023)
- _1st Round - Digital Remastered 2024_ - Planet Records (2024)
- _Soulful Touches_ Planet Distribution (2025)

### Singles

- "Rimani ancora/Oh! Jenny" - Durium (1964)
- "In un posto fuori dal mondo/Messaggio d'amore" - Belldisc (1969)
- "Karin/No sabe" - Dischi Ricordi (1970)
- "Smile/L'estate di Laura" - Atlantic Records (1975)
- "Funky Bump/C.so Buenos Ayres" - Atlantic Records (1976)
- "Shitân Disco Shitân" - Barclay (1977)
- "Sundown" - Durium (1978)
- "You Know The Way part I/You Know The Way part II" - Baby Records (1979)
- "You Know The Way" - Vinyl 12" 33 ⅓ RPM - Emergency Records (1980)
- "Money (That What I Want)" - Vinyl 12" 33 ⅓ RPM - Baby Records (1980)
- "To Miami/Mama's Away" - Cetra Records (1980)
- "Dancing Nights/And I Love Her" - Polydor Records (1983)
- "Ya No Puedo Vivir (The Bush Remixes)" - Vinyl 12" 33 ⅓ RPM - Blow Up Disco (1991)
- "Once Again Now" - Vinyl 12" 33 ⅓ RPM - Soul Xpression (1992)
- "Divine" - Vinyl 12" 33 ⅓ RPM - Level One (2001)
- "Feel Like a Woman" - CD Single - Self (2005)
- "Jazz Carnival" - CD Single - Map (2015)
- "Funky Bump" (Unreleased Original Extended Version)/"Funky Bump" (Original 7" Version) – Best Record Italy (2015)
- "You Know The Way" (Disco Version by Tee Scott) - Best Record Italy (2016)
- "To Africa / Soul Makossa" (EP) - Best Record Italy (2017)
- "Pino Presti Featuring Roxy Robinson: You know Why" (EP) – Best Record Italy (2018)
- “Stefano Ritteri feat. Pino Presti: Come Back To Me" (EP) - Spaziale Recording (2020)
- “Mina Arranger Pino Presti: Finali Strumentali” (EP) - Planet Distribution (2025)
- "Pino Presti, Geoff Bastow - Money (That's What I Want)" Remastered (2025)

## As performer, arranger, conductor on other artists' albums

- _Mina_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1971)
- _Cinquemilaquarantatre_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1972)
- _Altro_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1972)
- _Del mio meglio n. 2_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1973)
- _Frutta e verdura_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1973)
- _Amanti di valore_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1973)
- _Mina (1974 album)_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1974)
- _Baby Gate (album)_ - Artist: Mina  - PDU (1974)
- _Aulehla & Zappa_ - Artist: Aulehla & Zappa - PDU (1974)
- _Del mio meglio n. 3_  - Artist:  Mina - PDU (1975)
- _La Mina_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1975)
- _Singolare_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1976)
- _Del mio meglio n. 4_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1977)
- _Mina con Bignè_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1977)
- _Minantologia_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1977)
- _You Know Why_ - Artist:  Roxy Robinson - OUT (1977)
- _Di tanto in tanto_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1978)
- _Mina Live '78_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1978)
- _In Due_ - Artist: Wess and Dori Ghezzi - Durium (1979)
- _Filipponio_ - Artist: Filipponio - Cetra Records (1980)
- _Del mio meglio n. 6 Live_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1981)
- _Il Flauto d' oro_ - Artist: Severino Gazzelloni - PDU (1983)
- _All'arrembaggio_ - Artist: Filipponio - Spice7 (1984)
- _Del mio meglio n. 8_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1985)
- _Del mio meglio n. 9_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1987)
- _Oggi ti amo di più_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1988)
- _Ridi pagliaccio_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1988)
- _Mazzini canta Battisti_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1994)
- _Mina Studio Collection_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1998)
- _Mina Love Collection_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (2000)
- _Colección Latina_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (2001)
- _The Platinum Collection_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (2004)
- _Platinum Collection 2_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (2006)
- _The Best of Platinum Collection_ - Artist: Mina - EMI Records (20O7)
- _Je suis Mina_ - Artist: Mina -  EMI Records (2011)
- _Yo soy Mina_ - Artist: Mina -  EMI Records (2011)
- _I am Mina_ - Artist: Mina -  EMI Records (2011)
- _The Collection 3.0_ – Artist: Mina – Warner Music (2015)
- _Tutte le migliori_ – Artist: Mina – Clan/PDU (2017)
- _Paradiso (Lucio Battisti Songbook)_ – Artist: Mina – PDU (2018)
- _Mina Live alla Bussola 1968-1978_  – Artist: Mina – Warner Music (2024)

