FOLLOWING THE BRIGHTEST STAR

Limite Acque Sicure came to life in Ferrara in 2005 on the initiative of Andrea Chendi and Antonello Giovannelli, initially just with the aim of playing covers of historic prog bands from the seventies. After some personnel changes and many years of live activity on the local scene, in 2022 the band released on the independent Minotauro Records label a very interesting eponymous debut work featuring their own compositions in vintage style (and one cover) with a line up featuring Andrea Chendi (vocals) and Antonello Giovannelli (piano, synth, organ) along with Ambra Bianchi (vocals, flute, harp, percussion), Francesco Gigante (bass), Paolo Bolognesi (drums) and Luca Trabanelli (guitars). According to the band, it’s a concept album sui generis where all the tracks follow in some way a common thread: the eternal challenge with the unknown. The art cover gives a clue of the content...

 

The long, complex opener “Sogno d’oriente” (Oriental dream) begins softly but soon heavy electric guitar riffs break the dreamy atmosphere. In fact, the dreams evoked here by the music and lyrics are not those of the folktales narrated by Scheherazade in the One Thousand and One Nights but those of people who try to escape from wars, famine and adversities. Looking for a better place and a better future, some of them walk for miles and miles, crossing borders and rivers while others embark on ships in very bad conditions defying storms and raging waves. Often their hopes collide with reality and what they find at the end of their efforts is just another miserable place, if not death...

The introspective “Terra straniera” (Foreign land) begins by a piano solo passage, the atmosphere is tense and melancholic. The music and words tell of the sense of alienation felt by a person who is cut off from the society around him and feels like a stranger in his own land. What he has to do to overcome his blue mood is to be positive and follow the brightest star in the sky...

A pulsing rhythm introduces the following “Il respiro dell’anima” (The breath of soul), a piece about the mystery of birth, life and death. It depicts a kind of mystical journey that begins from the relationship between a mother and her child and continues until maturity and awareness. All in all, we are nothing but blood and matter in search of the soul...

 

“Antico mare” (Ancient sea) begins by the sound of the waves. The atmosphere is relaxed and dreamy. The music and lyrics evoke ancient civilizations and forgotten gods, battles and legends, bold warriors and beautiful women, mighty walls and talking masks, philosophers and poets. The shores of the Mediterranean Sea are full of the signs of a glorious past that still lives in our memories and the hope is that in the future the waves of this sea will bring more beauty and less wars...

“Fiamme intorno” (Flames around) is a complex piece about time passing by, regrets and hopes. It begins with a tense atmosphere while the music and lyrics describe a poet who feels that time is standing still. He can’t find the words to express himself, he has no more ideals to fight for. Around him there are ghosts that dance like flames, the time that has passed can not return and the rivers where words once flowed are now dry and full of the dust of the past. Then the tension eases, resignation and bewilderment give way to new energies that fill the inner void of the protagonist. As the artist accepts to live in harmony with his new reality the inspiration comes back... According to the liner notes, this piece is dedicated to the memory of Neil Peart.

 

Limite Acque Sicure on stage, 2022

The long epic “Il giardino del mago” (The wizard’s garden) is a cover of Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and was recorded live. It’s an interesting tribute to one of the bands that inspired them the most and it leads to the last track, “Ti salverà” (It will save you), short, folksy song that begins by a strummed acoustic guitar. It’s a reprise of the last part of the second track, “Terra straniera” where the lyrics invite you to look up and follow the brightest star in the sky, a metaphorical ideal to not get lost in the path of life. According to an interview with the band, it’s a kind of synthesis of this work: as a virtuous attitude to maintain in the passages, in the evolutions of our life and our being, we wanted to propose the pursuit of an ideal, of a star that guides us...

