FROM A DESERTED BEACH

I Giullari di Corte (the name means “the court jesters”) took form in Bologna in 2002 on the initiative of bassist Matteo Balestrazzi, drummer Alessio De Angelis and violinist Michele Poggio. After a first, immature demo, in 2003 the band went through a long period of hibernation due to the departure of Michele Poggio. In 2017 the project came back to life with a renewed line up featuring, along with the original rhythm section, multi-instrumentalist Paolo Zacchi and in 2020 the band self-released an interesting debut album entitled Presa di coscienza, a conceptual work about a story of spiritual rebirth where they blend vintage sounds and original ideas... 

 

The opener “Nautilus” is a good instrumental track inspired by seventies sounds. According to an interview with the band, it tells of a smuggler thrown overboard from a ship by his accomplices who awakens on a deserted beach and begins his spiritual path thinking about his past. The piece starts by the dark sound of the sea, then a bass solo pattern and obscure organ waves take us on the empty land...

The following “Vent'anni spesi così” (Twenty years spent like this) begins by a slapping bass line and an electric guitar riff, then frenzied organ surges and a pulsing drumming add tension and deep purple colours. It’s another good instrumental piece that leads to the jazzier, reflective “L'ombra di Sherlock Holmes” (Sherlock Holmes’ shadow). According to the band, here the music tries to evoke a sort of introspective journey in search of useful clues to understand what does really matter in your life, to evolve and become a better person... 

 

Next comes “La cicala e la formica” (The cicada and the ant) whose title was inspired by a famous Aesop’s fable while the music alternates relaxed atmospheres and darker passages, all sprinkled with a pinch of jazz. It leads to the excellent “Viaggio in treno senza biglietto” (Journey by train without ticket) whose melodic lines every now and again could recall Genesis’ White Mountain. It’s the first sung track of the album, the music and lyrics evoke the image of a military train leaving the railway station directed to the front, a one way journey without ticket for many soldiers and their heavy burden of broken dreams and lost memories. Nonetheless, for the survivors a new awareness will rise...

“Presa di coscienza” (Awareness) opens with a nice piano passage and an atmosphere that could recall Il Banco del Mutuo Soccorso. In the second part of the piece a disquieting, almost out of tune vocal melody describes a rainy night where a new hope is growing... “Il prezzo” (The price) follows in the same vein complaining about the cost humanity has to pay for a war. What’s the truth behind the conflict? 

 

I Giullari di Corte on stage, 2019

  

The instrumental “Il messicano” (The Mexican) is lighter and mixes the atmospheres of seventies Italian soundtracks with reggae and a carefree attitude. Then it’s the turn of “Dolcetto o scherzetto?” (Trick or treat?), a lively track full of energy that resumes the experience of a man who tries to follow the flight of the angels and falls down betrayed by his vanity and a trick of the devil. Then the instrumental “Sabbatho Nero” closes the album paying homage to Black Sabbath...

On the whole, a nice home brewed work although, in my opinion, the vocal parts are not always up to the task.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info: 

https://www.facebook.com/igiullaridicorteband 

A STRANGE SUBMARINE KINGDOM

Il Buco del Baco (the name means “the bug’s hole”) is a strange, mysterious project based in Milan. According to their website, the band came to life in 1970 under the name Gli Altri and disappeared soon after the recording sessions of what should have been their first album. According to their biography, in 1971 the band escaped an unlikely plane crash, got hibernated in an iceberg and woke up in 2016 emerging from a long cryogenic sleep... Then, in 2018 they changed their name into the current one and in 2021 released a concept album entitled Sotto il segno della lampreda (Under the sign of the lamprey) on the independent label Lizard Records with a line up featuring Carlo Mastrangeli (drums, vocals), Gianni De Scalzi (bass, vocals), Fabrizio Nocenzi (Moog, piano, vocals), Daniele Graziani (Hammond, keyboards, vocals), Gaetano Trionfanti (guitars, vocals) and Saverio Silvani (flute, vocals). Are the names of the musicians listed in the booklet nothing but pseudonyms hiding their real identity? I don’t know. Are they serious? Maybe not... Anyway, although Il Buco del Baco might look just as the parody of a seventies Italian prog band reunion their music is worth listening to...

 

 
The opener “Lo scafandro di Sandro” (Sandro’s diving suit) introduces the subject matter of the concept, a surreal submarine journey where the protagonist is looking for his sweetheart, a kind of siren called Rosalisca. The music draws unashamedly on vintage sounds and seventies influences while the lyrics tell of the protagonist who borrows the diving suit of his friend Sandro and sets off for his quest into the deep see...

“Mi immergo negli abissi” (I dive into the abyss) and the following “Dimmi, calamaro!” (Tell me, squid!) describe the first impact of the protagonist with the submarine world and its creatures. He meets some scared mackerels and a squid... A man who talks with the fishes asking for information? Well, the atmosphere of this concept is that of a funny comic strip full of irony and double meanings!

