In 2000, Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi recorded Avant-Garde, a virtually unknown jazz-themed library music album ostensibly released by Warner-Chappell Music and Fonit Cetra. Torossi also served as the producer.

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi – Avant-Garde (2000) Warner-Chappell Music/Fonit Cetra

The album includes “Cubist Experience,” “Chromatism,” “Existentialism,” “Contemporary Art,” “Mechanical Expressions,” “Paris Avant-Garde,” “Yiddish Colors,” “Picasso,” “Futurism,” “Pop Art,” “Fragments,” “Muslim Suggestion,” “Factory Art,” “Modern Problematic,” “Oriental Influence,” and “Informal.”

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi – Avant-Garde (2000) Warner Chappell Music/Fonit Cetra back

The CD has never been reissued and is now out of print. In fact, this fan has only seen it available once in the last several years. The entry for it on Discogs indicates it has never been sold and sites like Amazon, CDandLP, and eBay have never had a used copy available for sale.

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s “Cubist Experience,” the opening track, is on YouTube:

Stefano Torossi recently commented on how the album came to be credited to both Warner Chappell Music and Fonit Cetra–and why it is near-impossible to find these days:

“Unfortunately it had been started when Fonit Cetra still existed, but had already been sold to Warner. I hadn’t been told, so I went ahead with the project. When the CD was ready, the label had ceased publication, and the new owner had no intention to go on with library music.”

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi – Avant-Garde (2000) Warner Chappell Music/Fonit Cetra CD

He continues:

“I insisted and insisted until they finally agreed to publish it under the double label WB and Fonit Cetra. Then they dropped it completely. The CD was not distributed or pushed–and it was a complete flop.”

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s “Existentialism,” the third cut on Avant-Garde, is online:

The album is the fourth full length album Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi have collaborated on, each for a different label based in Italy including their Telefilm for Punto in 1996, Arezzini’s New Age Energy for Fonit Cetra and RAI in 1997, and their Musica per commenti sonori: Tangos on Costanza Records in 1998. All are now available in digital format except Avant-Garde.

Federico Arezzini – New Age Energy (1997) Fonit Cetra/RAI

When asked if it was likely the 2000 album would be reissued, Stefano Torossi replied:

“I tried to rescue the music, but no way. The new big label wanted to keep everything in the vault. That’s the sad story, which still hurts, mostly because of the stupidity of the situation…. It represents one of my bitter regrets. I think it is a splendid record, due to Arezzini’s talent.”

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s “Contemporary Art,” the fourth track, is here:

Stefano Torossi is credited with producing both New Age Energy and Musica per commenti sonori: Tangos. Of the four Arezzini and Torossi CDs, all but Avant-Garde are now available in digital format including Telefilm, renamed Metropolitan Action: 1980s – Cop Show – Soundtrack for the 2014 Deneb Records reissue, which also features all new titles.

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi – Musica per commenti sonori: Tangos (1998) Costanza Records

Tangos was reissued in digital format in two versions: a 2014 release under the title Tangos: World Music – Argentina – Documentary by Deneb Records and a recent one using the original cover depicted above that is available from Amazon.com in most markets.

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi – Tangos: World Music – Argentina – Documentary (2014 Reissue) Deneb Records (1998)

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi also collaborated on a number of tracks on library music compilation CDs in the 1990s and early 2000s, which like the music from their four albums, continues to be licensed for collections in 2016 by ExtraBall Records and similar digital-only labels.

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s “Picasso,” the eight cut on Avant-Garde, is on YouTube:

In 1998, they did four tracks on the Little Ones: Children & Cartoon compilation on Primrose Music and between 1998 and 1999, Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi collaborated on 25 tracks spread across four Musica per commenti sonori albums: Crime And Punishment, Planet Woman, Check Up, and Religion And Paranormal–all five CDs are now available as digital downloads.

Stefano Torossi – Musica per commenti sonori: Planet Woman (1999) Costanza Records

Arezzini and Torossi also contributed thirteen compositions on four compilations released by Rai Trade between 1999 and 2003 including Sport & Travel, Social Tensions, and Problemi sociali. It seems none of the Rai Trade CDs has been reissued.

Various Artists – Problemi sociali (2000) Rai Trade

Four more of the sixteen original compositions from Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s Avant-Garde out of print album are currently found on YouTube including “Mechanical Expressions,” “Futurism,” and “Factory Art.”

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s “Chromatism” is also online:

More Music from Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi

In 2014, Deneb Records reissued a pair of albums by Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi, Metropolitan Action: 1980s – Cop Show – Soundtrack and Tangos: World Music – Argentina – Documentary.

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi – Metropolitan Action: 1980 – Cop Show – Soundtrack (2014 Reissue) Deneb Records (1996)

Tracks from these albums are frequently licensed for use by various digital-only labels including several by ExtraBall Records including “Bronx Adventure” on All Time Jazz: Smooth Jazz Favorites and “Public Relations and “Vanity Fair” on Get Focused: Smooth Jazz Sessions For Hard Work Days, both released in 2015.

Various Artists – All Time Jazz – Smooth Jazz Favorites (2015) ExtraBall Records

An auto-generated video for Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s “Bronx Adventure,” which originally appeared on Telefilm in 1996 before being reissued on Metropolitan Action: 1980s – Cop Show – Soundtrack in 2014, is on YouTube:

A number of tracks from Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s five Musica per commenti sonori CDs have also been used on recent digital-only compilations including “Concentration Camp” on Expectation vs. Reality: To Get Relief from Disappointment  in 2016.

Various Artists – Expectation vs. Reality – To Get Relief from Disappointment (2016) ExtraBall Records

Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s “Concentration Camp” originally appeared on Musica per commenti sonori: Crime And Punishment in 1998. In 2015, that CD was reissued by Deneb Records under the title Crime And Punishment: Documentary –  News – Beds.

Various Artists – Crime and Punishment: Documentary – News – beds (2015 Reissue) Deneb Records (1998)

An auto-generated video for Federico Arezzini and Stefano Torossi’s “Concentration Camp” is here:

Online Torossi Sampler Covers Music Released from 1993 to 2010

A compilation of additional music featuring Stefano Torossi that was released between 1993 and 2010 is on SoundCloud. The four tracks include:

• Sandro Brugnolini’s “La città sepolta” from Commenti Musicali: Musica d’epoca – Prehistoria e storia antica (1993) on Fonit Cetra, produced by Torossi
• Luca Proieti’s “V.U.E.” from Geoglot: Universal Language (1999) and “Dindana” from WM Global Music (2004), both Rai Trade albums produced by Torossi
• Federico Ferrandina and Torossi’s “Sun And Fun” from Guitarra (2010) on Primrose Music