On the whole, an excellent album where vintage sounds and original ideas merge convincingly.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Limite Acque Sicure: Limite Acque Sicure (2022). Other opinions:
Jose Antonio Marmol: The high quality of this album, in both its musical content and sound, is fantastic and recognizable after the very first listen, which is not that usual when talking about debuts... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

https://limiteacquesicure.it/

https://www.facebook.com/limiteacquesicure/ 

JAZZ FROM THE XIII CENTURY

Ars Antiqua World Jazz Ensemble is a project that took form in Ferrara in 2021 on the initiative of director and composer Roberto Manuzzi, teacher at the Ferrara Conservatory, with the help of some colleagues and students. In 2022 the ensemble self-released an interesting debut album, entitled L’amore è una fiamma (Love is a flame), with a wide line up featuring Roberto Manuzzi (sax), Rachele Amore (vocals, percussion), Stefano Melloni (clarinet, flutes), Erica Ruggiero (acoustic and electric piano, harpsichord, backing vocals), Raffaele Guandalini (double bass, electric bass), Stefano Guarisco (drums), Davide La Rosa (electric and acoustic guitar), Pietro Boarini (electric guitar), Davide Zabbari (viola da gamba), Fausto Negrelli (vibraphone, percussion), Antonio Stragapede (mandolin) plus the guests Ares Tavolazzi (double bass - historic member of Area) and Paola Tagliani (piano). The aim of the musicians involved in this project was mixing classical and folkloric influences with jazz and electric instruments. In some way, they tried to do with Medieval music what The Pentangle did with British folk and the result is an excellent album that contains original compositions by Roberto Manuzzi on poems by artists of the thirteenth century as well as some modern arrangements of Medieval scores and songs from the Sephardic Jewish tradition...

The first three tracks, “L’aire claro”, “Quand’om ha un bon amico” and “Chi non avesse mai veduto foco” are original compositions based upon the verses of Jacopo da Lentini, an Italian poet of the XIII century. Jacopo da Lentini was a notary at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and is credited with the invention of the Sonnet. His poetry was originally written in literary Sicilian, though it only survives in Tuscan. The music blends in a very effective way medieval atmospheres, Mediterranean colours and jazz contaminations while the wonderful vocals of Rachele Amore breath a new life into timeless words about love and friendship...

The long, complex “Ondas do mar de Vigo” is a beautiful elaboration of a XIII century piece by Martin Codax, a Galician medieval joglar (a non-noble composer and performer). It starts by a delicate guitar arpeggio and soaring vocals, then it slowly turns into something different, with bass, piano and sax drawing dreamy, exotic landscapes...

Then come “Sonetti barbarici, parte 1”, “Sonetti barbarici, parte 2”, and “Sonetti barbarici, parte 3”, other three original compositions on verses of Jacopo da Lentini, this time based only on piano and vocals. The first prises the beauty and the virtues of the beloved woman, more precious than any gem on earth, the second expresses the pain provoked by envious, treacherous or haughty lovers that are compared to snakes and dragons while the third depicts the feelings of a shy lover in front of the desired woman...
 

The dreamy “Alta, alta es la luna” and the Oriental flavoured “Sien drahmas al dia” are two elaborations of traditional Sephardic songs. Sephardic Jews are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the Iberian Peninsula and their vernacular languages are mainly variants of either Spanish or Portuguese...

The following “Santa Maria strela do dia” might recall some works by Angelo Branduardi and is the elaboration of a piece credited to Alfonso X the Wise, king of Castile, Leon and Galicia who commissioned or co-authored numerous works of music during his reign, from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. Among them, The Cantigas de Santa Maria (for the most part about miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary) form one of the largest collections of vernacular monophonic songs to survive from the Middle Ages...

The lively “La tarantella” is a charming piece that ends the album with its particular celebration of nature and God through almost pagan, obscure rites and dances under the moon. The middle section with the double bass in the forefront might recall The Pentangle...

On the whole, an interesting work. Folk prog lovers should have a try...

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100078192930051 

HYPNOTIC SOUNDS

Hypnophonia is the second studio album by Marchesi Scamorza and was released in 2015 on the independent Ma.Ra.Cash label with a confirmed line up featuring Lorenzo Romani (guitar, mandolin, keyboards, backing vocals), Alessandro Padovani (drums), Paolo Brini (bass), Enrico Bernardini (vocals) and Enrico Cazzola (keyboards, piano, synth, organ). Inspired by Italian seventies prog, it was recorded using analogue recording techniques and tapes to recreate a vintage sound which carries on the tradition of bands like Le Orme or Premiata Forneria Marconi adding a touch of originality and freshness. In my opinion, this work represents a step forward for the band. The beautiful art work by Lorenzo Romani and Julia Mahrer tries to give an idea of its content...

