FROM THE SEVENTIES

Live, as you can guess, is a live album by Genfuoco, a Siena-based group linked to the Gen movement, that was self-produced and released by the band in 2001, over twenty years after the release of their only official studio LP, Dentro l'infinito (1979). It collects some live recordings made between 1976 and 1978 by the line-up comprising Tarcisio Bratto (vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, bass, flute), Franco Cecchi (keyboards, acoustic guitar, vocals), Paolo De Luca (electric guitar, harmonica, vocals), Marco Naldini (drums), Marco Scala (percussion), Marco Borgogni (vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, harmonica), Marco Masotti (drums) and Giovanni De Luca (bass). None of the songs presented were included on the 1979 studio work and here you can listen to them for the first time. The quality of the recordings is far from perfect, but it is nevertheless a good document of the band's experience that will be of interest to fans of Italian prog...

The opener “Solo per poco” (Just for a while) is a simple ballad with vaguely Latin flavours that describes a young man feeling sad and lost after a party, but only briefly. Indeed, the young man soon returns to dance on a green meadow for an adventure in the sun: that's where the real party is, a celebration of the communal ideals of peace and freedom...

“Canzone da leggere” (Song to read) is a longer piece, with a more complex rhythm and an interesting interweaving of electric guitar and flute. The atmosphere is dreamy while the hermetic lyrics invite you to follow the path that leads beyond your dream and your walls to seek for stones sculpted by time. You follow it, continuing to retrace your steps on the fallen leaves in a dance of a thousand sounds. Without words or shouts, you untie the ropes that bind your wrists and wash away the dust that dulls your face...

“Dolce momento” (Sweet moment) is a soft ballad led by guitars and vocals that tries to evoke a moment of peace and love lost in memory while the following “Favola vera” (True fairy-tale) is a piece with vague Renaissance references that portrays an old man who told stories and children who listened to those stories to make them the game of life. It reminds me slightly of the Italian singer-songwriter Giorgio Laneve...

Genfuoco in the seventies

“Piccolo sole” (Little sun) is a dreamy, melodic piece that depicts the image of a small flower in the middle of a meadow. The flower, bathed in dew, almost seems to be crying, but once its smile is set free it shines like a little sun...

“Dentro” (Inside) is another slow and dreamy song full of nostalgia where hermetic lyrics juggle between regrets and memories to find people and sensations lost in a day out of time and space...

The album closes with two long instrumental pieces. The first, “Jam Session”, lasts nearly twenty minutes and features influences from ethnic and folk music, tinged with psychedelia and blues. Soft, relaxed atmospheres alternate with more rhythmic, edgy passages... The second, “La suite del vento” (The suite of the wind), features an ethereal atmosphere and some good flute parts. At times, it reminds me of Delirium's first album, Dolce Acqua...

On the whole, a still immature work, but not lacking in interesting ideas.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Genfuoco/

INVISIBLE FIRE

Genfuoco are an Italian prog band that was formed in Tuscany in the early seventies. The members of the band were linked to the Gen Movement, a Christian movement founded in 1967 by Chiara Lubich to promote among young people from all over the world a peaceful revolution able to change hearts first and then to change society bringing everywhere the spirit of the gospels. Genfuoco started playing covers of other bands linked to the Gen Movement as Gen Rosso but later they managed to shape their own sound writing original songs in a progressive rock style that could recall bands as PFM, BMS or Le Orme, with a good use of flute and sax. The line-up featured Marco Borgogni (vocals, flute, guitar), Tarcisio Bratto (sax, guitar), Franco Cecchi (keyboards), Paolo De Luca (guitar), Giovanni De Luca (bass) and Marco Naldini (drums). They had a good live activity all over Europe in the “Genfest circuit” and, after a self-produced demo-tape called “Antichi confini”, in 1979 they released an interesting album for the Catholic label Città Nuova, “Dentro l’invisibile” (Inside the invisible). The album was mainly distributed through Catholic bookshops and almost completely “out of the market”. Luckily the independent record label Mellow Records re-released the album on CD in 1992. The sound quality is not perfect, nonetheless the music is really worth listening to...

