Born in Milan,
Roberto Cacciapaglia has always been particularly active in the
avantgarde field. He collaborated with Franco Battiato for the
Pollution album, and released his first solo work, the
much acclaimed Sonanze in 1975. An ambitious work,
entirely built on keyboards and very far from the average progressive
production of those years, the album was produced with help from the
German label Ohr's founder Rolf Ulrich Kaiser, and is much closer to
the German cosmic music than to anything else from Italy. The artist
is helped on the album by an orchestra with singers.
The 1982 album
Generazioni del cielo was conceived as soundtrack to a
theatre piece of the same name.
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Sonanze (1975,
Electronic, Classical, Experimental, Ambient)
4.13¤
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Sei note in logica
(1979, Electronic, Classical, Classical, Experimental,
Minimal) 3.11¤
Ann
Steel - Ann Steel (1979, 'Roberto
Cacciapaglia, Ann Steel - The Ann Steel Album', Electronic, Europop,
Experimental)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Generazioni del cielo
(1982, Electronic, Ambient, Minimal, Neo-Classical)
3.33¤
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Angelus Rock: A tribute
to Ten Rock Angels (1992, Prog Rock, Experimental)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Tra cielo e terra
(1996, Electronic, Experimental)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Arcana (2001,
Electronic, New Age)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Tempus Fugit
(2003, Electronic, Experimental)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Incontri con
l'anima (2005, Electronic, Classical, Neo-Classical)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Quarto tempo
(2007, Neo-Classical)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Live 2007-09-20 @ Teatro degli Arcimboldi, Milan,
Italy
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Canone degli
spazi (2009, Electronic, Classical, Modern Classical, Contemporary,
Experimental)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Ten Directions
(2010, Neo-Classical)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Live from Milan
(2011)
Roberto Cacciapaglia
- 11 September 1983 (2013, Classical, Stage & Screen)
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Alphabet (2014,
Electronic, Contemporary, Modern Classical)
Roberto Cacciapaglia & The Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra - Tree of
Life (2015,
Classical)
Michele
Carlone replaced by
____________
Compilations:
Roberto
Cacciapaglia - Atlas (2016, 2CD
compilation, Modern Classical)
_______________________________________________________________________
I
Cadmo (1973-78, Jazz Rock Fusion)
Il
gruppo venne costituito ad Alghero
nel 1973,
ad opera di Antonello
Salis
(piano) Riccardo Lay (basso
elettrico) e Mario Paliano (batteria).
Nel
1978
al gruppo de I Cadmo si aggiunse il trombonista
Danilo Terenzi: divenuto
un quintetto, mutò nome in
G.R.A..
Formazione
originale
o Antonello Salis -
pianoforte
o Riccardo Lay -
contrabbasso
o Mario Paliano -
batteria
Elementi entrati a far parte della formazione successivamente
o Sandro Satta -
sassofono
o Danilo Terenzi -
trombone
¤¤¤I Cadmo
- Boomerang (1977)
I
Cadmo - Concerto dei
Cadmo 12 sett 1977 Caserta giardini della Flora
¤¤¤I Cadmo with M. Urbani
- Flying over Ortobene in July Seventy Seven (1979)
_______________________________________________________________________
I
Califfi
(1965-71 Beat / 1972-76, 1996- Rock Progressivo Italiano)
1965-1966:
o Marco Bracci
(guitar)
o Giuseppe Maffei
(keyboards, vocals)
o Franco Boldrini
(bass, vocals)
o Carlo Felice
Marcovecchio (drums, vocals)
1966-1971:
o
Paolo Tofani (guitar)
o
Giacomo Romoli (keyboards)
o
Franco Boldrini (bass)
o
Carlo Felice Marcovecchio (drums, vocals)
1972-1973:
o
Vincenzo Amadei (guitar, vocals)
o
Sandro Cinotti (keyboards)
o
Franco Boldrini (bass, vocals)
o
Maurizio Boldrini (drums, vocals)
1975-1976:
o Vincenzo Amadei
(guitar)
o Marco Bracci
(guitar)
o Sandro Cinotti
(keyboards)
o Franco Boldrini
(bass, vocals)
o Maurizio Boldrini
(drums, vocals)
Once
again two almost completely different bands with the same name,
Florence band I Califfi included in their first line-up the future
Area
and Electric
Frankenstein
guitarist Tofani and Campo
di Marte
drummer Marcovecchio and were a very popular band in the 1960's,
before disbanding at the turn of the 1970's. They released an album,
Così
ti Amo
(1969)
on RiFi
and no less than eleven singles.
The
band was reformed in 1972 by bass player Franco Boldrini, the only
member from the original line-up, for a new recording deal with Fonit
Cetra,
that only produced an LP, Fiore
di metallo (1971).
Fiore
di metallo
is a good prog album, based on organ and moog sounds, even if the
lyrics are a bit naive and too close to the typical Italian beat
themes. Some interesting keyboard passages, as in the instrumental
”Varius” or the opening track ”Nel mio passato”, make
this album well worth listening.
I
Califfi - Così ti Amo (1969, rec.
1967-69, Rock, Pop, Beat) 3.67¤
I
Califfi - Fiore di metallo (1973, Art
Rock, Pop Rock, Prog Rock) 3.35¤
I
Califfi - Il Meglio (1996) 2.18¤
I
Califfi - All'Improvviso (2007, Rock,
Pop, Beat) 2.27¤
Franco
dei Califfi (I Califfi) - Tutto
Scorre... (2001) 4.00¤
Franco Boldrini
(dei Califfi) - Live 2015-03-07 @ Cancello del Cinabro, Genova,
Italy (video)
____________
Compilations:
I
Califfi - Al Mattino (1998,
compilation) 4.00¤
I
Califfi - The Best of I Califfi (2000,
compilation) 4.00¤
I
Califfi - Flashback: I Grandi Successi
Originali (2002, compilation) 2.27¤
I
Califfi - The Essential: Ri-Fi Record
Original Recordings, Vol. 1 (2010, compilation)
I
Califfi - The Essential: Ri-Fi Record
Original Recordings, Vol. 2 (2010, compilation)
_______________________________________________________________________
Juri
Camisasca
(born 9.8.1951, 1974-, Electronic, Rock Progressivo Italiano,
Medieval, Classical)
Roberto
"Juri" Camisasca, from near Milan, despite a very limited
discography can be considered a cult figure among the progressive
music followers. His La
finestra dentro,
issued in 1974 by Bla Bla, is one of the best albums on that label,
and strongly influenced by his collaboration with Franco
Battiato,
who signed Juri to the label and produced the LP, also playing the
VCS3 synth on it.
Though
not musically as complex as Battiato's
early works, La
finestra dentro
can be compared with Alan
Sorrenti's
first album in the use of voice as an instrument, with sparse musical
accompaniment on some tracks. The overall result is much more intense
than Sorrenti's Aria,
with no weak parts, and a very regarding listen. Many of Battiato's
backing musicians (Gianfranco D'Adda, Gianni Mocchetti, Pino Massara,
Lino
"Capra" Vaccina)
are featured on the 7-tracks album.
After
two singles in 1975, both featuring an album track and an unreleased
one, Camisasca was briefly involved in Telaio
Magnetico,
sort of avantgarde supergroup that also featured among others Franco
Battiato,
Mino Di Martino from I
Giganti
and his wife Terra Di Benedetto (both later in Albergo
Intergalattico Spaziale).
This group only made a tour in the summer of that year, before
disbanding.
Camisasca
then entered a Benedictine convent, where he stayed for 11 years,
until the late 80's when he returned to the music biz with a new
album called Te
Deum,
based on reworkings of Gregorian chants. Later works have been Il
carmelo di Echt
in 1991 and Arcano
enigma
in 1999, and he's been very active as composer working with such
artists like PFM,
Battiato,
Alice and Giuni Russo.
Juri
Camisasca - La finestra dentro (1974,
Electronic, Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock, Avantgarde, Folk Rock) 2.87¤
Juri
Camisasca - Te Deum (1988, Medieval,
Classical) 4.00¤
Juri
Camisasca - Il carmelo di Echt (1991,
Classical, Medieval) 3.50¤
Juri
Camisasca - Arcano enigma (1999,
Electronic, Art Rock, Pop Rock, Vocal)
3.00¤
Juri Camisasca & Rosario Di Bella
- Spirituality (2016, Electronic, Rock, Pop, Classical, Acoustic,
Contemporary)
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Enrico Rosa (guitar, vocals, mellotron)
o
Alfredo Barducci (horns, piano, organ, vocals)
o
Paul Richard (Ursillo) (bass, vocals)
o
Mauro Sarti (drums, percussion, flute, vocals)
o
Carlo Felice Marcovecchio (drums, percussion, vocals)
A
band from Florence, Campo di Marte were another of those band that
despite a good recording deal with a major company (that incidentally
was the only effort by United
Artists
to produce an Italian prog group), only released an album and
disappeared.
The
group was formed in 1971 by guitarist Enrico Rosa and drummer/flutist
Mauro Sarti, that had previously played with minor groups like Senso
Unico and La Verde Stagione, along with American-born bass player
Richard Ursillo (named Paul Richard in the LP cover notes as it
"sounded less Italian").