The opener, “1348”, today might sound almost like a gloomy prophecy. In fact, the title refers to the year of the Black Death, a terrible bubonic plague pandemic that stormed through Italy and created religious, social and economic upheavals. It starts by a drum roll and a threatening marching beat, then the music and lyrics depict apocalyptic visions. The Black Death dances and ruthlessly hits without distinction between the poor and the rich while the wind gathers words and carries them on the gallows. Only a far sound of bells tears apart the gloomy silence, the Black Death has a thousand ways to creep in, frightened courtiers cling to a prayer like wild beasts but nobody can escape...

The long, complex, “Il cammino delle luci erranti” (The path of the wandering lights) goes through many changes in rhythm and atmosphere as the hermetic lyrics conjure up strange images. A thousand stories vanish into time and stone faces carved in the clouds melt, swept away by the wind. Dark, heavy, pagan shadows lurk in the night while under a pale light, in an incense mist, lonely wandering souls float in the air. Grey thoughts fall dawn on a poet who has lost his inspiration and, as the wind, bangs against immovable things destined to disappear...

Next comes “Campi di Marte” (Fields of Mars) where the music and words invite you to set off for a kind psychedelic journey where you have to follow light trails under the rain without looking back, leaving behind tears and worries. The light carries you beyond greedy streets, towards deserts where words are worthless...

The title of the reflective “L’uomo dal fiore in bocca” (The man with the flower in his mouth) refers to a play of the same name written in 1922 by Luigi Pirandello telling of the meeting in a bar, late at night, between a man who is dying of a cancer (the flower in the mouth) and a businessman who has missed his train. The dialogue between the two characters marks the contrast between someone who intensely lives the little time left to him and someone who has plenty of time to spend, waiting for the morning and completely absorbed by trivial mishaps, taken by his daily grind. Imagine people without a goal who are waiting for their death, waiting for the end with no escape...

The oneiric “La via del sognatore” (The dreamer’s way) ends the album. It’s a long, complex piece divided into three parts. The first is subtitled “La notte” (The night) and depicts in music and words a devouring dark, a black space dotted with stars that laughingly melt into oblivion. Shadows thickens around you, the night is falling, tired limbs can rest as the mind can’t switch off and overflows... The second part is subtitled “Il sogno” (The dream) and conjures up the realms of dream, an ever changing place where tears of opals cross the streets between high stone columns and the lights of a new life show the way while strange sounds surround you... Then the last part, “Il risveglio” (The awakening), describes the come back of day light. Reality is still fuzzy when dawn begins to snatch the dreams from the night to let them fade out in a silent world...

On the whole, a good mature work that is worth listening to.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

Marchesi Scamorza: Hypnophonia (2015). Other opinions:
Michael “Aussie-Byrd-Brother”: It would be easy to place Marchesi Scamorza alongside numerous other low-key modern Italian bands that fly under the radar, but at the same time, `Hypnophonia' is the sound of what was an already promising band stepping up in a big way and delivering a superior work that easily eclipses their earlier effort, carefully showcasing their influences but also offering unexpected surprises. It boasts a fuller production, more confident vocals that aren't afraid to step back and let the thrilling instrumental passages take the focus, and gifted musicians playing with boundless enthusiasm and sharp skill... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Marchesi2016/ 

HOPE AND TIME

I Marchesi Scamorza come from Ferrara and began life in 2009, mainly influenced by Premiata Forneria Marconi and Fabrizio De André. After a first demo EP in 2011, in 2012 they self-released a début album titled La sposa del tempo (Time's bride) with a line up featuring Lorenzo Romani (electric guitar), Alessandro Padovani (drums), Paolo Brini (bass), Enrico Bernardini (vocals, acoustic guitar) and Enrico Cazzola (keyboards). The overall sound is good and the band showcase good musicianship and song-writing skills although the vocal parts in my opinion are not always convincing. The influence of the Italian prog masters of the seventies and Italian canzone d'autore are apparent but there's no plagiarism and the band managed to add original ideas to their musical fabric. According to an interview with the band, La sposa del tempo is a concept album sui generis where all the tracks are linked by a common thread: Time. The lyrics are hermetic and their meaning is open to many interpretations but the album cover by Giulia Pasetti and Jacopo Regulti tries to offer some clues.