The calm, dreamy instrumental opener “Ouverture” sets the atmosphere. It begins with a solemn marching beat, then pastoral acoustic passages and delicate melodies played by keyboards, electric guitar, sax and flute follow in a perfectly balanced way...

“Dalla tana” (From the burrow) is darker and disquieting. It describes a strange dream, a stroll through a blurred past where ancient scimitars on the stones of a temple reflect the light and mummies lurk in the shade. “I painted with my thoughts / What the dark lacks...”.

The reflective “Traspare” (It shines through) is about the ephemeral values of everyday life and the need to look for a more spiritual way of life... “Who are you? / Things turn around you... It shines through / Night and day / You leave your footprints on the sand / Well, they are already vanishing into eternity / Forever...”.

“Terra promessa” (Promised Land) is a complex track in two parts, inspired by the Holy Bible... “On the sand / In the silence / The infinity is a breath that goes / A few men are staring / They are walking on their footprints / The night is falling / Slow steps, hopes and distress / Tears in the void / Many years have passed by / And sweat dug the faces / But they keep on walking...”. Never give up! Beyond the hills a virgin land and a new story is waiting... A percussion passage with a Latin flavour seems to set a happy end for people who don’t lose hope...

Next comes the meditative “Galassie” (Galaxies). The music starts softly, featuring acoustic guitar and a soaring sax solo, then the rhythm takes off. The lyrics invite you to the contemplation of the stars and constellations under a sky of glass. Just try to think about the mysteries of the cosmos... “Lost in paradise / Hanging in space / We’re walking in a fabulous reality... Now we’re gliding below / We fall into a vortex / We’re getting lost in the dark / The dream is coming to an end... Let’s take back our time!”.

“La serenata del fiume” (The serenade of the river) is a beautiful acoustic ballad that streams away in a fairy tale atmosphere. Once upon a time the Earth was generous and the water pure... “Like water that flows relaxed on the river / And dance while carried away / He will gather all the flowers for you / The flowers on the bank that have the same colour as the moon...”.

Last comes the title track “Dentro l’invisibile” (Inside the invisible), my favourite piece on this album. It begins with a spacey flavour, as if coming from the dark side of the moon... “Here you are / The King is there / Fragile flower in a muddy desert / In the night, alone, without anything / Hanging in the emptiness of the cosmos... It’s the absurd, the separation, the cry, the scream / Loneliness, moments of death... Who will be able to read in the invisible? / Who will sit on the throne of deliverance? / Who will dig beyond the abyss of the ego / And then will find himself inside us?”. Well, the influence of Pink Floyd here is clear but the band managed to shape an original, intense track full of spirituality.

From the book Rock Progressivo Italiano: An introduction to Italian Progressive Rock

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/Genfuoco/

A NEW CONTAMINATION

Contaminazione 2.0 is a live album by Il Rovescio della Medaglia that was released in 2020 on the independent Jolly Roger Records label. It captures a very particular performance of the band with a line up featuring Enzo Vita (guitar), Pino Polistina (guitar, backing vocals), Nicola Costanti (piano, keyboards, vocals), Carmelo J. Arena (synth, Hammond, vocals), Andrea Castelli (bass) and Andrea Bruni (drums). In fact, the album was recorded at Abbey of Saint Galgano in Chiusdino, Siena on September 11, 2018 with the help of a string quartet formed by Federico Galieni (violin), Francesco Gemo (violin), Emanuele Guadagni (viola) and Katie Bruni (cello) plus the special guests Vittorio De Scalzi (flute) and Marco Fusi (Scottish hornpipes). As you can guess from title and the art work by Carmelo J. Arena and Piera Arena, it’s all centred on Il Rovescio della Medaglia’s 1973 album composed with Maestro Luis Enriquez Bacalov, Contaminazione...

The location of the concert is surrounded by a magic aura. The Abbey of Saint Galgano was a Cistercian Monastery whose construction began in 1220 around the site of the former hermitage of the saint, in the valley of the river Merse, between the towns of Chiusdino and Monticiano, in the province of Siena, Tuscany. It’s a place full of mysticism and spirituality, despite having been deconsecrated since 1789 (the first year of the French Revolution), and is related to the Arthurian cycle of the Sword in the Stone. In fact, nearby lies the hermitage of Monte Siepi where, according to legend, Saint Galgano retired to life as a hermit in 1170 and, as a symbol of peace, stuck his sword into the rock, where it is still today. The roofless walls of the Gothic style 13th-century Abbey church still stand and it’s exactly inside those walls that the stage was set...

