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Naples Bids Farewell to James Senese, Saxophonist Who Shaped Neapolitan Power

His funeral in Miano drew a large public farewell from musicians and civic leaders.

Overview

  • Thousands gathered in the Miano neighborhood at the Santa Maria dell’Arco parish for the service, where his tenor sax was entrusted to his grandson Costantino.
  • Enzo Avitabile, Tullio De Piscopo, Tony Esposito, Nino D’Angelo and Eugenio Bennato joined the crowd, as Pino Daniele’s “Chi tene ’o mare” played outside the church.
  • He died on 29 October at age 80 after about a month in intensive care at Naples’ Cardarelli Hospital for severe pneumonia, with prior dialysis and an emergency hernia surgery in April noted by media.
  • A towering figure of the Neapolitan power movement, he co-founded The Showmen and Napoli Centrale and was a longtime collaborator of Pino Daniele.
  • His death was first announced by Avitabile on social media, and tributes poured in from SSC Napoli and public officials, as coverage also cast his 2025 album, “Chesta nun è ’a terra mia,” as a final artistic statement.