The short opener “Intro” in some way sets the atmosphere with experimental sounds and words that remind us that Time is nothing but hope. It leads to “Sentieri di carta” (Paper paths), a ballad that starts with a strummed acoustic guitar pattern. The lyrics conjure up the ghost of a mysterious, proud knight without a mouth to breath. His words get lost under his steps, ancestral fears begin to rise while you think of flying free in the night. Dull eyes are burning but everyone has got his cross to carry along his way... “Words of lead, words of of flesh / Under the churches, under the soles...”. The music is not bad but, to be honest, this track fails to strike a chord on me.

 

The following “Lo schiavo di Babilonia” (The slave of Babylon) is better. It begins by a delicate piano intro and features many changes in rhythm and mood. The lyrics draw powerful, poetical images of redemption and hope. Babylon here is a metaphor for a life of sin. What kind of sin? Maybe pride, adultery, blasphemy or perjury... But even a damned life can be redeemed by love! A soul that burns as paper, a lost path on the side of a huge golden tower, silent clocks inside a church... Images can speak more than a thousand words... “The balance is broken on the weight of the heart / Time is just a hope...”.

“L’uomo dall’ombra lunga” (The man with a long shadow) is reflective and melancholic. It draws the imagine of a man lost in his thoughts, ready to challenge his fate at every crossroad, following his meaningless dreams while his life slides away and stretches out behind him like his shadow.

The following “Un passo ogni parola” (One step on every word) begins softly with a mysterious atmosphere, then the rhythm rises and every now and again reminds me of Premiata Forneria Marconi. The lyrics depict an imaginary dialogue between a man and a poet about pain and fear, shadows and lights, good and evil. It's getting dark and they're walking along a solitary road, carried away by their feelings... “Poet, do not cry / There's already someone who's crying for you... Step after step you'll see the sun again along with me...”.

Marchesi Scamorza 2012

“Quelle volte” (Those times) is a simple, melodic track about hope and dreams. The lyrics invite you to never give up when you're feeling blue. When you're waiting in vain for a saviour, you have to open your heart and try to imagine a better world and follow your dreams... In my opinion this is the weakest track on the whole album.

“Il castello delle stagioni” (The castle of the seasons) is definitely better. It's a long, complex piece that begins with a nice acoustic guitar passage and the sound of a storm in the background. The lyrics tell about a young woman who lies in a castle where Time stands still and memories run free... “In a distant place lies a bride / Golden tears and dancing lights / Love thoughts of a thousand colours...”. Just a beautiful, timeless dream!

“Nelle notti più lontane” (In the most distant nights) tells of another dream where you can see a white ship sailing across the ocean. It's a piano ballad that fades into the more complex final track “Autunno” (Autumn) forming a kind of beautiful suite... Very brightly did the moon shine on the night I answered the call, and I walked out over the waters to the White Ship on a bridge of moonbeams. The man who had beckoned now spoke a welcome to me in a soft language I seemed to know well, and the hours were filled with soft songs of the oarsmen as we glided away into a mysterious South, golden with the glow of that full, mellow moon... Well, I think that this quote from a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, The White Ship, in some way can help to describe the content of the last two pieces, a kind of fairy tale where you can find madness and fear, hope and dreams... “Who knows what's the light of the world / This purity that turns around us / Please, take me away with these Autumn leaves...”.

On the whole this album is not flawless but features some really good tracks and it's worth listening to. In my opinion, this young band have a great potential and I'm looking forward to their next album.