“Il disprezzo della sogliola” (The contempt of the sole) recalls Franco Battiato and tells about the meeting with a monstrous, raging sole. Next comes “Un dedalo di corallo” (A coral maze) where the protagonist gets lost into the coral reef, under the mocking glares of a sawfish. Despite the difficult situation he keeps on looking for his goal... Here the music reminds me slightly of BMS.

“Forse è lei” (Maybe it’s she) blends Jethro Tull and Lucio Battisti and tells about the distorted visions of the protagonist who think he sees his sweetheart among swordfishes, sharks, sea urchins, sea anemones, crabs, cuttlefishes and other creatures... But he’s wrong!

Then it’s the turn of the long “Nel regno delle lamprede” (Into the lampreys kingdom) where the protagonist meets a hammerhead shark, a pearly razorfish, a spine trumpet fish, a clownfish, a triggerfish, a blowfish and finally enters the palace of the great lamprey. Here he realizes that Rosalisca doesn't love him: the great lamprey submitted her to his own power reducing her into a state of subjection and there’s no way to bring her up back home with him...

The last track, “Il plagio di Rosalisca” (Rosalisca’s plagiarism), is the weakest of the lot, a clumsy patchwork made of quotes from Lucio Battisti best known songs. Eventually the protagonist emerges from the sea alone and ends up to get drunk at the Milly Bar...

On the whole, a funny exercise of style with some ups and downs that deserves a try.
You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/IlBucoDelBacoOfficialPage/

TO PLAY MUSIC

 Giorgio Piazza, nicknamed “Fico”, was one of the founder members of Premiata Forneria Marconi. The bassist left the band in 1973, replaced by Patrick Djivas, and went under the radar for a very long time... It wasn’t until 2012 that he came back on stage with a new project called Per Fare Musica (the name means “to play music”, but in short it’s P.F.M.) gathering around him some talented young musicians to reinterpret and perform Premiata Forneria Marconi’s early repertoire. After many concerts around Italy, in 2019 they recorded live in studio their versions of the pieces taken from Storia di un minuto and Per un amico with a line up featuring Giorgio Fico Piazza (bass), Eric Zanoni (guitars, vocals), Riccardo Campagno (keyboards, vocals), Giuseppe Perna (keyboards, vocals), Marco Fabbri (drums) plus the special guests Marco Colombo (lead guitar on two tracks) and Annie Barbazza (lead vocals on two tracks). The album, entitled Autumn Shades, was produced by Max Marchini for Maniticore Productions Ltd. and released by the independent label Ma.Ra.Cash Records with a beautiful art cover by Lino Budano. 

 

 

Although the track list doesn’t follow the same order of the original albums, all the pieces are reinterpreted with philological pragmatism, great musicianship and freshness. The fruit of the recording sessions is a pleasant immersion in the atmospheres of the past with updated arrangements that respect the spirit of classics such as “Impressioni di Settembre”, “Il banchetto” or “E’ festa”. The sound quality is excellent and I think that this album could be a good starting point. In fact, there’s no new original material on it and I hope that in the future this project will bring us new pieces and creativity, not only perfectly crafted exercises of style. All in all, Il Tempio delle Clessidre started performing the old repertoire of Museo Rosenbach with the original vocalist of the band and ended up releasing some wonderful albums of their own original music... Well, I hope that Giorgio Piazza and his new bandmates will follow their path! 

 

 

You can listen to the complete album HERE

 

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Giorgio-Piazza-musicista-235578316527603/ 

 

A SPACE HERO

In orbita is the sixth studio album by Conqueror, a Sicilian band whose roots date back to the nineties. It was released in 2019 on the independent label Ma.Ra.Cash Records with a renewed line up featuring Simona Rigano (keyboards, synth, lead vocals), Natale Russo (drums, percussion), Tino Nastasi (guitars) and Sofia Ferraro (sax, flute, EWI 5000) plus the guests Edoardo Ragunì (bass, backing vocals) and Giovanni Alibrandi (violin). It’s an excellent conceptual work inspired by the life of Russian space hero Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin  (1934 – 1968) where the music and lyrics try to express emotions and feelings through a sort of empathy with the protagonist rather than just telling a story. The colourful art cover by Giusy Lo Conti in some way depicts the emotional content of the album...

 

The dreamy opener “Fino al limite” (To the limit) starts softly evoking beautiful landscapes where all the natural elements dance in symbiosis with colours and moving lights... The words and lyrics try to take us back in the childhood of the protagonist, born in the rural village of Klushino, in Smolensk Oblast, Russia. The child, curious and interested in everything, develops an almost transcendental fascination for flight and is determined to pursue his dreams, a bit like Jonathan Livingston, the seagull...