## As performer

- _12 Bacchette per una chitarra_ - Artist: Franco Cerri - gta (1966)
- _Dedicato a mio padre_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1967)
- _This Is My Life (La vita)_ - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1968)
- _Mina alla Bussola dal vivo_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1968)
- _Love and more Love_ - Artist: Puccio Roelens - Vedette Records (1969)
- _L'orchestra di Augusto Martelli dal vivo_ - Artist: Augusto Martelli - PDU (1969)
- _Quando tu mi spiavi in cima a un batticuore_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1970)
- _Del mio meglio_ - Artist: Mina - PDU (1971)
- _La Onda Máxima _ - Artist: Aldemaro Romero - Antor (1972)
- _Black Sound From White People_  - Artist: Augusto Martelli - Fontana (1972)
- _Fratelli La Bionda s.r.l._ - Artist: La Bionda - Dischi Ricordi (1972)
- _Metti una sera Cerri_ - Artist: Franco Cerri - Jazz Italiano-Music (1973)
- _Dal mio lontano_ - Artist: Renato Pareti - Ducale (1973)
- _Libertango_ - Artist: Ástor Piazzolla - Carosello (1974)
- _Summit-Reunion Cumbre_ - Artist: Gerry Mulligan, Ástor Piazzolla - erre-t-v (1974)
- _Lumière / Suite Troileana_ - Artist: Astor Piazzolla - Carosello (1976)
- _Gerry Mulligan meets Enrico Intra_ - Artist: Gerry Mulligan, Enrico Intra - Produttori Associati (1976)
- _Onda Nueva Instrumental_ - Artist: Aldemaro Romero - Velvet Música (1976)
- _Silence and Other Sounds_ - Artist: Roxy Robinson - ONE (1977)
- _Dissonanza-Consonanza_ - Artist: Enrico Intra - Musica Jazz (1999)
- _Circle_ - Artist: Pérez Prado (re-edit) - Schema (2013)
- _Escandalo_ - Artist: Pérez Prado - (re-edit) - Schema (2014)
- _Love Child_ - Artist: Pérez Prado / Don Alfio - (re-edit) - Schema (2014)

## As performer, arranger, conductor on other artists' singles

- "Grande grande grande" - Artist: Mina - PDU (1971)
- "Domenica sera" - Artist:  Mina - PDU (1973)
- "E poi" - Artist: Mina - PDU (1973)
- "Lamento d'amore" - Artist: Mina  - PDU (1973)
- "La scala buia" - Artist: Mina -  PDU (1974)
- "L'importante è finire" - Artist: Mina -  PDU (1975)
- "Nuda" - Artist: Mina -  PDU  (1976)
- "Città Vuota (It's a Lonely Town)" - Artist: Mina -  PDU (1978)
- "Dentro" - Artist: Beba Loncar  - CBS Records (1978)
- "Momento" - Artist: Wess & Dori Ghezzi -  Durium (1979)
- "Pazzo non amore mio/L'Unica" - Artist: Filipponio -  Cetra Records (1979)
- "Regina del futuro/Noia" - Artist: Marisa Sacchetto - F1 Team (1981)
- "Quale appuntamento" - Artist: Eleonora Giorgi - Dischi Ricordi  (1981)

