1979 - IL CONCERTO - OMAGGIO A DEMETRIO STRATOS

Just few weeks after Demetrio Stratos passing away, a huge number of artists of the "alternative area", those left-winged and more politically involved of that time, arranged this big "tribute event". I think that a DVD has been released but I'm not confident about the quality of the material recorded by the Italian national TV that was not famous for the ability to record live rock events.

What we find here is sometimes hardly definable "progressive". There is a mixture of folk singer-sogwriters, punk and pop-rock, but also avant artists like Cardini or even Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and what remained of Area without Stratos.

Of course this is a double CD to be described track by track.

Kaos Rock was one of the first Italian Punk Bands. I think we can speak of PRI(Punk Rock Italiano) as a separate genre as I think they were playing punk without understanding exactly what it was. "Basta Basta" (translatable as Stop, or Quit) is totally forgettable. Demential lyrics over a Sex Pistols imitation. This band and Skiantos, also present at the event started what was later called "Demential Rock". Not for prog tastes.

Area pley this "Danz(a)nello" a joke on the words "Danza(Dance)" and "Anello(Ring)". Of course it's an instrumental. It's jazzy with some Avant moments. Forget the first minute and wait for the "good" part to come. As one can expect, it one of the reasons forhaving this album.

Francesco Guccini is a singer-sogwriter who has worked as author for "I Nomadi", a band musically too pop to be included into RPI. He's more famous for his poetry than for his music. This is one of his most famous songs from his debut album released in 1966, one that he still plays live also today and is about a girl died in a car crash. The Title "Per Un'Amica" (for a friend - female) has been transcribed as "Per Un Amico" (for a friend - male) a discutible choice of the editor.

Eugenio Finardi is another singer-songwriter, more rock oriented, grown in the USA and here presenting a gospel. A good moment but of course nothing prog here.

Roberto Ciotti is a bluesman that I had the pleasure to play a jam session with so many years ago that he likely doesn't remember. He's the author of the soundtrack of a movie called "Marrakech Express" that's one of his things closer to prog that he has done. Here he plays a blues that's also on his live "Bluesman". Not a prog thing but check out his guitar playing.

"Venegoni & Co" is the band formed by "Gigi Venegoni" after leaving the RPI band "Arti e Mestieri". The band had a short life, disbanding after just one year, but unexpectedly resurrected and still releasing albums up to now. They are in the JR/F section and the track thay play explains why.

Then comes Branduardi. I'm currently reviewing all his albums. He plays one of his most beautiful songs "Il Funerale" (The Funeral), very appropriate for this event.

Carnascialia was a side project of Pasquale Minieri, Giorgio Vivaldi e Mauro Pagani (Canzoniere del Lazio and PFM members). on PA as prog-folk, I would see them more appropriate in the JR/F. Listen to this track and to the great drums solo.

Adriano Bassi and Italo Lo Vetere are a different thing. I don't know much of Adriano Bassi, while the second is a classically trained pianist formerly in the "Trio Classico Italiano". What they play has a true RIO/Avant flavor IMO, but it's their only track that I know and I don't know if this track has had any follow-up. It deserves some attention.

Antonello Venditti is another singer-songwriter, today totally converted to mainstream-pop and in my opinion rewriting always the same song in the last 25 years. The one that he sings here is a ballad. The story behind this song is too long and too few interesting to be told on this page. His piano execution is everything but perfect, too.

Skip the Skiantos. This Demential Punk band is not totally bad usually, and the guy speaking has recently written a couple of books. Unfortunately here they just declaim three short "poetries" about farting and dirty people while somebody is testing the microphones for the following artist. Few interesting even for Italian speaking people.

Gaetano Liguori is a jazz pianist and Tullio De Piscopo was drummer and percussionist in "Napoli Centrale". He also played with Alberto Radius (Formula 3) before converting to mainstream pop in the 80s. They play a jazzy "Tarantella" about the cholera epidemic which affected Naples in the 70s for some months. Suitable for JR/F if only they had released anything else. A good listen anyway.

Giancarlo Cardini is and avant-garde artist classically trained on symphonic and chamber music pianist that is often compared to John Cage, but his principal activity is writer, poet and theathre author. He has released only one album together with other artists and without a band's name entitled "Suono Segno Gesto Visione a Firenze 2". Listen to the two tracks that he plays. He may deserve a place on PA.

Back to singer-songwriters. Roberto Vecchioni, as well as Guccini and Venditti belongs to those Italian artists that were poorly skilled as instrumentists. Like Guccini he puts a lot of attention to the lyrics even if he's famous also for the soundtrack of the cartoon "Barbapapa"! He has teached Latin and Literature in the secondary school for a lifetime (now he's retired). His song could be considered remotely prog-related.

I won't tell you what "Banco del Mutuo Soccorso" is, of course. "E Mi Viene Da Pensare" is a good song in their classic style. They are currently in the top 20 PA ratings list with two albums.

The album is closed by Area with their interpretation of "L'Internazionale" (The International) that's the anthem of the Socialist International founded by Lenin at the end of the XIX century and still the most famous communist anthem. It can be intended as the couterpart of Jimi Hendrix's American Anthem in Woodstock, but it's mainly a jazzy/avant track.

If this double CD was a single including only the prog things it would have deserved five stars. As a live recording has an unexpected good quality for Italy and for 1979 and is able to transmit the "live sensation". With all the non-interesting or also skippable material giving it a correct rating is quite hard. I don't know if buying single tracks for downloading is an available option. If yes you can use this review to save your money and avoid losing time with poor things.

About the rating, the songs go from 1 to 5 stars so I think that sticking on three is a good compromise.

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