Keyboardist
Alfredo "Carlo" Barducci was a trained French horn player,
and the large number of instruments played gave the new group the
chance to mix classical inspired rock music with various influences
obtaining a rich and varied sound. A fifth member was added with
drummer Carlo Felice Marcovecchio, that had previously played with
another very popular group from Florence, I
Califfi,
and the presence of a second drummer left Sarti the freedom to play
the flute in many tracks.
The
band had a good live activity, playing under different names, and the
final one, Campo di Marte (named after a quarter of Florence), was
found during the LP recordings.
Campo
di Marte (1973) is
a very good album, not particularly original but very well composed,
sung and played, with some orchestrated parts that sometime remind
the later work of Maxophone
(with large use of flute and French horn). Good guitar and keyboard
playing throughout the LP make this an essential album in any Italian
prog collection. The seven tracks are sequentially named (starting
with Primo
tempo
up to Settimo
tempo)
as movements of a symphonic composition.
By
the way an extra track recorded during the LP sessions, entitled
”Si può riuscire”
and
planned to be released as a single, has never seen the light of day.
The album lyrics referred to the foolishness of wars, and in contrast
the cover contained a drawing of ancient Turkish mercenaries injuring
themselves to demonstrate their strength and courage. The same design
was contained in the band's posters. Unfortunately a long time passed
between the album composition and its recording and release, and the
musicians had completely lost their interest in the band when it came
out, aided by the total lack of promotion by the record company, that
had also forced the band to change the songs lyrics. The group broke
up immediately after the album release.
Guitarist
Enrico Rosa (that was also the whole first album composer) recorded a
second Campo di Marte, totally different from the debut LP, but this
was never released by United Artists, seeing this as an uncommercial
choice. A new line-up, including all musicians from Leghron
(keyboardists Antonio Favilla ex-Capitolo
6
and Franco La Placa, guitarist Fabrizio Ughi, bassist Sergio Ducilli,
drummer Andrea Colli and sax and flute player Loriano Berti, also
from Capitolo
6)
often played live under the name Campo di Marte. Some tracks composed
by Rosa and recorded with these musicians were included by the Picci
label on an LP entitled The
Physicians.
Rosa then moved to Denmark in 1974 and he's still a professional
musicians there, having had a long activity both as session guitarist
and as solo musicians in the jazz and classical music fields. The
others, except Favilla, kept on playing live as Campo di Marte until
1975.
Original
bass player Paul Richard reappeared in Sensations'
Fix
with his real surname Ursillo, and has played with that band in all
of their albums. He had played in the 60's with Florence band Chewing
Gum (their previous name was Black Angels) with an interesting hard
sounding single in 1968 (”Senti
questa chitarra” / ”Tu sei al buio”
- RCA Talent T15). Even drummer Marcovecchio has collaborated with
Sensations'
Fix
from time to time. Drummer Mauro Sarti later played with Bella
Band,
with an album on Cramps
in 1978.
In
2003 the group was reformed by the original members Enrico Rosa and
Mauro Sarti, along with Eva Rosa (recorder), Matin Alexandr Sass
(keyboards) and Maurilio Rossi (bass), for some concerts in Tuscany
and for the recording of the live CD Concerto
zero.
The double set included a 1972 concert recording, originally used on
a promo-only LP made by the band, and the whole 2003 reunion set.
¤¤¤Campo
di Marte
- Campo di Marte (1973, Prog
Rock) 3.87¤
Campo
di Marte
- Concerto zero (Live
1972/2003) (rel. 2004) 2.45¤
_______________________________________________________________________
1972-73:
o
Piero Brega (vocals)
o
Sara Modigliani (vocals, flute)
o
Carlo Siliotto (violin, guitar, mandolin)
o
Francesco Giannattasio (accordion, percussion)
1974:
Modigliani
quits, enter:
o
Luigi Cinque (sax)
o
Gianni Nebbiosi (sax)
o
Pasquale Minieri (bass, guitar, mandolin)
o
Giorgio Vivaldi (percussion)
1975:
Nebbiosi
quits, enter:
o
Piero Avallone (drums, percussion, vocals)
1977-78:
o
Clara Murtas (vocals, percussion)
o
Carlo Siliotto (violin, piano, percussion, vocals)
o
Pasquale Minieri (bass, guitar)
o
Maurizio Giammarco (sax, flute, piano, percussion)
o
Marcello Vento (drums, percussion, vocals)
o
Giorgio Vivaldi (percussion)
Formed
near Rome in 1972, this group has been one of the most important
examples of progressive folk in Italy during the seventies. Though
their beginnings were strongly inspired by literal reworkings of
central Italy traditional tunes, they soon added original elements
that, never in a rock style, can let them considered as a
"progressive" group in the wide sense of the word.
Initially
a quartet, and only using acoustic instruments, Canzoniere del Lazio
released their first album Quando nascesti
tune in 1973 for the Dischi
del Sole label, (a small independent record company specialized in
folk albums). The album contained all traditional songs, and showed
the good vocal interplay between singers Brega and Modigliani, but it
didn't have a particular success. Singer Sara Modigliani left after
the album, still interested in discovering old folk tunes; she is
still active as a solo artist and with her group La Piazza.
The
other added new musicians, two of which, Pasquale Minieri and Giorgio
Vivaldi have been stable members since then, and released a new album
in 1974 for the newly born Intingo
label, Lassa
sta' la me' creatura.
Still strongly influenced by traditional music, this represents a
transition album with the introduction of electric instruments and
the use of some rock and jazz elements.
The
best period in CdL career came with the following two albums, Spirito
bono
and Miradas.
The first of these, again on Intingo
contained just four tracks (all of which also appeared in shortened
form on singles), with long instrumental parts and traditional
lyrics. It was produced by the American Peter Kaukonen (brother of
Jefferson Airplane's guitarist Jorma) that probably gave a
distinctive touch to the recordings even adding some electric guitar
parts.
The
group played at the VI Festa del Proletariato Giovanile in Milan (and
were also included in the Parco
Lambro
live compilation LP) and were ready to embark on an african tour when
three of their members, Piero Brega, Luigi Cinque and Francesco
Giannattasio left.
The
others reformed the group with new members, and successfully played
at the VII Political Music International Festival in East Berlin in
February 1977. A beautiful album, recorded in studio during that
tour, was only released in East Germany.
Their
fourth album Miradas
was released in 1977, this time on Cramps
and with the production of former Area
guitarist Paolo Tofani (also known as Electric
Frankenstein).
Considered by many as their more mature work, the LP includes five
songs, some of which show african music influences. The new members
Clara Murtas on voice, Maurizio Giammarco on sax and Marcello Vento
on drums (from Alberomotore)
fit perfectly into the band's music.
The
same line-up appears in the fifth and last album, Morra
1978,
again on Intingo,
with three long tracks, again a good album though maybe on a lower
level than the previous two.
The
LP, that was to be entitled A
risciacquà li piatti e la paura,
was released one year after the previous one and contains tracks
recorded in the same session as the ones on Miradas,
but not included on that album, and was presumably issued to fulfill
the contract with the old label.
After
the band split Minieri and Vivaldi formed Carnascialia,
whose only excellent album in 1979 was an early example of world
music.
Carlo
Siliotto
has kept working as film music composer. He made a nice solo album in
1979, Ondina,
and at least another on CAM (Grooves,
no. CML211, in the early 1980's). Pasquale Minieri has long worked as
producer and sound engineer for many important Italian artists.
Two
of the founder members, Brega and Giannattasio, have played in
Malvasia, a group which released an eponymous album on Cetra
in 1979 (LPX 74) halfway between Italian and celtic folk.
After
leaving Canzoniere del Lazio, Luigi Cinque took on his solo artistic
career still lasting today, releasing a first album for Cramps
in 1978 (Note
di atemporalità)
and many other records, books, videos.
Canzoniere
del Lazio - Quando nascesti tune (1973,
Rock, Jazz, Fusion, Folk) 1.35¤
Canzoniere
del Lazio - Lassa sta' la me creatura
(1974, Jazz, Rock, Fusion, Experimental, Folk)
3.25¤
Canzoniere
del Lazio - Spirito bono (1976, Jazz,
Rock, Fusion, Experimental, Folk) 3.56¤
Canzoniere
del Lazio - Miradas (1977, Jazz, Rock,
Fusion, Experimental, Folk) 4.26¤
Canzoniere
del Lazio - Canzoniere del Lazio -
Italien (1977, live 1977-02 @ Festivals des politischen Liedes in
Berlin, East Germany)
Canzoniere
del Lazio - Morra 1978 (1978, Jazz,
Rock, Folk, Fusion, Experimental, Folk)
3.67¤
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Riccardo Bartolotti (vocals, guitar, flute)
o
Loriano "Fischio" Berti (sax, flute)
o
Jimmy Santerini (keyboards, vocals)
o
Mauro Romani (bass)
o
Lorenzo Donati (drums, vocals)
In
1969 a couple of musicians from Viareggio band Gli Eremiti (drummer
Luciano Casa and keyboardist Jimmy Santerini) joined a band from
Livorno (I Rangers), and the resulting five-piece was called Capitolo
6. Two drummers were included in this line-up, though Luciano Casa
mostly played 12-string acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals.