Contaminazione, a concept album telling the story of a mad musician who think to be the heir of Bach, was conceived for rock group and orchestra and it’s not easy to play it live. For this concert the band re-arranged and played the whole work without the orchestra and in a “rockier” but effective way, with amazing harmony vocals and the classical touch of the string quartet. The sound quality is perfect and all the musicians involved showcase great technique and passion. The result is astounding and, in my opinion, this live album should be considered a good complement to the original one...

As bonus tracks, on the Cd were included three other pieces taken from Il Rovescio della Medaglia’s debut album, La bibbia, that were recorded on May 5, 2019 during a concert in Barberino Tavarnelle, near Florence.

Overall, a great document of the band’s vitality on stage.

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/ilrovesciodellamedaglia/ 

 

ON A NEW LEVEL

Born in Siena in 1970 from the ashes of two other bands called respectively Arf Arf and I Diamanti, Livello 7 had been active until 1976, initially as a cover band and then playing original music inspired by bands such as Weather Report and Perigeo. Although they were very popular in their home town, in those years the band never had the chance to release an album. After the band split up, one of the former members of Livello 7, Franco Caroni, turned to jazz and in 1983 formed another band called Juice Group to play fusion but the project had an ephemeral life. It wasn’t until 2013 that Franco Caroni met with some other musicians to work on the material of his previous bands and on some new composition forming a new band, Acqua Libera. After a hard, painstaking work in the studio, in 2016 Acqua Libera self-released an eponymous debut album with a line up featuring, along with Franco Caroni (bass), Jonathan Caradonna (keyboards – from Profusion), Fabio Bizzarri (guitar – from Vicolo Margana) and Marco Tosi (drums, percussion – also from Vicolo Margana). It’s a real good work where jazz rock and progressive rock influences are perfectly blended with great musicianship and maturity...

The opener “Tempi moderni” (Modern Times) is a wonderful track where melody and rhythm give life to the shadows and lights of a modern, busy world. The title seems to refer to a 1936 silent comedy film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin in which his iconic Little Tramp character struggles to survive in the modern, industrialized world while on a short video posted by the band on YT they chose a drawing of Battersea Station (without flying pigs) to symbolize the good and bad consequences of modernity and progress...

The following “Nautilus” is another excellent piece that could be a perfect score for an exotic maritime adventure. The title refers to the fictional submarine captained by Nemo featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1874)...

The nocturnal “Alla luce della luna” (Under the moonlight) comes from the old repertoire of Livello 7 and was originally entitled “Undiciottavi” (Eleven-eight time) after its time signature. It’s a long, complex piece that evokes dreamy atmospheres and far echoes coming from the dark side of the moon...

The lively, light-hearted “Mr. Lou” was composed in the eighties by keyboardist Luigi Campoccia and comes from the legacy of the Juice Group. It was re-arranged by Acqua Libera that gave to it a new life. It leads to the more recent “Marcina” where strange, haunting waltzes merge into cheerful jazzy passages and vice versa...

Acqua Libera 2016

The title of the following “Sans tambour ni musique” (With no drums, no music) was taken from the verse of a poem by Charles Baudelaire… — And long hearses, with no drums, no music, file slowly through my soul: Hope, conquered, cries, and despotic atrocious agony plants on my bent skull its flag of black… (translation by Geoffrey Wagner from Selected Poems of Charles Baudelaire, Grove Press, 1974). Here the music blossoms like a flower of evil in a rainy spring day...

Then comes the tense, frenzied “Quo vadis”. Quo Vadis (Latin for "Where are you going?") is also the title of a 1951 American epic film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and set in ancient Rome during the final years of Emperor Nero's reign. Although in the liner notes you can’t find any link between this track and the film, I think that it could be a really good soundtrack for a thriller...

