Franco Tonani is the working name of the Italian jazz drummer Francesco Cagnasso. His documented career runs from 1960 to the mid-1970s, first in Turin and then in Milan and Rome, and it is built almost entirely on ensemble work: a rhythm-section chair on Italian sessions of the early 1960s, a place in the quartets and big bands of Giorgio Gaslini, and co-leadership of the Modern Art Trio with pianist Franco D'Andrea.

His earliest credits date to 1960. He was the drummer of the Quintetto di Torino, a group with trombonist Dino Piana, tenor saxophonist Gianni Dosio, pianist Enrico Devià and bassist Nando Amedeo, which entered RAI's "La Coppa del Jazz" tournament that year; RCA Italiana issued three of the group's tracks on an EP. On September 30, 1960 he recorded in Turin with Piana, tenor saxophonist Gianni Basso, Devià and Amedeo for Cetra's Jazz In Italy N.9, where he wrote the piece "Tempo Di Febbraio" and Gianni Coscia arranged. Days later, on October 2, 1960, he was in Milan for Jazz In Italy N.8 with the American singer Helen Merrill, Basso, Piana, pianist Renato Sellani and bassist Giorgio Azzolini.

Through the early 1960s he stayed in demand around Milan. He recorded Jazz Allo Studio 7 (Ricordi, April 1962) with the Romano Mussolini All Stars, alongside trumpeter Cicci Santucci, Piana and bassist Carlo Loffredo. He appeared on Gaslini's Oltre (1963), on two Franco Cerri albums (Bossa Nova, 1963, and Franco Cerri, 1964), and on the Quintetto Basso-Valdambrini's Bossa Nova! (Ricordi, 1963), where Discogs credits him on bongos and cowbells rather than drum kit.

On May 31, 1964 he organized an overnight session at the Fonorama studio in Milan with tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri, trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti, bassist Giovanni Tommaso and D'Andrea. Per the album's liner notes, the musicians met and chose the pieces on the spot, and the solo order was not even fixed. The result, Night In Fonorama, was released on the Juke Box label under his name and is his best-known leader date; it was reissued by Rearward in 2000 with two previously unreleased "Hard Mode" takes.

The middle 1960s tied him to Gaslini's avant-garde work. He drummed on Gaslini's live suite Dall'Alba All'Alba (1965), and on February 4, 1966 he was one of two drummers, with Aldo Romano, on Nuovi Sentimenti (New Feelings), recorded in a single Milan day with Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, Barbieri and Enrico Rava. The same year he played on Eraldo Volonté's Eraldo Volonté Presenta Jazz (Now) In Italy and, with D'Andrea, on bassist Giorgio Azzolini's What's Happening?, recorded at Fonorama on March 29 and April 12, 1966.

The Modern Art Trio, according to its 2023 GleAM reissue, was founded in Rome in March and April 1968 on the initiative of Tonani and D'Andrea. Its sole album, Modern Art Trio, was recorded at Soundworkshop in Rome on April 17 and 19, 1970, with Bruno Tommaso on bass; Tonani is credited on drums, trumpet and song whistle and shares writing credit with D'Andrea on "Un Posto All'Ombra" and "Beatwitz." Discogs lists the Vedette pressing under 1971; Italian and label sources give 1970. The same year Tonani released Confluenze (International / Usignolo, catalog 7007), a promotional LP of his own compositions with Basso, Piana, D'Andrea and Tommaso; Sonor Music Editions reissued it on 180-gram vinyl in 2016. Two further 1970 releases, Sfere Luminose (with composer Nora Orlandi, Edizioni Musicali Firmamento) and Musiche Per Commento (Record TV Discografica), are library and soundtrack-style music that Discogs tags with Jazz and Stage & Screen; both are on Spotify.

In the 1970s he joined RAI Rome's Orchestra di Ritmi Moderni, working beside Basso, D'Andrea and other jazz players, according to the Saint Louis music school's jazz archive. He stayed with Gaslini's ensembles on Africa / Mikrokosmos (1970), Newport In Milan (Discogs dates the LP 1971), Message (recorded March 9-12, 1973 in Milan) and Colloquio Con Malcolm X (1973-74), where Discogs credits him with a big-band drum solo. He also recorded the soundtrack Atmosfera (1973) with bandleader Roberto Nicolosi, D'Andrea, Piana, Giovanni Tommaso and Santucci. The same archive places him with saxophonist Mario Schiano and pianist Patrizia Scascitelli at the 1974 Bologna International Jazz Festival.

His Discogs profile is a single line ("Italian jazz drummer"), the Saint Louis jazz archive entry gives no birth or death dates, and there is no Wikipedia article for him. What is documented is the recording history: 38 releases carry a Discogs credit for him between 1960 and 2019, the later ones mostly reissues, compilations and a film-score release.

Tonani is a rhythm-section player who moved across the main currents of Italian jazz in the 1960s and 1970s: bop-rooted quintet work in Turin and Milan (Discogs styles Night In Fonorama as hard bop), Gaslini's serial and free-improvisation suites, and the twelve-tone and free-jazz piano trio of the Modern Art Trio. Coverage of the 2023 GleAM reissue describes him as an energetic, pulsating drummer whose rhythmic models included Elvin Jones and Billy Higgins, and notes that he also played trumpet on the trio's album, in keeping with the multi-instrumentalism of the late 1960s. His own compositions on Confluenze alternate bop-style pieces such as "Shepping" and "Odd Piece" with more experimental ones.