The
group obtained a record deal with RCA
subsidiary It
(thanks to RCA producer Franco Tessandori, who was also from
Viareggio), a label that was much interested in singer-songwriters
than in rock groups, and the first single appeared in 1971, the group
being by now based in Rome and a new five-piece line-up with Loriano
Berti, from Grosseto, replacing Luciano Casa.
It's
likely that the group had various line-up changes in this period, a
clip from the yugoslavian Tele Capodistria TV shows them as a
four-piece, with Donati as singer, Santerini (on bass), sax/flute
player Berti and guitarist Roberto Ghiozzi (former keyboardist and
singer in the beat group from Livorno, I Satelliti), the latter as a
temporary replacement for Bartolotti who didn't have the passport to
go abroad.
They
had a good live activity, playing at Viareggio festival in 1971, and
recorded in 1972 their only LP Frutti per Kagua. A
mixed album, with two very different sides, the first one containing
the 18 minutes long title track, with flute in evidence and a good
sound. Guitarist Bartolotti was responsible for the heavier sound of
the group. Side two contains three shorter tracks with good lyrics
(by Italian songwriter Francesco De Gregori) but less inspired in
their musical content.
A
single with ”Il grande spirito”
(with an unreleased track on B-side) was also taken from the album,
but the band decided to split in October 1972 due to the lack of
success. They had also been featured, singing other artists' songs,
in some RCA compilations released throughout the world for the
Sanremo 1972 festival (see details below), and even played on an
album by the composer Mario Capuano.
A
new four-piece line-up included Bortolotti, Romani, Antonio Favilla
(keyboards) and probably Giovanni Galli (drums), but it's likely that
this group had a very short life. Keyboardist Antonio Favilla was
involved in the short-lived second line-up of Campo
di Marte,
he had drug problems and sadly died in the early 90's. Even original
keyboardist Santerini died, of leukaemia, in 1977.
Capitolo
6 -
“M'innamoro di te” / “L'amavamo in tre” (1971, single,
Ballad, Prog Rock)
Capitolo
6 - “Il
grande spirito” / “Sole di notte” (1972, single, Prog Rock)
4.00¤
Capitolo
6 -
“Jesahel” / “Ti Voglio” (1972, single, Jazz, Rock, Folk
Rock, Pop Rock)
Capitolo
6 - Frutti
per Kagua (1972, Prog Rock) 3.42¤
_______________________________________________________________________
1972:
o
Pino Ferro (guitar, vocals)
o
Nino Costantino (guitar, flute, vocals)
o
Mario Barigazzi (keyboards)
o
Guerrino Franchini (sax, flute)
o
Oreste Ferro (bass, vocals)
o
Adamo Biello (drums, vocals)
1974:
Franchini
replaced by
o
Antonio Balsamo (sax, recorder)
Often
described as a prog group, Capricorn College are much closer to the
standard early 1970's Italian melodic pop groups than to anything
progressive. Led by composer Mario Barigazzi, much active since the
1960's under the surname Barimar, the group released two albums on
the Kansas label, both containing an unimpressive mix of commercial
pop with trivial lyrics and instrumental parts with light prog
influences.
The
first one, Orfeo 2000, is the best of the two,
especially in the instrumental tracks, while the second one, released
as Barimar & Capricorn College, contains 12 shorter songs.
The
band also released some singles, two of which in 1974 taken from both
their albums. After some years of silence the name Capricorn College
was used again in 1978 for a disco-styled single, then it
disappeared.
The
Capricorn College Brass - “Idem”
(1971, single)
The
Capricorn College Brass - “Capricorn
college” / “Junius” (1971, single)
Capricorn
College - “Story” / “Mab, Mystic
Woman” (1971, single, Rock, Funk / Soul, Stage & Screen,
Psychedelic, Theme)
Capricorn
College - “Oramai” / “Domani è
festa” / “La città” / “Prayer” (1972, EP)
Capricorn
College - “Donna” / “Gill”
(1972, single, Rock, Pop, Prog Rock)
Capricorn
College - Orfeo 2000 (1972, Pop
Rock, Fusion, Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock) 3.23¤
Barimar & Capricorn College
- LP di primavera (1974, Prog Rock) 2.59¤
Capricorn
College - “Start Music” /
“California” (1978, single)
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Bruno "Red" Canzian (guitar, vocals)
o
Mauro Bolzan (keyboards)
o
Paolo Steffan (bass, vocals, piano)
o
Roberto Balocco (drums)
Many
Italian music fans only know Capsicum Red by name because their
singer and guitarist Red Canzian had a very successful career (until
now!) with pop band Pooh,
and this four-piece from Treviso didn't catch so much interest in
their short career.
The
name Capsicum Red was chosen by the producer Pino Massara when he
discovered Canzian, singer and guitarist with I Prototipi, and took
him to his newly-born label Bla
Bla
in 1970. To attract the press interest, Capsicum Red were presented
as a foreign band, this helped the success of their two singles.
The first single,
”Ocean” / “She's a stranger”,
was recorded by Canzian with studio musicians, and was a huge hit in
Italy, even because it was used as main theme in a TV show, ...e ti
dirò chi sei. Another single, ”Tarzan”
/ “Shangrj-la”, came
soon later, recorded in London with the musicians of the group Stone
the Crows, but it wasn't as successful as the previous one. Both
singles contained commercial songs very far from the album sound, and
were lately included in the rare Tarzan
label
sampler, issued by Bla
Bla
in 1972.
To
support Canzian in the live concerts some musicians from the Treviso
area were chosen: the first line-up included Bolzan, drummer Paul
Podda and bass player Valter Gasparini, soon replaced by Steffan.
Once again the label's strategies tried to attract interest arond the
group: they said that was born to an Italian father in England, that
he started playing in that country and that the group had been formed
in London where the musicians had met and had their first concerts.
In
1972, with newcomer Roberto Balocco, from Panna
Fredda,
the group strongly moved with the Appunti
per un'idea fissa
LP
towards progressive music with classical influences. Side 1 contains
the long Beethoven-derived Patetica
suite,
a very interesting piece of classical prog with keyboards to the
fore. Side 2 is on a lower level with three shorter songs that in
some cases seem to be weaker.
The
band came to its end in 1973, with Red Canzian briefly joining Osage
Tribe
and later Pooh,
and Paolo Steffan forming country-inspired duo Genova & Steffan
with an album release in 1975.
Capsicum
Red - “Ocean” / “She's a
Stranger” (1971, single, Hard Rock, Score, Prog Rock) 2.09¤
Capsicum
Red - “Tarzan” / “Shangrj-la”
(1971, single, Prog Rock) 2.18¤
Capsicum
Red - Appunti per un'idea fissa (1972,
Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock, Art Rock) 2.83¤
Migrants
/ Capsicum Red - “In una sera” /
“Un fiore” (1970/1972, promotional single never officially
released - same recordings as on the 1970 Migrants single, Prog Rock)
_______________________________________________________________________
A
little known album, Storia
mai scritta
(1975) is
definitely a much more progressive album than the works of similar
singer-songwriters like the expensive Affresco
by
Franco
Maria
Giannini
or Antico
teatro da camera
by Gianni
D'Errico.
A
singer-songwriter from Calabria, but raised in Bologna, Capuano
released this, his debut album, for the just born small independent
Divergo label, and it is a surprisingly good album. An eight-part
36-minute long suite, ”Storia
mai scritta”,
is in fact mostly instrumental, vocal parts just covering the first 6
minutes and a final reprise, and based on Capuano's impressive 12
string and classical guitar playing, with good keyboards (mostly
synth, but even organ) and a rhythm section. The result is not far
from Alan
Sorrenti's
”Aria” or
Claudio
Rocchi's
”Volo magico n.1”
suites on the albums of the same title, starting with vocal parts and
evolving into a long instrumental with a complex musical structure.
Helping
Enzo Capuano, on vocals, acoustic and classical guitar, synth, are
keyboardist Mario Panseri (with which Capuano had collaborated in his
Adolescenza album on RCA from 1973) and drummer
Giovanni D'Aquila, while the bass parts are obtained with the
synthesizer.
After
this LP, Capuano dedicated to composition of movies and cartoon
soundtracks and to his singing studies, graduating at the Milan
Academy of Music. Since 1989 he is a professional opera singer (vocal
range: bass).
Enzo
Capuano - Storia mai scritta (1975,
Symphonic Rock, Prog Rock) 3.65¤
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Piero Brega (vocals, ex-Canzoniere del Lazio)
o
Clara Murtas (vocals, ex-Canzoniere del Lazio)
o
Demetrio Stratos (vocals, Area)
o
Nunzia Tambara (vocals)
o
Carlo Siliotto (violin, ex-Canzoniere del Lazio)
o
Mauro Pagani (violin, mandolin, ex-PFM)
o
Pablo Romero (tin whistle)
o
Giorgio Vivaldi (flute, percussion, ex-Canzoniere del Lazio)
o
Tommaso Vittorini (sax)
o
Maurizio Giammarco (sax, ex-Canzoniere del Lazio)
o
Luciano Francisci (accordion, ex-Canzoniere Internazionale)
o
Pasquale Minieri (guitar, bass, vocals, ex-Canzoniere del Lazio)
o
Danilo Rea (piano)
o
Marcello Vento (drums, ex-Canzoniere del Lazio)
A
sort of supergroup formed by Pasquale Minieri and Giorgio Vivaldi
with help from Carlo Siliotto, all of them being past members of
Canzoniere
del Lazio,
an interesting folk group born near Rome in the early 1970's that
released five albums between 1973 and 1978.