The last track, “Prog Mood”, is another piece taken from the repertoire of Livello 7 and was originally entitled “Seiottavi” (Six-eight time). It’s a piece full of energy and sudden changes in atmosphere that closes and album that absolutely worth listening to...

You can listen to the complete album HERE

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/AcquaLiberaSiena/

MIRRORS AND VISIONS

Labirinto di Specchi (the name means maze of mirrors) came to life in Chiusi, in the province of Siena, in 2005 with the ambitious aim to blend progressive rock with other forms of art such as poetry, painting and philosophy. After some years of hard work, in 2009 the band started the recording sessions of their début album, “Hanblecheya”, with a line up featuring Raffaele Crezzini (drums, percussion), Gabriele Marroni (guitars), Filippo Menconi (bass), Andrea Valerio (piano, lead synth) and Diego Samo (keyboards, synth) plus two special guests: former Pholas Dactylus' front-man Paolo Carelli (vocals) and Michele Sanchini (cello). The album was released in 2010 on the independent label Lizard Records and the result is an interesting mix of vintage sounds, post rock and psychedelia. According to the band, the title “Hanblecheya” is taken from a Native American language and means “crying the vision”. As you can guess, this is a conceptual work where the music and lyrics try to conjure up powerful, evocative visions. While listening to the music you can see flowers of light and hidden shadows as in a dream while forgotten thoughts and free emotions come back from your unconscious.

The opener “Eclissi Pt. 1 – L’occhio e la maschera” (Eclipse Pt.1 – The eye and the mask) sets a mystic atmosphere and Paolo Carelli's narrative vocals draw the image of a mysterious mask that slowly begins to hide the sun and the moon unchaining a timeless madness without any logic. Phenomena triggered by an uncontrollable reality begin to take shape... On the following “La maschera della visione” (The mask of vision) whipping synth waves announce a change and your mind, filled with desire, starts to run towards the unknown and tries to seize it... “The conscience is silent and soars / The visionary mask becomes alive / The hidden truth unfolds...”.

“Fantasia” (Imagination) is a long, spectacular ride into the unknown where you could find yourself wandering in beautiful, hidden places and getting lost in wonderful dreams. Next comes the dark, disquieting “Nel nulla etereo soggiogato dall’ignoto la mente si espande” (In the ethereal void, subjugated by the unknown, the mind spreads out) where dreams seem to turn into nightmares. The narrative vocals and the obstinate percussive patterns evoke an ancestral spirituality and American Western plains and fights between the native people and the blue soldiers... “I've walked, I've seen, I've run... I've heard sounds that no one had ever heard before... I've seen enormous butterflies and spiders dancing with snakes and cormorants... I've seen my body lying in the dust just before entering into the hut of sweat...”.

On the tense, nervous “Purpurea” (Purple) deep red colours prevail while the music and lyrics conjure up a subtle sense of fear. Then the chains of conscience melt and you can perceive the energy of life, you are filled with this energy and you miss it in the same time. Then comes the long, complex “Foll(i)a” (Madness/Crowd) where the tight rope of equilibrium is shaken and madness spreads all around. Threatening, ever changing clouds run across the sky, you can feel that everything is trembling around you and everything gets blurred while strange sounds strike hidden keys in your mind.

Labrinto di Specchi 2010

The conclusive “Eclissi Pt. 2 – La genesi” (Eclipse Pt. 2 – The genesis) closes the circle. There's a new burst of energy then the spiritual, cathartic experience comes to an end and slowly the sun rise again from behind the mask of vision. Well, on the whole I think that this is a really good album and that it's worth listening to!

Labirinto di Specchi: Hanblecheya (2010). Other opinions:

Raffaella Benvenuto-Berry: Firmly anchored to the Italian progressive tradition by its keen sense of melody and the rivetingly dramatic tone of Paolo Carelli’s narration, yet unafraid to experiment with more radical musical directions, and skilled in combining the acoustic, the electric and the electronic component (though at times the slashing, whistling presence of synths can become a tad overwhelming), Labirinto Di Specchi are a band that adventurous listeners would do well to check out... (read the complete review HERE)

