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.
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.