Gatto Marte - Gioco del Mago (Italy 2000) [AvantProg] @VBR~224

Gatto Marte are a Italian "progressive chamber quartet", who use violin, basson, piano & double bass. Their records are definitely comparable to folks like Julverne, ZNR, Jean-Philippe Goude's chamber works, etc., so if you are a fan of that style, you will want this.



01. Gioco del Mago
02. Tarantella del Gatto
03. Ladybird Dance
04. Petra
05. Il domatore di leoni
06. Fantasia e cadenza
07. Tone of innocence
08. Gun powder
09. A short story
10. Vorrei Partire
11. Tangata su nave che affonda
12. Fotogramma
13. Transeunte
14. Tango
15. Tarumba


Nino Cotone: Violin
Giuseppe Brancaccio: Bassoon
Maximilian Brooks: Piano, Vocals
Pietro Lusvardi: Contrabass
Guest Musician:
Beppe Ronzoni: Drums, Percussions

Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso - Da Qui Messere Si Domina La Valle (Italy 1991) [ProgRock] @320

This album is not a compilation! The band re-recorded the first 2 albums in studio with new instruments and new arrangements. Fantastic result!
CrimsonKing

Francesco Di Giacomo writes in CD booklet that he does not like remakes and BANCO decided to re-record their two first albums because fans asked them ''to do it today''. It seems the easiest way was to play both albums live and make a record, but the band did it in studio. I guess musicians had their reasons for this.

I'm not a big fan of remakes too, but I like new versions of both albums. There are lots of new colours in familiar tunes, first of all due to Vittorio Nocenzi's excellent keyboard work. Rodolfo Maltese is more than competent guitarist, and Francesco Di Giacomo is, as usual, in good vocal form. It became a common place in prog circles to consider him an opera-trained vocalist, but I've read somewhere that he is a self-taught singer. Don't know where the truth is, but anyway he is one of the greatest rock singers of all time. The low point for me is the absence of bass guitar player on the whole record and the use of programmed drums on many tracks. But great music is great music. I love original ''BMS'' and ''Darwin!'' albums to bits, but quite often listen to these new versions.

Highly recommended, but get 1972 originals first.

"Prog Archives"

CD 1 - ''B.M.S'' 1991 version
1. In volo (2:17)
2. R.I.P. (Requiescant in pace) (9:09)
3. Passaggio (4:06)
4. Metamorfosi (13:01)
5. Il Giardino del mago (19:09)
... Passo dopo passo ...
... Chi ride e chi geme ...
... Coi capelli sciolti al vento ...
Compenetrazione
6. Traccia (2:08)

Total time 49:52

CD 2 - ''Darwin'' 1991 version
1. L'evoluzione (16:46)
2. La conquista della posizione eretta (9:59)
3. Danza dei grandi rettili (4:15)
4. Cento mani e cento occhi (6:03)
5. 750.000 anni fa ... l'amore? (7:53)
6. Miserere alla storia (6:18)
7. Ed ora io domando tempo al tempo (3:23)

Total time 54:40

Francesco Di Giacomo: lead vocals
Vittorio Nocenzi: piano, Hammond organ, minimoog, synthesizers, keyboards, drum programming, synth bass, accordion, clarinet, recorder, vocals, backing vocals
Rodolfo Maltese: electric guitar, mandolin, sitar, backing vocals
Pierluigi Calderoni: drums, percussion

Guest musicians:
Piercarlo Penta: Hammond organ, keyboards, drum programming
Tiziano Ricci: Fabrizio Faderighi
Claudio Rego: backing vocals

Gatto Marte - Sogni di Bimba (Italy 2008) [AvantProg] @320

Another fine release from this Italian 'chamber music' quartet. Recalling the Belgian group Julverne, Gatto Marte are a percussion-less group that really focus on classical chamber sounds rather than 'rock' but have an appeal to 'rock' fans for the clarity and tunefulness of their compositions. If Univers Zero are rock's version of Stravinsky and Art Zoyd are rock's version of Varese and Wappasou rock's version of Debussy and ZNR rock's Satie, then Gatto Marte are certainly rock music's answer to Prokofiev! Delicate and beautiful music from violin, bassoon, piano & doublebass.
When you go to Gatto Marte's site, you are greeted with the following sentence: "Gatto Marte is an italian quartet performing original compositions with classical influence and jazz improvisation." That, dear readers, is a mighty fine and accurate sentence. I'll write more now, but do keep that sentence in mind! This is the band's seventh album and the musicians are Nino Cotone: Violin, Hang and Percussion, Giuseppe Brancaccio: Bassoon, Maximilian Brooks: Piano and Percussion, Pietro Lusvardi: Double Bass, Banjo, Harmonica and Percussion.