The
Carnascialia project, including such famous names as Mauro
Pagani
and Demetrio
Stratos
among others, just lasted for an LP, Carnascialia
(1979)
and a few concerts, but the LP is a very good example of progressive
Italian folk music, much in the same style as Mauro
Pagani's
debut album. The six tracks it contains vary between traditional
inspired folk-rock numbers (”Canzone
numero 1”),
vocal exercises in Area-style
(”Fiocchi di neve e bruscolini”,
with the distinctive voice of Demetrio
Stratos)
and are generally much influenced by an interesting mediterranean
folk feeling, being an early example of "world music" from
Italy.
Carnascialia
- Carnascialia (1979, Folk Rock, Prog Rock) 4.17¤
Carnascialia
- Live in Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy 1979
_______________________________________________________________________
1975-1982:
o
Aldo Bergamini (guitar, keyboards, vocals)
o
Massimo Di Lauro (violin, keyboards)
o
Giampiero Marchiori (flute)
o
Dino Fiore (bass)
o
Paolo Ferrarotti (drums, vocals)
1982-2000:
Marchiori
replaced by
o
Roberto Giordano (keyboards, vocals)
2001:
Fiore
replaced by
o
Franco Fava (bass)
2007:
Fava
replaced again by
o
Dino Fiore (bass)
Like
so many groups from the 70's, Il Castello di Atlante never had the
chance to release anything at the time. But they never gave up
playing together and, like Consorzio
Acqua Potabile,
released their first album in the 90's, with a line-up that included
mostly original members.
The
group was formed in late 1974 as Hydra with Giorgio Lobascio on
guitar, and took its current name in 1975 (though their first concert
was under the name Stato d'Allarme) after a stable line-up with the
entrance of Aldo Bergamini as lead singer and guitarist, having a
good live activity in their local area of Vercelli. A promo cassette,
La guerra dei topi, was recorded in the early years.
The
original five-piece survived until 1982, helped by guest members from
time to time, like keyboardist Vittorio Pallavicini and guitarist
David Rampone.
In
1982 flutist Marchiori left the group, following them as live
engineer, and the four remaining members recorded a second demo tape,
Semplice... ma non troppo, and a single that was
privately released in February 1983, by the time newcomer Roberto
Giordano on keyboards had been added.
The
band kept playing on a low level, during the 1980's, third tape Passo
di danza
was
produced in 1986, but it was the basic trio of Bergamini, Fiore and
Ferrarotti that kept the name alive due to the work commitments of
the others. The official renaissance of Il Castello di Atlante came
in the early 1990's, and thanks to the interest of the Vinyl Magic
label and Arti
& Mestieri
keyboardist Beppe Crovella, they could finally release their debut
album, Sono
io il signore delle terre a nord.
Still keeping a typical Italian symphonic prog sound, yet with a 90's
feel, the album was very well reviewed and became a starting point
for the revived group. While the opening
”Tirando le somme” can be similar to some neo-prog bands of the
1980's, some tracks like ”La foresta dietro il mulino di Johan”
or ”Estate” are much closer to the big
names of the Italian prog, the group having a distinctive element in
the leading role of the violin that adds a folk touch to their style.
A
second album in 1994, Passo dopo passo was a
compilation of old recordings, both studio and live, and on a lower
level than its predecessor. This also contains live tracks from the
1970's, but the cover doesn't mention any details.
Third
album L'ippogrifo, in the same year, repeated
the formula of their debut, though some reviewers considered it to be
a bit too melodic.
Other
albums at the beginning of the new decade: in 2001 the very nice Come
il seguitare delle stagioni,
that's been the first also released on vinyl as well as on CD, and in
2004 Quintessenza.
As usual some similarities can be found with legendary 1970's groups
like PFM
or Quella
Vecchia Locanda,
but the group always has a good personality and a rather original
sound.
In
2006 a live album, Concerto
acustico,
recorded during the Novara Art Rock Acustico at the beginning of that
year, and in 2008 their latest recording, a very nice album entitled
Tra
le antiche mura,
presented on the occasion of their Japanese tour.
Il
Castello di Atlante - Passo dopo passo
(1976-84 live and studio recordings, rel. 1994, Prog Rock) 3.30¤
Il
Castello di Atlante - “Tirando le
somme” / “Semplice ma non troppo” (1983, single)
Il
Castello di Atlante - Sono io il
signore delle terre a nord (1992, Prog Rock) 3.56¤
Il
Castello di Atlante - L'ippogrifo
(1994, Prog Rock) 3.64¤
Il
Castello di Atlante - Come il seguitare
delle stagioni (2001, Prog Rock) 3.67¤
Il
Castello di Atlante - Quintessenza
(2004) 3.74¤
Il
Castello di Atlante - Concerto acustico
(2006, live) 3.48¤
Il
Castello di Atlante - Quintessenza
(2004)
Il
Castello di Atlante - Tra le antiche
mura (2008)
Il
Castello di Atlante - Capitolo 8: Live
(2014, live) 3.24¤
Il
Castello di Atlante - “Il vecchio
giovane” / “Non ho mai imparato” (2016, single)
_______________________________________________________________________
Celeste
(1973-77, Rock Progressivo Italiano)
o
Ciro Perrino (drums, percussion, flute, keyboards, vocals)
o
Leonardo Lagorio (keyboards, flute, sax)
o
Mariano Schiavolini (guitar, violin)
o
Giorgio Battaglia (bass)
Along
with Museo
Rosenbach,
Celeste were born from the ashes of the legendary Il
Sistema,
a band from Sanremo whose only posthumous released recordings don't
give a real idea of what they were.
Formed
by drummer Ciro
Perrino
and sax player Leonardo Lagorio (who had played with Museo
Rosenbach
in their early days) this four piece went in a totally different
direction from their beginnings, playing a mostly acoustic, dreamy
and delicate prog. A studio group, they had a very limited live
experience.
Their
first album, Celeste,
also
known as Principe
di un giorno,
was
released by the small Grog
label only in 1976, but the tracks had been composed in 1973 and
recorded in 1974. It contains seven tracks, with pastoral lyrics and
a style not far from the softer side of early King Crimson.
A
second album, recorded in 1977, was released in 1991 by Mellow with
the obvious title of Celeste II. Closer to jazz-rock
and very far from their debut album, this suffers from poor quality
and unfinished recordings.
Another
album, born as a soundtrack and called I suoni in una sfera
was also released in 1992, more similar to their first work and
including two songs also on Principe di un giorno.
After
the band split Ciro
Perrino
played with St.Tropez
(that also included Celeste bass player Battaglia), Compagnia
Digitale
and SNC
and released a solo album (Solare
in
1980), before founding with Mauro Moroni the praiseworthy Mellow
label, so important during the years for the world diffusion of the
Italian prog.
The
whole story of Celeste is celebrated by a very nice 4CD box set
issued in 2010 containing all the recorded works of Il
Sistema
and St.Tropez,
with many unreleased tracks.
Celeste
- Celeste
(aka 'Principe
di un Giorno') (1976, rec. 1974,
Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock) 4.18¤
Celeste
- Celeste II (rec. 1977, rel.
1991, Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock) 3.15¤
Celeste
- Second Plus (rec. 1977,
rel. 1993, Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock)
Celeste
- I suoni in una sfera
(unreleased recordings from 1974, rel. 1992, Soundtrack, Prog Rock,
Symphonic Rock) 2.69¤
____________
Compilations:
Celeste
- 1969-1977: The Complete
Recordings (2010, 4 CD box set with hard cover and 44 page booklet,
with the complete recordings by Celeste, Il Sistema, Saint Tropez and
many unreleased tracks) 4.20¤
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Fabio Celi (keyboards, vocals)
o
Ciro Ciscognetti (keyboards)
o
Luigi Coppa (guitar, mouth harp)
o
Rino Fiorentino (bass)
o
Roberto Ciscognetti (drums, percussion)
One
of many bands active in the Naples area, originating from S.Giorgio a
Cremano, Fabio Celi & gli Infermieri (a very 60's sounding name)
released at the end of the sixties a commercial pop single, as Fabio
Celi & i Pop, and an album for a small Neapolitan private label
connected with the Studio 7 recording studio. The album was issued in
1973, though it had been recorded in 1969 with a 4-track Revox.
The
band leader Fabio Celi (whose real name was Antonio Cavallaro)
assembled a twin keyboards five-piece band much influenced by the
organ driven british psych and pop sounds of the 1960's, all mixed
with funny and outrageous lyrics. Due to these lyrics it was
allegedly banned by the Italian TV company RAI, and couldn't receive
any national promotion.