Olav Martin Bjørnsen: As tantalizing and intriguing as Labirinto Di Specchi's exploits are, they won't appeal to everyone. If you have a taste for electronic and acoustic instrument interactions you will have an advantage, but apart from that, those who generally appreciate ambient, dream-laden music just as much as textured post rock excursions and futuristic-sounding psychedelic music should all have a fairly good chance of enjoying this album. Progressive rock for an eclectic mind of a rather particular nature, one might say... (read the complete review HERE)

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/LDS-Labirinto-Di-Specchi 

https://myspace.com/labirintodispecchi 

TOSCANA (part 2)

On the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea we visit the Province of Massa-Carrara. The city of Carrara, famous for its marble quarries, gave us some interesting prog bands such as the neo prog Cage (Facebook), Lethean (MySpace) and the prog folk Bededeum (Facebook) who in 2009 released an excellent committed album, Oltre il sipario, dedicated to the memory of Sacco and Vanzetti, two Italian anarchists executed without a fair trial in the U.S.A. in 1927. Another prog folk band from this area worth mentioning is Antiqua Lunae (Facebook), while Fivizzano, a walled town in the Lunigiana area, not far from Carrara, is home to another interesting prog band called Oxhuitza (MySpace).

Travelling south we now go to PISA, the city famous for its Leaning Tower and hometown of the physicist, mathematician and astronomer Galileo Galilei, son of lutenist and composer Vincenzo Galilei. The best known artist from this area is probably tenor Andrea Bocelli who reached success with Con te partirò, a piece composed by Francesco Sartori who from 1992 to 1997 was a member of the Venetian prog band Le Orme. Pisa is home to prog bands such as Egoband (MySpace) and Germinale (MySpace). At the moment Germinale are on hold, so their guitarist Salvo Lazzara started an acoustic side project called Pensiero Nomade (MySpace). Other artists and bands from Pisa are Nicola Pardini (Facebook), Homo Ex Machina (Facebook), the folk prog Filarmonica Municipale Lacrisi (MySpace), the retro-avant-garde Delay Lama (Facebook) and the psychedelic Ceke (MySpace) and Milvus (MySpace) while the nearby town of Pontedera is home to Merry Go Round (Facebook) and Le Turbe di Howard (Reverbnation). Another town in the province Of Pisa, Volterra, is home to the metal influenced Quintessenza (MySpace) and the heavy, bizarre Il Maniscalco Maldestro (MySpace).

From Pisa to LIVORNO, the birthplace of opera composer Pietro Mascagni. In the seventies Livorno gave us Capitolo 6 (but half of the members of the band were from Viareggio) and Tugs (Facebook), a band with a strong theatrical approch that recently reunited. Another band that was formed in the seventies and that recently have come to a new life are Aurora Lunare (Official Website) that are finally going to release their first official album on the independent label Lizard Records. Other local bands that are worth mentioning are Raccolta Differenziata (Facebook), Alfa Nefer (MySpace) and Est Morgana (MySpace).

From the nearby town of Cecina come Decuplico (MySpace), a band formed in the mid eighties who recently reformed. Still heading south we visit GROSSETO, where we can listen to some interesting emerging bands such as Gran Turismo Veloce (MySpace), Mosaico (Facebook), Gramma (MySpace) and Opificio Sonoro Maremmano (MySpace).

We head north east now, towards the beautiful city of SIENA, best known for a special horse race that dates from the middle-ages, the Palio di Siena. In the seventies Siena gave us an interesting Christian-prog band called Genfuoco (Official Website) who, after a long hiatus, came to life again in 2000 for some live performances.

Siena is also the home city of an interesting acoustic project that blends classical and folk, Inchanto (MySpace), and of a well known progressive rock webzine, Arlequins. The Province of Siena is the base for some interesting prog bands such as Profusion (MySpace) and Acqua Libera (Facebook), in Colle di Val d’Elsa, Zundapp (MySpace), in Chianciano Terme, Focus Indulgens (Facebook), in an area called Val di Chiana and Labirinto di Specchi (MySpace), in Chiusi.

Still heading north east we conclude our visit to Toscana in AREZZO, home to a very promising dark organ driven project called Three Monks (MySpace), to Tacita Intesa (Facebook) and to the psychedelic Sycamore Age (MySpace).