## As performer

- "Che vale per me/Eccomi" - Artist: Eartha Kitt - RCA (1968)
- "La vita/Without A Word" - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1968)
- "Domani domani/Pronto sono io"  - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1968)
- "Yes/To Give"  - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1968)
- "E' giorno/If You Go Away" - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1968)
- "Chi si vuole bene come noi/Epirops" - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1968)
- "Com'è piccolo il mondo/Manchi solo tu" - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1968)
- "Concerto d'autunno/You Are My Way Of Life" - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1969)
- "Ora che sei qui/Something" - Artist: Shirley Bassey - United Artists (1970)
- "Non preoccuparti/Adesso ricomincerei" - Artist: Lara Saint Paul, arranger-conductor Quincy Jones - Polydor (1973)
- "Cara Fatina/Lettera a Pinocchio" - Artist: Tony Renis, arranger-conductor Quincy Jones - ref : CDI (2001)

### TV Shows

- 1964 : Questo & Quello (Rai Uno) - Bassist, Singer (Hosted by Giorgio Gaber)
- 1965/1966 : Le Nostre Serate (Rai Due) - Bassist, Singer (Hosted by Giorgio Gaber)
- 1969 : Sanremo Festival (Rai Uno) - Bassist with Wilson Pickett
- 1977 : Auditorio A (Rai Due) - Composer, Arranger, Conductor   (Guest appearance by Maynard Ferguson)
- 1980 : C'era due volte (Rai Due) - Composer, Arranger, Conductor  (Guest appearances by Peter Tosh)
- 1983 : Il Cappello sulle ventitré (Rai Due) - Composer, Arranger, Conductor (Hosted by Gino Paoli)

## Martial Arts

Presti has trained in Shotokan karate and Goshindo under master Hiroshi Shirai  from 1967 to 1985. He has also trainded on several occasions under other famous Japanese masters such as Taiji Kase, Hidetaka Nishiyama, Keinosuke Enoeda, Takeshi Naito, Hideo Ochi. Presti holds a fifth degree black belt obtained n Rome, in 1987.

## Bibliography

- _Mina, storia di un Mito raccontato_, di Nino Romano,  Rusconi pub., 1986
- Autori Vari (a cura di Gino Castaldo), _Dizionario della canzone italiana_,  Curcio pub., 1990
- _Mina, Mito e Mistero_, di Nino Romano,  Sperling & Kupfer pub., 1996
- _Mina, i mille volti di una voce,_ di Romy Padoano, Arnoldo Mondadori pub., 1998
- _Divina Mina_, di Dora Giannetti, Zelig pub., 1998
- _The Jazz Discography_, by Tom Lord), The Thomas Lord pub., 2009 (Musician list)
- _The Gerry Mulligan Collection_, by Craig Hanley,  Barnes & Noble pub.
- _Knight Library's Jazz Collection_, by Douglas Room, UO Libraries pub. 2009
- _Franco Califano. Non escludo il ritorno_, by  Salvatore Coccoluto, Imprimatur pub. - _Interview with Pino Presti_  , 2014
- _La Storia dalla Disco Music_, by Andrea Angeli Bufalini / Giovanni Savastano, Hoepli pub., 2019
- _Mina, Una Voce Universale_, by Luca Cerchiari, Mondadori, , 2020
- _Night fever: Les 100 hits qui ont fait le disco_, Le Mot et le reste by Belkacem Meziane, ed. 2020: _Pino Presti-Funky Bump_ ISBN 9782361392215
- _Astor Piazzolla - Una vita per la musica_, by María Susana Azzi, Sillabe ed., 2021,

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **name**: Pino Presti
- **image**: Pino Presti in Munich.jpg
- **caption**: Pino Presti
- **birth name**: Giuseppe Prestipino Giarritta
- **origin**: Milan, Italy
- **instrument**: Bass guitar, Fender Rhodes, percussion
- **genre**: Pop music, Pop, jazz, funk, Latin music, Dance music, dance
- **occupation**: Bassist, Music arranger, arranger, composer, Conductor (music), conductor, record producer
- **years active**: 1961–present
- **label**: Atlantic Records, Atlantic, Durium, Saar, Polydor, Baby Records (Italy), Baby Records, Emergency Records, Emergency, Belldisc, Edizioni Curci, Dischi Ricordi
- **associated acts**: Mina (singer), Mina, Gerry Mulligan, Ástor Piazzolla, Stéphane Grappelli, Wilson Pickett, Maynard Ferguson, Franco Cerri, Severino Gazzelloni, Aldemaro Romero, Tullio De Piscopo, Shirley Bunnie Foy