Their
live acts were particularly
impressive, with large use of dry ice smoke, and the singer, who was
brought on stage in a coffin, was restrained in a straitjacket during
the final song, ”L'artista sadico” [”The sadistic artist”].
Follia
(1973) contains
six long tracks, with piano, organ (a modified Farfisa which sounds
like a Moog) and fuzz guitar to the fore and a reverbed voice
recorded well above the musical background. The group has a very good
sound but some rhythms are typical of late sixties Italian pop.
Surely a nice listen even if the strange lyrics, which sound still
relevant sometimes, and the dissonant voice can be slightly difficult
to accept at first.
Celi
also released a solo single in 1971 with the same line-up as the
album except for guitarist Coppa being replaced by Silvio Feo.
In
1973, year of release of the LP, the group played at "Festival
d'Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze" held in Naples, and in 1975
their ”Uomo cosa fai”
appeared on TV in a popular program, Adesso
Musica,
as if the group was going to be back on the musical scenes, but the
band was never able to come back from oblivion.
Drummer
Roberto Ciscognetti has played since 1980 with Popularia, and still
also plays with Renzo Arbore & his Orchestra Italiana, with a
repertoire of old songs from the Italian and neapolitan tradition.
His brother Ciro Ciscognetti played with Napoli
Centrale
and now in the piano bar circuit, as does the leader Antonio
Cavallaro (Fabio Celi). Luigi Coppa left the music and works as an
employee, while bass player Gennaro Fiorentino sadly died of a heart
attack.
Fabio
Celi e gli Infermieri - Follia (1973,
rec. 1969, Psychedelic Rock, Experimental, Prog Rock) 2.77¤
Fabio
Celi e gli Infermieri - Only
Music (1973 album in instrumental
version, rel. 2007)
_______________________________________________________________________
1974:
o
Franco Piccolini (keyboards)
o
Giuseppe Terribile (bass, guitar, vocals)
o
Gino Terribile (drums, vocals)
1975
enter:
o
Giorgio Pagnacco (keyboards)
o
Roberto Giordana (guitar)
Il
Cerchio d'Oro, from Savona, only released three singles at the end of
their career, that had begun in 1974.
Their
beginnings were as one of the many symphonic oriented bands active in
their area, with a strong influence by Le
Orme.
In fact their surviving recordings even include some early tracks
played as a trio of keyboards/bass/drums.
Unfortunately
they couldn't manage to get a recording deal while still in their
progressive years, and their only record releases are three singles,
issued between 1977 and 1979, in a very commercial style. Later
line-ups of the band included guitarists Piuccio Pradal and Maurizio
Bocchino.
Two
posthumous releases are useful to know the sound of this group in the
1970's, a 1999 CD by Mellow, with 12 tracks recorded around 1976,
including their first single ”Quattro
mura”,
and three later tracks in an almost disco-style.
Much
better is the recent LP La
quadratura del cerchio,
issued in 2005, that contains 9 unreleased recordings, some of which
are covers of tracks by Le
Orme,
New
Trolls,
The
Trip,
along with some originals, and though they come from rehearsal tapes,
they show good quality and arrangements.
Some
of the musicians later played with the hard rock group Black Out,
with a single out in 1981, then since 1982 in the Beatles-cover band
Cavern. Even this band has released a single, issued in 1988. In two
concerts in Turin, in December 1990, Cavern were augmented on stage
by Francesco Di Giacomo and Rodolfo Maltese of Banco
del Mutuo Soccorso.
Keyboardist Giorgio Pagnacco played with the heavy metal band Vanexa
(with three LP's between 1983 and 1994) on their third album.
Il
Cerchio d'Oro was reformed in 2006 and released their first studio LP
in 2008, a concept album entitled Il
viaggio di Colombo,
an interesting return to the 70's sound with a line-up featuring all
original members: Franco Piccolini (keyboards), Giuseppe Terribile
(bass, acoustic guitar and vocals), Gino Terribile (drums, vocals),
Piuccio Pradal (12 string guitars and vocals), Roberto Giordana
(guitar). The group also played many times in concerts and festivals.
The line-up expanded with the entrance of new guitarist Bruno Govone
on the 2013 album, the nice Dedalo
e Icaro.
As its predecessor, it's a concept-album in 70's style, with the
guest appearance in this case of some big names of those years, but
the revived group shows here an improved energy and personality.
Latest album, Il
fuoco sotto la cenere,
once again a concept-album, was released in mid-2017.
Il
Cerchio d'Oro - Il Cerchio d'Oro
(singles' tracks and 1970's recordings, rel. 1999, Symphonic Rock,
Prog Rock) 1.30¤
Il
Cerchio d'Oro - La quadratura del
cerchio (2005, Prog Rock, Psychedelic Rock) 1.52¤
Il
Cerchio d'Oro - Il viaggio di Colombo
(2008, Prog Rock, Psychedelic Rock) 3.81¤
Il
Cerchio d'Oro - Dedalo e Icaro (2013)
3.94¤
Il
Cerchio d'Oro - Il fuoco sotto la
cenere (2017) 3.88¤
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Gianluigi Di Franco (vocals, flute, percussion)
o
Corrado
Rustici (guitar, flute, vibes, voice) younger brother of Danilo, in
future guitarist
of Nova
1975-78
o
Giulio D'Ambrosio (sax, flute, vocals)
o
Antonio Spagnolo (bass, acoustic guitar, flute, vocals)
o
Remigio Esposito (drums, vibes)
One
of many bands from Naples, and strictly connected to Osanna,
with Corrado Rustici being the younger brother of that group's
guitarist Danilo. Not unlike Osanna
they had a highly interesting fusion of progressive sounds with
typical southern Italy and mediterranean rhythms.
A
very good voice/instruments interplay is present throughout their
majestic one and only album, Melos,
released on Ricordi
in 1973 with seven long tracks. Their sound is characterised by
acoustic instruments such as flutes and horns (with four of the five
players dealing with flutes) and acoustic guitars, but the album is
by no means an acoustic one, with complex rhythm changes that
sometimes resemble the Lizard-era King Crimson.
The
band had a successful appearance at "III Festival d'avanguardia
e nuove tendenze" held in Naples in June 1973, and split in
1974. A nice band that deserved more success.
Some
of the members kept playing, most notably Corrado Rustici that joined
Osanna
for their fourth album Landscape
of life,
was
later in Nova
and then had a successful career as solo musician and producer.
Singer Gianluigi Di Franco collaborated with percussionist Toni
Esposito
during the 80's, he never left music and his main activity was in the
Music Therapy field until his death in 2005.
A
new line-up of Cervello, with original members Corrado Rustici,
Giulio D'Ambrosio and Antonio Spagnolo along with young singer
Virginio Simonelli and with Sasà Priore (keyboards, also with
Osanna)
and Davide Devito (drums), played in Tokyo in July 2017, with the
concert recorded to be published in the future on CD and DVD.
Cervello
- Melos (1973, Prog Rock)
4.21¤ 4.5#
Cervello - Live
in Tokyo 2017 (2017)
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Tony Tartarini (vocals)
o
Claudio Simonetti (keyboards)
o
Massimo Morante (guitar)
o
Fabio Pignatelli (bass)
o
Carlo Bordini (drums)
Though
the LP cover notes only list two musicians' names, singer Tony
Tartarini (previously known as Toni Gionta and former singer with
L'Uovo
di Colombo)
and drummer Carlo Bordini (that also played in a duo Rustichelli
& Bordini),
the group also included three members of Goblin,
keyboard wizard Claudio Simonetti, guitarist Morante and bass player
Pignatelli, with the first two of them being credited as composers
for all the album tracks.
In
fact the group, named Oliver, had been created by Simonetti and
Morante, that also went to England in late 1973 to audition a singer,
and englishman Clive "Artman" Haynes (or Clive Heinz, as he
was then known) was briefly in the band, recording some tracks with
them. He was sacked then, and didn't appear on the album.
With
new singer Tartarini the group recorded what was to become their
first and only album in 1974, after a name change to Goblin,
but it was soon shelved when Carlo Bordini refused to sign a contract
with Cinevox as it could damage his career as session musician. The
others went on with a new drummer, leaving out Bordini and Tartarini
and recorded Profondo
rosso.
The
unreleased album was shelved for a couple of years, and only released
in January 1976 with the name of Cherry
Five
(a name that really didn't belong to any real group), and only
Tartarini and Bordini were credited on the cover, maybe someone
thought that it could damage the Goblin's
career! Even if it's not particularly representative of the Italian
prog sound, the LP is a genuine rarity due to the great world success
Goblin
achieved with some of their soundtrack works, and is in many
collectors' want lists.
A
keyboard based album, sung in English, Cherry
Five
has
strong influences by the likes of Genesis and Yes, especially in the
fluid keyboard parts and powerful bass sound. It contains six long
tracks with the opening ”Country graveyard” and ”The picture of
Dorian Gray”.
This last title, translated in Italian as Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray
was in fact the name of Claudio Simonetti's first band.