"Gatto Marte is a chamber ensemble of classical background with an attitude close to jazz and a twist of folk music, from Eastern Europe through the Mediterranean towards the North. Piano, double bass, violin and bassoon are the protagonists of this musical journey."


01. Puer
02. Puella
03. Povera gente valse
04. Tango luna
05. Carnevale sopra le nuvole
06. Il bosco di Marte
07. La Tugazza
08. Prima volta
09. Tin tin
10. Rosa
11. Lily
12. Luca
13. Pique nique
14. L'armata di Picio
15. Rosa del deserto

05. Carnevale sopra le nuvole


Nino Cotone: violin, hang & percussion
Giuseppe Brancaccio: bassoon
Maximilian Brooks: piano & percussion
Pietro Lusvardi: double bass, banjo, harmonica & percussion

Guest musicians:
Doug Tones: tom tom & crash cymbal (1)
Rosa Lusvardi: castanets (8)
Lily Lusvardi assisted by Sara Lusvardi: maracas (8) 

Calomito - Inaudito (Italy 2005) [Jazz Rock Avant] @320

Calomito, from Genoa, Italy, wild sextet (double bass, guitar, drums, sax soprano, violin and Fender Rhodes), masters of candied jazz, chose to not deny themselves any way. That is total music, fusion of arab, tzigan, klezmer tastes on a solid progjazz base, remembering Doctor Nerve, Gong, Zappa… with a crackling and genuine creativity, which dilutes the astounding talent of the musicians and avoids any algid virtuoso wanking.

"...... the sound is a mix of progressive, r.i.o., Canterbury and jazz touch with a mediterranean influence that sometimes reminds of the fantastic Area, Gong, or Zappa … complex compositions, skilled musicians, a really good debut album!"

1. Collante

2. Nautilus

3. Am Ha'Aretz

4. Ebetus

5. Dal Buffo Buio

6. Rutz

7. Nascosto

8. Kaizer

Marco Ravera / electric guitar

Kai Kundratice / Rhodes, organ, synthesizer

Filippo Cantarella / viola and violin

Federico Barrai / alto sax, soprano sax, percussion

Tommaso Rolando / bass, electric bass

Paolo Piccardo / drums, samples

with guest musicians:

Matteo Ammirati / guitars

Marco Tindiglia / trumpet

Yügen - Labirinto d'Acqua (Italy 2006) [AvantProg] @VBR224

This is a brilliant debut album from an Italian band which revolves around guitarist/composer Francesco Zago's and producer Marcello Marinone's singular vision of a fusion of chamber music, symphonic prog and RIO/Avant prog. The name of the band is Japanese; it has no easy translation, but an approximation would be an awareness of the universe that triggers feelings too deep for words (according to the book The Meaning of Tingo). The sleeve contains quotations from Erik Satie (2 of whose compositions are included), Wittgenstein, Umberto Fiori, Liebniz and Jorge Luis Borges, among others. This is a band that is ambitious in scale and scope, and it is to the credit of all concerned that the music more than lives up to the ideals which inform it.
The album starts with a lovely, rippling piano piece by Satie before the first composition proper arrives in the shape of Catacresi. This sets the tone for what is to follow; woodwinds and tuned percussion that recall the austere modernism of Univers Zero and Art Zoyd, washes of keyboards that recall Gentle Giant and Genesis and guitar that touches base with Zappa, Frith and Fripp, the whole sounding totally fresh and contemporary. Rather like some of Univers Zero's recent albums, the 14 musicians involved play in different permutations on different pieces, which makes for a highly varied sonic palette but which also means that it doesn't always feel like the work of a band in the traditional sense of the word. The standard of writing, arranging and playing is astonishingly high throughout, and credit must be given to Udi Koorman for his mixing skills. A particular highlight is Corale Metallurgico, a percussion driven piece featuring Dave Kermann of 5UUs fame, with the manic twists and turns of Zappa's 'serious' music and a truly fabulous percussion arrangement. Later on, Quando La Morte Mi Colse Nel Sonno opens and closes with a synthesiser line that PFM would have been proud to use on one of their early albums, although they would probably not have included the ghostly shakuhachi part which leads into the rather darker middle section of the piece, and the mellotron quartet Skellotron is a wonderful fragment that could be explored further on subsequent recordings.
RIO/Avant prog sometimes distances itself from 70s symphonic prog, although the two genres share some common roots and emerged from the same scene. Yugen draw successfully on both styles in a similar manner to Japanese bands like Koenjihyakkei and Bondage Fruit. This album isn't quite a 5 star masterpiece but it comes close - there will be high expectations for their next recording. Recommended to anybody with a taste for the adventurous, and especially to those who usually find avant prog heavy going. Splendid stuff. (Syzygy - ProGGnosis)01 - Sévére Réprimande02 - Catacresi03 - Omelette Norvegese04 - Corale Metallurgico05 - Danse Cuirassée (Periode Grecque)06 - Brachiologia07 - La Mosca Stregata08 - Quando La Morte Mi Colse Nel Sonno09 - Skellotron 00310 - Le Rovine Circolari11 - Anastomosi12 - Danze Corazzate13 - Labirinto D'acqua14 - Incubi Concentrici