Marchesi Scamorza: La sposa del tempo (2012). Other opinions:

Michael “Aussie-Byrd-Brother”: The album is far from perfect. In some spots there's probably too many vocal sections, and Bernardini occasionally has a monotonous and flat range. Sometimes he nails it, other times he's a bit strained, but it shows a refreshing honesty and says a lot about how the band support each other. I have no doubt he will keep improving, because on his best tracks here he's extremely effective. Some listeners will find the mix of different genres a bit frustrating, but most likely their next release will hopefully focus a little more on one particular style and really offer us more on an idea where they're headed. But I also have a feeling some will really love the diversity and range the band has shown here and greatly enjoy the album... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:
http://www.marchesiscamorza.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marchesi-Scamorza/137623519608159 

EMILIA - ROMAGNA (part 1)

Now we jump over to EMILIA-ROMAGNA and its capital BOLOGNA, famous for its University, the oldest in Europe, and its cuisine. In the past the city gave us a band called Sensitiva Immagine, but in the seventies the prog scene of this city was not very prolific although Bologna is the home of important singer-songwriters such as Francesco Guccini, Lucio Dalla and Claudio Lolli.

Times have changed and now the musical scene of Bologna features many very interesting prog bands. Here we can find some excellent experimental jazz rock bands such as Deus Ex Machina (MySpace) and Accordo dei Contrari (Official Website). Accordo dei Contrari in 2011 released a very good album, Kublai, featuring Richard Sinclair from Caravan as a special guest. 

Then there are some psychedelic projects such as Pelican Milk (MySpace), Stereokimono (Official Website), Ellephant (MySpace), Miss Patty Miss & The Magic Circle (Reverbnation), Mariposa (MySpace), Chandra (MySpace) and Alhambra (MySpace). Alhambra’s leader Andrea Monetti (who plays the flute in La Maschera di Cera’s albums as well) also started other projects such as Amanita, Arjuna, Ku and AMR and leads a small independent label called Fly Agaric! Records. Another excellent band from Bologna are Sithonia (MySpace), whose members are also involved in interesting side projects such as Meseglise (MySpace) and Sipario (MySpace).

Other very interesting local bands are Akt (MySpace), Barock Project (MySpace), Stranafonia (MySpace), Marble House (Facebook), Foschia (Facebook) and TenMidnight (MySpace). Among the local emerging bands which also deserve mentioning, in no particular order, are Art (Facebook), Moorder (MySpace), Antikythera Mechanism (MySpace), Madre (MySpace), Chance:Risiko (MySpace), Adharma (MySpace), Alma Ensemble (MySpace), Daniele Faraotti Band (Facebook), feat.Esserelà (Facebook), Semeion (MySpace), Palco Numero Cinque (Facebook), Prophexy (MySpace) and AltaVia (MySpace), the latter formerly named Ennerdale and born from the ashes of a band called Zabov (Official Website).

If you like a heavier, theatrical approach you can listen to In Tormentata Quiete (MySpace), certainly closer to Opeth than to the classic Italianprog masters. On the prog folk side there are Andrea Gianessi's project La Via della Seta (Bandcamp), Caffé dei Treni Persi (MySpace) and Antica Tradizione (MySpace), the latter linked to right wing movements. Bologna is also the base for an Italianprog artist from Switzerland, Alex Carpani (Official Website): his latest album The Sanctuary, released in 2010, features a beautiful art cover by Paul Whitehead. 

The contemporary prog scene of Bologna is effervescent and rich but you can find some good music also in the other cities of the region. From a small town south of Bologna, Porretta Terme, comes the singer-songwriter Stefano Testa (MySpace) and his excellent “prog cantautorale” while San Giovanni in Persiceto is home to Res Gesta (Facebook) and La Malta Bastarda (Facebook).and Imola to Le Vele di Oniride (Bandcamp).

From FERRARA, 50 km north of Bologna, come Marchesi Scamorza (Official Website), the young, hard Liquid Shades (MySpace), the jazz-prog Outlier (Facebook), the folk-jazz Ars Antiqua World Jazz Ensemble (Facebook) and a post rock band called Penelope sulla Luna (MySpace) while the nearby town of Cento is home to a band called Cormorano (MySpace), strongly influenced by Area. Cormorano’s singer and leader, Raffaello Regoli, had the chance to meet Area’s singer Demetrio Stratos and to learn singing from him in the seventies. Since 1996 he has organized a music festival dedicated to the “Master of the Voice”, the Rassegna di musica diversa - Omaggio a Demetrio Stratos (Official Website).