The
two musicians whose names appeared on the cover of the Cherry
Five album,
Tony Tartarini and Carlo Bordini, have reformed this group in 2015
with Ludovico Piccinini (guitar), Gianluca De Rossi (keyboards) and
Pino Sallusti (bass) for a concert at the International Music Fair in
Genua and to record a new album, Il
pozzo dei giganti,
issued by Black Widow and containing three long tracks inspired from
Dante's Divine
Comedy,
to revive the legendary name of this band.
Cherry
Five - Cherry Five (1976, Prog Rock)
3.90¤ 4.5#
Cherry
Five - Il pozzo dei giganti (2015, Prog
Rock) 3.68¤
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Ettore "Chetro" De Carolis (guitar)
o
Gianfranco Coletta (guitar, vocals)
Additional
musicians:
o Gianni Ripan
(bass)
o Gegè Munari
(dums)
If
Dedicato
a...
by Le
Stelle di Mario Schifano
or Ad
Gloriam
by Le
Orme
are considered the best Italian psychedelic LP's, then ”Danze
della sera”
by
Chetro & Co. is surely the best psych single ever made in Italy.
A
duo from Rome, they only released this single on the small Parade
label in 1968 with a stunning poster cover and, like Le
Stelle
had in artist Mario Schifano their most important supporter, Chetro &
Co. were helped by well known film director Pier Paolo Pasolini,
whose verses (from a poem called Notturno)
were used as lyrics for ”Danze
della sera”.
”Danze
della sera” and ”Le pietre numerate” have
the duo augmented by bassist Gianni Ripani and drummer Gegè Munari
and both include unusual string and woodwind instruments sounds,
creating a unique hypnotic eastern-tinged style.
Chetro
& Co. - “Danze della sera” /
“Le pietre numerate” (1968, single)
_______________________________________________________________________
Luciano
Cilio
(1950-21.5.1983, Rock Progressivo Italiano, Electronic, Folk Rock,
Experimental, Avantgarde, Ethereal)
A
questionable inclusion here, as Dialoghi del presente
is probably much closer to contemporary classical music than to
the standard Italian progressive music, but the album usually has
very good reviews by the lovers of the genre.
Cilio
was from Naples, and worked both in the musical and theatrical
circuit of the city, collaborating with Alan
Sorrenti,
Shawn Phillips and Armando
Piazza
in the first part of the 1970's. A talented piano, guitar and sitar
player, he was always interested in new forms of avantgarde music.
The
album Dialoghi
del presente,
his only record release, was released in 1977 by EMI,
and composed by four main parts and an interlude. With help from many
guest musicians including well known session players Toni
Esposito
and Robert Fix the album is mostly instrumental and with long parts
built on acoustic guitar, piano, cello and other classical
instruments, the only vocal parts are wordless chants.
The
album was not particularly successful and closed the career of Cilio
as musician, though he was involved in many important artistic events
held in Naples until his death by suicide in 1983.
Luciano
Cilio - Dialoghi del presente (1977,
Electronic, Folk Rock, Experimental, Avantgarde, Ethereal)
4.11¤
Luciano
Cilio - Dell'universo assente (1st
album with unreleased tracks, 2004)
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Giacomo Urbanelli (keyboards, vocals)
o
Gianni Fantuzzi (guitar)
o
Annibale Vanetti (bass)
o
Donato Scolese (drums)
The
odd story of Cincinnato was not unusual in the confusion of the early
1970's Italian musical scene: Signed to a major label, PDU,
this group of unknown and little experienced musicians had the chance
of releasing an album and then disappeared.
The
group was from near Varese, and had previously played since 1970 as
Eros Natura, but the record company suggested a change of name, and
Cincinnato came out in 1972. Their label PDU
is remembered by Italian collectors because of their distribution of
German cosmic classics like the ones on Ohr and Kosmische Kuriere
labels, and this was (along with Logan
Dwight's
sole album) one of their very limited ventures into prog territory.
The
album Cincinnato
was
recorded in just three days, in a single take; side A includes three
instrumental tracks that can
easily described as jazz-rock or in some cases simply jazz (as in
”Esperanto”),
built on piano and with good guitar playing by Gianni Fantuzzi. Side
B contains a long track,
”L'ebete”,
more than 20 minutes long, with a good vocal beginning (vocals are
uncredited on the cover, the voice was by keyboardist Urbanelli),
that evolves in a jazz-influenced instrumental part but doesn't lose
its prog influences.
A
disjointed album that contains good playing and that nice long track,
but unfortunately unknown to many fans, being very difficult to find
before the recent CD reissue.
The
group split in 1973 when Urbanelli and Vanetti quit; the only member
having had some success is drummer Donato Scolese, who played with
Franco
Battiato
in the 1980's and then returned to the jazz club circuit.
Since
2010 two of the original members, Giacomo Urbanelli and Gianni
Fantuzzi, along with Franco Erenti (keyboards) and Paolo Burattin
(bass), which had already collaborated with the band in the 1970's,
started the Thauma Cincinnato project and issued in 2016 a
self-produced CD, L'essere
e l'auriga,
mixing modern sounds with some old-styled progressive atmospheres.
Cincinnato
- Cincinnato (1974, Jazz-Rock, Fusion, Prog Rock) 3.05¤ 3.5#
_______________________________________________________________________
1970-71:
o
Silvana Aliotta (vocals, percussion)
o
Marcello "Spooky" Quartarone (guitar, vocals)
o
Gianni Bianco (bass)
o
Roberto “Johnny” Betti (drums)
1972:
Roberto
Betti replaced by
o
Franco "Dede" Loprevite (drums, vocals)
One
of the few American sounding Italian bands, and so convincing that
even Vernon Joynson, in his 1988 book The
Flashback included
them in the US psychedelia section! Circus 2000, from Turin, were
formed in 1970 when singer Silvana Aliotta joined the group Best
Genius, and released late that year both their first album Circus
2000
and
single (containing Italian versions of two songs from the LP) with
the new name imposed by their record company. The album had no
line-up references on the cover, and many people at the time thought
they were an English or American band. It contains ten songs, with a
very short running time, with strong californian psych influence and
the beautiful female voice of Silvana
Aliotta
above all. A mediocre album, not representative of the Italian style,
yet it's regarded by many as a very nice one.
”I Am the Witch” (also on single in the Italian version
”Io, la strega”)
is one of the best cuts.
As
so many other bands throughout the world had to do, Circus 2000 had
to alternate between the most original and inventive material (sung
in English) on the LP and more commercial tracks (in Italian) on
singles, and they released ”Regalami
un sabato sera”
in
1971 (backed by a very nice ”Ho
regalato i capelli”,
Italian version of a song from the first album) used in a popular TV
series.
Second
album came in 1972, still in English but with a slightly more
polished sound and some progressive influences. An
Escape from a Box
is again a very short album, around 33 minutes, but the five songs
are longer and the opening ”Hey
man”
(also
released as a single) the best track. In the same year the group won,
along with Banco
del Mutuo Soccorso,
the second "Festival d'Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze" held
in Rome in June 1972 playing Need.
With
the new drummer Louis Atzori, Circus 2000 recorded some songs for a
new LP, but their label wanted it to be more rock-inspired and the
group decided to split. The only remaining tracks taken from those
recordings, ”Dove
va la mia gente”
and ”Il
mio paese”,
show a much less aggressive sound than in the past. The RiFi label
offered to singer Silvana Aliotta a solo deal (as Silvana
dei Circus 2000)
that made her releases some singles with the Circus 2000 musicians as
backing band, but the choice proved to be not successful.
Aliotta,
that had already released some singles in the 1960's, collaborated as
singer and percussionist with many popular Italian artists (among
them Mina, Edoardo
Bennato,
Adriano Celentano), then formed the disco-trio Le Streghe and
released a disco music single under the name Ben Norman in 1980;
later she dedicated to the singing teacher activity.
Original
drummer Johnny Betti founded the small Shirak label and formed Living
Life along
with guitarist Quartarone. The latter was also involved in the Canti
dal vangelo secondo Barabba
album.
The other drummer of the band, Dede Loprevite, played with Duello
Madre,
Nova
and Kim & the Cadillacs. He passed away in 2014.
Circus
2000 - Circus 2000 (1970, Italian
Psychedelic Rock, Prog Rock) 3.27¤
Circus
2000 - “Io, la strega” / “Pioggia
sottile” (1970, single from Circus
2000 but sung in Italian)
Circus
2000 - “Regalami un sabato sera” /
“Ho regalato i capelli” (1971, single, B-side from Circus 2000
but sung in Italian)
Circus
2000 - An Escape from a Box (Fuga
Dall'Involucro) (1972, Folk Rock, Pop Rock, Prog Rock) 3.12¤
_______________________________________________________________________
o Lino Vairetti
(vocals, guitar, Mellotron, mouth harp)
o Gianni Guarracino
(guitar, synth, vocals)
o Enzo Avitabile
(sax, flute, vocals)
o Paolo Raffone
(keyboards)
o Rino Zurzolo
(bass)
o Massimo Guarino
(drums, percussion, vibes, vocals)
Still another band
from Naples, and also connected to Osanna, formed by Lino Vairetti
and Massimo Guarino when that band split in 1974. But Città Frontale
were in fact two different bands, the first one being active in 1970
before Osanna were formed with four of that later band members and
Gianni Leone, that left to join Balletto di Bronzo.
