L'Estate
di San Martino began life in Perugia in 1975 on the initiative of
Marco Pentiricci and Giuseppe Petrazzini. In the seventies the band
had no chance to release a full length album and it wasn't until
2006, after a long hiatus and many line up changes, that they managed
to release their début work, “Alder”, a concept album recorded
live in 1983. In 2007 the band released a second album called
“Febus”, featuring old stuff from the nineties re-arranged, and,
finally, in 2012 they released what is their best work so far,
“Talsete di Marsantino”, on the independent label AMS/BTF.
The
current line up features Marco Pentiricci (sax, flute, acoustic
guitar), Riccardo Regi (electric and acoustic guitar), Stefano Tofi
(keyboards, vocoder, acoustic guitar), Massimo Baracchi (bass) and
Sergio Servadio (drums) but during the recording sessions they were
helped by some prestigious guests such as Steve Hackett (electric
guitar), Francesco Di Giacomo (vocals) and Bernardo Lanzetti
(vocals). The result in my opinion is excellent and this work is a
must to have for every prog collector.
“Talsete
di Marsantino” is a concept album based on a short story by
Riccardo Regi that you can find in the booklet (if you can't speak
Italian do not worry, in the booklet there's a translation into
English as well). The protagonist of the story is an imaginary
character, an archivist who in an Autumn day receives a mysterious
letter containing nothing but a verb: “to pick”. The album is
almost completely instrumental, there are some jazzy passages but
calm, dreamy atmospheres prevail. As time is running out the
protagonist has to hurry to collect memories, sounds from the past,
fragments of human knowledge and dreams. What kind of link can you
find between an enormous clock hidden in a mountain that chimes just
one time per century, the strange fossil of a bacteria and an ancient
lake in California?
Maybe the beautiful vocals provided by Francesco
Di Giacomo could give you a clue... “It will only take a time equal
to eight to this last work / If standing towards North it will be
East / And standing towards South it will be West...”. Is it not
clear? Well, all in all it doesn't matter: just let the music draw
you away! If you like bands such as Genesis, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso
or Premiata Forneria Marconi I'm sure you'll enjoy this magnificent
album as well.
You can watch L'Estate di San Martino on stage HERE
L'Estate di San Martino: Talsete di Marsantino (2012). Other opinions:
Jim
Russell: I would describe the composition as music that is "soaring"
as if the soundtrack to footage shot from aircraft above rugged
coastlines and the like. Relaxing and sometimes not gripping enough
for my personal tastes, yet, there are certainly times when I would
find it appealing. A well made, ambitious disc for fans of the
refined progressive rock... (read the complete review HERE)
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