Paolo Botta: E-Piano, Mellotron, Organ, Moog
Stephan Brunner: Bass
Maurizio Fasoli: Piano
Dave Kerman: Drums on Track 4
Tommaso Leddi: Mandolin, Lute
Massimo Mazza: Vibraphone, Marimba, Glockenspiel
Elia Mariani: Violin
Guiseppe A. Olivini: Cembalo, Percussion, Shakuhachi, Theremin
Peter Schmid: Bassclarinet, Tubax, Subcontrabass Sax, Bass Flute, Taragot
Mattia Signo: Drums
Marco Sorge: Clarinet
Markus Stauss: Sax
Francesco Zago: Guitars, Keyboards
Diego Donadio: Drum Arrangements Udi Koomran: Sounds, Processing, Mix

Il Ruscello - Paesaggio Solare (Estate 1972) (Italy -2009) [Progressive Rock] @VBR

New Italian band based in London. They have done a great album in 2009. In the best tradition of the glorious 70's, their music moves without any hassles or sophistication. A wonderful album, reminiscent of the legendary Italian-prog bands, this album definitely stands out as one of the best revelations of 2009. Must-see!

I agree with the BTF promo on one thing.... when you first play "paesaggio solare" you do feel as if you are hearing a lost RPI album from 1972, albeit one with much better sound. Vintage sounding keys and guitars (acoustic and electric) are skillfully arranged with warm Italian vocals and a good, though not showboating rhythm section. BTF claims Silvio sounds like Gianni Leone but I think he sounds much more like Aldo Tagliapietra of Orme. The album has 6 tracks and is bookended by the two long pieces at 10 and 12 minutes in length. Here we feel the potential of Il Ruscello, with "Il Cielo in un Ruscello's" closing moments oozing dreamy, laid back Orme warmth, lovely keyboard atmospheres, and gentle vocals. It all sounds like a late summer day. The other epic tracks like the two-part "La Grande Citta" and "Orizzonti" features much more boisterous, full-throttle playing blended with lovely eccentricities: occasional pop keyboard runs, keys that mimic the harpsichord sound, delightful pastoral acoustic interludes, and tasteful electric guitar leads. Play by play descriptions are relatively useless because we all know the manic nature of great RPI with everything changing by the second. "La Quiete" is a short acoustic interlude with sweet piano. And there is the title track: beautifully constructed vocals and guitar parts with great keys and my favorite, matching opening and closing piano with that nostalgic, slightly melancholic feel.

1. Il Cielo in un Ruscello
2. La Notte di una Citta
3. Il Risveglio di una Citta
4. La Quiete
5. Paesaggio Solare (Estate 1972)
6. Orizzonti

Musicians:Silvio Cavallo - (Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Drums)
Luca Harb - (Guitars, Synthesizers, Piano)
Giampaolo Cavallo - (Electric Bass, Orchestrations)

More Info here: http://www.myspace.com/ilruscello
Buy: http://www.btf.it/

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