The new Città
Frontale retained some of the main elements that strongly
characterized Osanna's sound, like the strong use of sax and flute
and the mix of prog and mediterranean folk sounds, but with a more
melodic and somehow commercial approach. Compared to Osanna's albums,
El Tor sounds much more lightweight.
Having a nice cover
design by drummer Massimo Guarino (he also produced the nice cover
painting on Osanna fourth album) the LP starts with the long ”Alba
di una città /Solo uniti”, that could easily find its place in
Osanna's Landscape of life, but the rest is not particularly
original, with even some Zappa or jazz-rock influences. All in all a
positive album, but Osanna were a different thing.
Città
Frontale - El Tor (1975, Prog Rock)
3.13¤
_______________________________________________________________________
I
Cocai
(1977, Rock Progressivo Italiano) / Baronetti
(1975-77)
o
Theo Byty (Amedeo Biasutti) (vocals, guitar, Moog synthesizer)
o
Gigi Pandy (Pierluigi Pandiani) (guitar, flute, vocals)
o
Stheny (Stefano Biasutti) (keyboards)
o
Paul Blaise (Paolo Biasutti) (bass, percussion, vocals)
o
Tury (Gigi Turi or Luigi
Turin) (drums)
A
band from Venice that only released an album in 1977, with the five
members identities hidden under fantasy names. Some of the musicians
had played together since 1970 as Draps and New Draps, then around
1975 the definitive line-up changed name to Baronetti participating
in various concerts and festivals in Veneto. The name Cocai was
chosen just before the album recording.
The
group was strongly influenced by the then popular Italian commercial
pop sound, producing a soft prog sound that only has little
interesting moments, as in the eight-minute long
”Le mie storie”,
that's sung in English despite the Italian title. The drums are
played on this track by Massimo Iannantuono (in the 80's the drummer
in Guido Toffoletti's Blues Society), who had replaced Turin for a
short time. The album contains seven tracks, five of which are over 5
minutes. Despite the length of the songs, the arrangements are never
particularly elaborate and vocal parts are rather weak, with the
keyboards as the main instrument.
I
Cocai broke up soon after the album release and only Luigi Turin kept
playing.
I
Cocai - Piccolo grande vecchio fiume
(1977, Italian Symphonic Rock, Prog Rock, Pop Rock, Psychedelic Rock)
_______________________________________________________________________
Absolutely
not a progressive artist, this Vietnam born French-Italian
keyboardist is still nowadays a very popular commercial singer in
Italy with a long career and many hit singles and albums, some of
which also released in foreign countries where he kept the name of
Richard Cocciante, soon changed to Riccardo in Italy.
But
his debut, a concept album called Mu,
housed in a marvellous cover, is a very good symphonic prog, with
help from many guest musicians, among which Brainticket's
leader Joel Vandroogenbroeck and keyboardist Paolo Rustichelli (from
the Rustichelli
e Bordini
duo), and great instrumental parts.
This
can be a very nice listen for keyboards-driven prog fans, if you like
Cocciante's voice (too tied to his later pop successes for many
Italian listeners!).
Richard
Cocciante - “Down Memory Lane” /
“Rhythm” (1971, single from the soundtrack of the film
Roma bene)
Richard
Cocciante - Mu (1972, Prog Rock,
Psychedelic Rock, Pop, Folk)
Richard Cocciante
- Atlanti (1973, French sung version of Mu,
Prog Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Pop, Folk)
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Richard Coley (Maurizio Pino Calò) (vocals, piano, percussion)
o
Valerio Dal Passo (guitar)
o
Mario Volanti (guitar)
o
Sandro Novarini (keyboards)
o
Paolo Ghirelli (flute, sax, vocals)
o
Alessandro Dal Toso (bass, vocals)
o
Fulvio Massi (bass, replacing Alessandro Dal Toso)
o
Walter Calloni (drums)
With
just an LP Get
Ready
(1972) and
a single ”He Has Gone Away"
/ "Confusion” (1972), both
issued by Car
Juke Box
and very rare, this group was surrounded by mystery for many years,
even for the absolute lack of information on the record covers; only
through the recollections of some musicians it was possible to
rebuild their story.
The
group Duu Duu had been formed in 1969 in Milan, playing in that area
and Valtellina. In 1971 singer Maurizio Calò asked the five
musicians to play with him, first as Maurizio Jr. e i Duu Duu, then
as Maurizio Jr. e l'Azienda Autonoma di Soggiorno, then using the
name Richard Last Group after his choice of the nom de plume Richard
Coley. Calò wanted to release the album as a solo artist, but given
the popularity of rock groups at the time, the record company
insisted to have it credited to the Richard Last Group.
The
12-track album Get
Ready
(1972) included
mainly covers (by the likes of Jethro Tull and Donovan) along with
three originals, all sung in English, showing good technical
qualities but little creativity. Towards the end of the recording
sessions there was a line-up change, with bassist Dal Toso leaving
for his military duties and the entrance of second guitarist Mario
Volanti and later the new bass player Fulvio Massi. This seven-piece
line-up appeared on the LP and single cover pictures. Volanti only
played on the three original compositions of the LP (”Confusion”,
”He
Has Gone away” and
”Naple
in Rock”)
along with a guest bass player coming from the group La Luce.
The
group broke up in September 1972 but Calò/Coley recruited new
musicians and created a new group with Rosario Brunetti (guitar),
Enzo Menunni (bass) and Massimo Dinoia (drums), that played for some
years with the name Richard Coley and the Last Group Show.
In
1977 Coley released with his name a remake of Get
Ready
(1972) entitled
Dedicated...
containing the same twelve tracks as the previous one and was issued
by his label, Alexandra.
After
another line-up change Calò started using his real name and with
Dinoia and guitar/bass player Flavio Scansani recorded some tracks
with jazz and funky influences for a new album that was never issued,
although two of them appeared on a single in 1979, Folle
evasione.
Coley/Calò
had a part of his musical career in France, and he was involved in
many commercial productions after this brief period in the rock music
scene.
Richard Last
Group - Get Ready (1972, Prog Rock)
Richard
Coley - Dedicated....... (1977, remake
of the same tracks as Richard Last Group
- Get Ready 1972, Blues Rock, Jazz-Rock)
Richard
Coley - “Folle evasione” / “Animal”
(1979, single)
_______________________________________________________________________
Roberto
Colombo (born 29.4.1951, Rock
Progressivo Italiano)
Born on April 29,
1951, Roberto Colombo is a keyboard player, artistic producer and
arranger and has worked with bands such as Le Orme, PFM, Finisterre
and many other prominent Italian musicians.
He's often
considered one of the underrated gems in Italy. His solo albums from
the 1970's have a lot of Frank Zappa influences. In 1976 his first
solo album, Sfogatevi Bestie, was relesead. This album
includes collaborations from notable musicians such as Walter Calloni
(PFM), Ricky Belloni (Nuova Idea, New Trolls), Paulo Donnarumma
(together with Eugenio Finardi former member of Pacco, and even today
an esteemed session man), and Claudio Fasoli (Perigeo). It´s a good
quality piece of work, well received by the press and still regarded
as one of the most wanted items by numerous record collectors. This
is a great example of vital experimental progressive jazzrock, with
hints of Spiral Staircase by Supersister. A flawlessly produced
album, way ahead of its time.
1977 saw the release
of Botte da Orbi. This work verges on progressive and
jazz-rock, but is marked by light-hearted ironic tones. He gathers
together an all-star band of more than thirty musicians, featuring
essentially the cream of the Italian music scene: from Mauro Pagani
(PFM) to Walter Calloni (PFM), Ronnie Jackson to Lucio Violin Fabbri
(PFM), Stefano Cerri (considered one of the best bass player of those
days) to Tullio De Piscopo (another legendary drummer who have been
playing with New Trolls on Tempi Dispari), and Ivan Cattaneo (a
songwriter who was backed on one album by PFM). It´s a dynamic and
clever intuitive record with rock solid technique. 1980's
"Astrolimpix" is a record attributed to Roberto Colombo and
Mark Harris, of less interest to prog fans, being more commercial. He
has recently in 2008 recorded an album with his wife Antonella
Ruggero entitled "Pomodoro Genetico," a techno pop album
also of very little interest of prog fans.
Aside from his solo
albums, Colombo has had played with many progressive artists. He
played keyboards on PFM's album Passpartú, on Battiato's
L'era del Cinghiale Bianco, and on Mauro Pagani's first album.
He participated on a long tour with PFM as backing band to Fabrizio
De André, from which came the first and most famous live record of
the late singer songwriter.
As a producer, he
has worked with artists of the likes from Le Orme, to Miguel Bosé,
et. al., and has also produced some albums for Italian band
Finisterre. Colombo is the musical director of the "Liberamusic"
music label, which will renew, among its products, the works of
guitarists Maurizio Colonna and Frank Gambale, that of the
percussionist Ivan Ciccarelli, as well as Antonella Ruggiero's music.
