Pupi (Giuseppe) Avati was born in Bologna in 1938. After attending school and studying Political Science at the University of Florence, he started working at a frozen food company. At the same time, he developed a passion for jazz, becoming a proficient clarinetist. In the second half of the 1950s, he formed and played in the Doctor Dixie Jazz Band, of which Lucio Dalla was also a member.[3]