One of the most important exponents in the history of Italian jazz, trumpeter Nunzio Rotondo began playing the trumpet at the age of nine to later enroll at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome. Between the end of the 1940s and the beginning of the 1950s, together with the saxophonist Marcello Boschi, he formed the stable sextet of the hot club in Rome, which included the saxophonist Franco Raffaelli, the pianist Ettore Crisostomi, the guitarist Carlo Pes, the double bass player Carlo Loffredo and the drummer Gil Cuppini. Training is invited by Charles Delaunay to participate in the Jazz Fair in Paris in 1952. He also collaborates with musicians from the Turin and Milan jazz scene playing at the Swing Club with saxophonist Gianni Basso, pianists Franco Mondini e Peter Angela (Piero Angela), the trumpeters Oscar Valdambrini and Nini Culasso.

In those years Nunzio Rotondo embraced the jazz expression of the new movement be-bop, differing from most of the jazzmen of the time, close to dixieland and allo swing. Between 1950 and 1954, with different formations, he recorded numerous records and held as many concerts. From the end of the 1950s until the 1980s, he dedicated himself to radio and television activity in the RAI studios. In the context of public service radio broadcasts, in addition to that of trumpeter and leader of formations of four or five elements, he plays the role of attentive and brilliant disseminator of the history of jazz and its protagonists, with critical annotations regarding the pieces performed by the I live (in 1958 he leads the program "Appointment with Nunzio Rotondo"). In 1954 she recorded a record for the series "Italian Jazz Stars“, licensed by the Columbia label, accompanied by the pianist Romano Mussolini, the double bass player Roberto Nicolosi and Gil Cuppini.

In 1959 he made his last studio recording in his own name, before moving onto the radio, accompanied by various musicians, including the pianist Franco D'Andrea and the Argentine saxophonist Gato Barbieri. In the early seventies he forms a group formed by Franco D' Andrea, the double bass player Giovanni Tommaso and the drummer Bruno Biriaco. He collaborates with the composer and conductor, Piero Umiliani, to the creation of soundtracks, including the one for the film "A Sentimental Attempt” (1963), directed by directors Pasquale Festa Campanile and Massimo Franciosa.

Essential discography: Romano Mussolini With Nunzio Rotondo and Lilian Terry (1958 – RCA Italiana), The Artistry Of Nunzio Rotondo (1959 – Music), Sound And Silence (2005 – Twilight Music), The Legend (2007 – Twilight Music)