¤¤¤Roberto
Colombo - Sfogatevi bestie
(1976, Fusion, Prog Rock) 3.51¤ 4#
¤¤¤Roberto
Colombo - Botte da orbi (1977, Prog Rock, Fusion,
Jazz-Rock) 3.17¤
Roberto
Colombo - Astrolimpix (1980, Space Rock, Pop Rock, Prog
Rock)
_______________________________________________________________________
o
Giancarlo Galli (vocals, guitar)
o
Claudio Lugli (vocals, guitar)
o
Attilio Zanchi (bass, vocals)
While
most of the musical influences on Italian artists during the late
1960's and early 1970's came from English groups, there were quite a
few artists who were strongly attracted to the West Coast sound.
Come
Le Foglie, like later groups such as Stradaperta,
Madrugada
or Grosso
Autunno,
were particularly influenced by an US-sounding style based on
acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies. The trio has been formed in
Milan around 1968, from the ashes of a rhythm and blues group, Formy
Blues Band. Their early repertoire was full of covers by the likes of
CSN&Y and Joni Mitchell, and the band had an intense live
activity and a good following in the Milan area.
At
the turn of the seventies, the group began creating their own sound,
often helped by guest musicians, but still keeping their initial West
Coast feeling. Among their helpers were horn players Riccardo Luppi
and Renato Rivolta and percussionist Marco De Palma.
They
were invited at many important open-air festivals in the North of
Italy, and had the chance of supporting some of the top Italian and
foreign artists of the time, Osanna,
PFM,
Banco,
Franco
Battiato,
Alan
Sorrenti,
Curved Air. Of course many record companies were interested in
signing them, and they recorded many demo tapes, but unfortunately
their uncompromising behaviour caused them to lose any chance of a
recording deal.
In
the summer of 1972 the band played some concerts in small venues in
England, one of the very few Italian bands to have such a chance, and
could even support Magna Carta and had a broadcast on a local radio.
The
band split in the mid 1970's, sadly little has survived of all those
studio recordings that never found their way to an LP. A CD Come
Le Foglie, including demo recordings from 1972 was
released in 1998 by the Giallo label; it also includes a few live
tracks, also from the same year, but having a worse quality, and this
record can give an approximate idea of what this group sounded like.
Of
the band members only Attilio Zanchi has remained in the professional
music biz, playing with Yu
Kung
and Maad
and staying in the jazz circuit. Long time collaborators Riccardo
Luppi and Renato Rivolta (also with Maad)
have also had a good career as professional jazz musicians.
In
2010 the three original members have released a CD entitled Aliante,
with help from their old friend Claudio Fucci, which includes 9 new
recordings along with 7 remixed tracks from old demos.
Come
Le Foglie - Come Le Foglie (1972
unreleased studio-live recordings, 1998, Acid Rock, Prog Rock)
Come
Le Foglie - Aliante (2010, Pop Rock)
_______________________________________________________________________
1977:
o
Romolo Bollea (vocals, keyboards)
o
Maurizio Venegoni (keyboards)
o
Massimo Gorlezza (guitar)
o
Giancarlo Morani (bass)
o
Pippo Avondo (drums)
1993:
o
Paul Rosette (vocals)
o
Romolo Bollea (keyboards)
o
Maurizio Venegoni (keyboards)
o
Massimo Gorlezza (guitar)
o
Riccardo Roattino (guitar)
o
Pippo Avondo (drums)
1998:
o
Maurizio Mercandino (vocals)
o
Romolo Bollea (keyboards)
o
Maurizio Venegoni (keyboards)
o
Fabrizio Sellone (keyboards)
o
Massimo Gorlezza (guitar)
o
Chicco Mercandino (guitar)
o
Luigi Secco (bass)
o
Luca Bonardi (drums)
A
strange story for this band from near Novara that never released
anything during the 1970's and was discovered in the 1990's by the
small Kaliphonia label. A 1977 recorded live CD was released and the
band reunited with four of the five original members for a nice brand
new album. After this, other CD's have followed in 1998 and 2003.
The
group was formed in Boffalora Ticino in 1971, and after some early
concerts released a "prog-opera" called Gerbrand,
that was represented in local theatres but never recorded. The
musical direction was similar to Banco
del Mutuo Soccorso
or Premiata
Forneria Marconi,
in typical Italian prog style with twin keyboards and long
compositions.
The
original band split in late 1970's and some of the members were
contacted for a CD release of an old live tape. Hence the reunion of
the band around keyboardist Bollea and new recordings in the 1990's
until now.
Along
with their own CD's, the group took part in various international
prog artists compilations, the tributes to Camel and Van Der Graaf
Generator issued by Mellow and three projects promoted by the Finnish
magazine Colossus
and
issued in France by Musea, dedicated to Odyssey, Dante's Inferno and
to the classic I
7 Samurai
movie. In 2014 the long career of Consorzio Acqua Potabile was
celebrated with a rich box set containing a summary of their vast
production, while in 2016 Black Widow issued their new studio album,
Coraggio
e mistero,
released with help from Jumbo's
leader, Alvaro Fella.
Consorzio
Acqua Potabile - Sala Borsa live '77
(rec. 1977, rel. 1993, Prog Rock) 3.71¤
Consorzio
Acqua Potabile - … Nei gorghi del
tempo (1993, Prog Rock) 3.97¤
Consorzio
Acqua Potabile - Robin delle stelle
(1998, Symphonic Rock, Prog Rock) 3.72¤
Consorzio
Acqua Potabile - Il bianco regno di
Dooah (2003, Prog Rock) 3.61¤
Consorzio
Acqua Potabile - Da Odisseo A Katayama
Gorobei (Per Asilah-El Hedei) (2008, Prog Rock)
Consorzio
Acqua Potabile - Il Teatro delle Ombre
(quarant'anni controluce) (2014, 4CD Box, Symphonic Rock, Prog Rock)
4.64¤
Alvaro
"Jumbo" Fella & Consorzio Acqua Potabile
- Coraggio e mistero (2016) 3.79¤
_______________________________________________________________________
1973-74:
o
Graziano Zippo (vocals)
o
Alessio Feltri (keyboards)
o
Michele Carlone (keyboards)
o
Gabriele Siri (bass)
o
Flavio Scogna (drums, percussion)
1975-76:
o
Riccardo Zegna (keyboards)
With
a distinctive line-up featuring two keyboard players and no guitars,
Corte dei Miracoli from Savona released just an album on the small
Grog
label, with the help of New
Trolls'
guitarist Vittorio De Scalzi (also involved in the label).
They
had been formed around 1973 by past members of Tramps, like
keyboardist Alessio Feltri, that had previously played with Il
Giro Strano,
a band that's strictly connected with Corte dei Miracoli. Original
second keyboardist Michele Carlone left the group just before the
recordings for their debut album, and was replaced by the experienced
jazz pianist Riccardo Zegna.
The
album Corte dei Miracoli
is obviously a symphonic oriented prog album, where the
keyboards interplay dominates but vocal parts are the weakest point,
sometimes a bit too distant from the musical background. A good album
but not among the best in the genre.
The
group kept playing until the summer of 1976, its last line-up also
including guitarist Valerio Piccioli. After the band's demise, a new
edition of Il
Giro Strano
was formed by Feltri, Siri and Piccioli, but the group was not
successful.
A
posthumous album, Dimensione onirica, recorded in
1973-74 by the first line up of the band, has been released by Mellow
on CD, and is good.
Keyboardist
Riccardo Zegna later formed the jazz trio Gialma
3.
Corte
dei Miracoli - Corte dei Miracoli
(1976, Prog Rock) 3.65¤
Corte
dei Miracoli - Dimensione onirica (demo
rec. 1973-74, rel 1992, Prog Rock) 2.92¤
Corte
dei Miracoli - Live at Lux (live 1976,
rel. 1993, Prog Rock) 1.31¤
Corte
dei Miracoli - Ballate per il compagno
Folagra (Disco dal vivo per arditi del popolo) (2016)
_______________________________________________________________________
Crystals
(1974, Rock Progressivo Italiano)
o
Carlo Degani (vocals, percussion, ex-I Condors)
o
Nanni Civitenga (guitar, ex-Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno &
Samadhi)
o
Marcello Todaro (guitar, ex-Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso)
o
Giorgio Piazza (bass, ex-Premiata Forneria Marconi)
o
Giorgio Santandrea (drums, ex-Alphataurus)
+ Paolo Tofani
(composer of all tracks)
They
recorded an album Crystals
(rec. 1974, rel. 1992) that was intended for release on Cramps
label, but for mysterious reasons it never appeared, and has only
been released on CD in the early 1990's. Needless to say, the record
shows an excellent musicianship, despite a certain lack of
originality. The lyrics are sung in English, though the album has
long instrumental parts, and the musical style is closer to English
groups than to the Italian prog sound. A Led Zeppelin influence is
evident in ”Time Out”, very
similar in its musical and vocal arrangement to the Page-Plant
trademark sound, or ”Policeman”
with a folky feeling.
All
in all an interesting document of what could have been a very
influential band in the Italian rock scene.
Crystals -
Crystals (rec. 1974, rel. 1992, Hard Rock, Prog Rock) 3.17¤
_______________________________________________________________________