The tense “In cerca d’ali” (Looking for wings) tells of an episode from the protagonist childhood. The music and lyrics describe the evolutions of two planes, red stars falling from the stars avoiding the crash with an audacious combination of geometrical manoeuvres... In a cold winter night, two jet fighters of the Red Army are forced to make an emergency landing in the snow because of a mechanical breakdown. All night long the pilots wait for the rescuers without leaving the damaged air-crafts and the children of the village can admire their courage and tenacity. 

 The dynamic “Verso un nuovo mondo” (Towards a new world) is about the feelings and sensations that the protagonist experiences during his hard training for the space mission. The music alternates lively, almost funky passages with calm, dreamy sections evoking symphonies of colours and rains of sounds while heart and mind of the cosmonaut are focused on the goal of the mission...

“Kedr” starts by a nice organ solo pattern, then the rhythm rises as the protagonist is going to board the space-craft. This piece depicts in music and words the emotions and feelings that the protagonist experiences before and during his space mission, the first space flight of the Vostok programme and the first human space flight in history. The title refers to the call sign used by Gagarin during the mission. The Vostok 3KA space capsule was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on April 12, 1961, with Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin aboard, from the space he can see that the the Earth is just a far, small blue planet and everything takes a different perspective... 

 

Yuri Gagarin 1961 (pic from Wikipedia)

“Un disegno perfetto” (A perfect drawing) is a reflective track that deals with the effects of this extraordinary experience on protagonist. There’s a new awareness, a new maturity, the whole soul of the cosmonaut is transformed and he finds a new balance where serenity and troubles melt... Per aspera ad astra!

The title of the short instrumental “09.07 A.M.” refers to the departure time of the space mission. It’s a beautiful, classical inspired track that leads to the closer “Star On The Moon”. Despite the English title, the conclusive piece is mainly sung in Italian with backing vocals in English. It’s a light, melodic track that draws solar visions from the space, stars over a sailing moon lost in the sea of the universe in a never ending journey towards new worlds and dimensions...

On the whole, an interesting concept and a wonderful work!

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.conqueror.it/ 

https://www.facebook.com/progconqueror 

 

 

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Il Bacio di Giuda came to life in Rome in 2000 on the initiative of Marco Tesoriero (vocals) and Paolo Vigliarolo (guitar), then joined by Marco Berni (keyboards). Later the line up was completed by Orazio Fabbri (bass) and Fabio Migliori (drums) and in 2005 the band self-released an interesting eponymous demo EP and made it available in free download from their official website. The sources of inspiration range from Italian prog masters of the seventies such as Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso or Area to canzone d’autore and more recent acts and in my opinion it’s a real pity that the band did not last long and called it a day in 2007...

 

The opener “Alba metallica” (Metallic dawn) starts with a slow pace, a strummed guitar and a dreamy atmosphere where the music and lyrics evoke pastoral landscapes and the smells and sounds of an uncontaminated country... Then the rhythm rises and the instrumental breaks could recall bands such as Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Goblin as the dream turns into nightmare and you can feel the fear that a tree could experience in front of a man, a member of the most dangerous, destructive species of living beings, the species that is transforming Amazonia into an arid desert...

“Il lago” (The lake) is a long, introspective piece that starts with an acoustic guitar arpeggio. The music and the hermetic lyrics conjure up the image of a running train and the fading memories of an unquiet night, abstract wars of dark lights, fog and dust. There’s a lake and descent forces that push a man toward the deep waters in an emotional network of simultaneous contrasts... Then beautiful instrumental crescendo finale is a kind of trip into the unknown of the meaning of life.

 

The claustrophobic “Insonorizzato” (Soundproof) tells of a deep personal crises and alienation. The music and lyrics draw the image of a man alone in his room, then try to depict his inner pain and silent screams on the brink of madness...

The melancholic “La musica di Giuda” (Judas’ music) is a kind of programmatic manifesto and is related to the name of the band that means “Judas’ kiss”. According to an old interview, this kiss should not be considered as an affront or a betrayal but as the kiss of those who regret a mistake made; however, it is not the kiss of a formal apology, but a truly sincere act, in the conscious desperation that it is now too late to remedy it. This kiss should be the desirable one for anyone in everyday life but above all in relation to more general issues such as the evils that afflict the world (war), in which everything, after the mistakes made, is reduced to pure formality. This is the common thread of the pieces songs, even if apparently they deal with different topics and issues.

An instrumental version of “La musica di Giuda” closes this very promising work. Unfortunately the members of the band couldn’t keep the promises and parted ways... 

 

Where are they now? Well, Paolo Vigliarolo, Marco Berni and Orazio Fabbri joined, one after each other, Giancarlo Erra and his project NoSound (Official Website) but Marco Berni is also involved in another interesting prog project called Prototype Lab (Official Website). Fabio Migliori is currently the drummer of a Heavy Metal band called Enemynside (Official Website) while Marco Tesoriero (Facebook), after a long hiatus, has recently self-released two albums in a singer-songwriter style, Questaterra! (2020) and Funamboli astrali (2021)

More info:

https://www.girodivite.it/Il-bacio-di-Giuda.html