LET THEM SAY

"The most striking aspect of this new record is that it is completely instrumental, it is based on a mix of acoustic instruments (mostly guitars, but also drums and piano) and electronics. It is an album made also with a work at distance with musicians of various nationalities and in this album the rhythmic aspect is always very important. In short, it is rather distant from the previous album. The first completely instrumental record in almost forty years of history comes with a significant title: Let Them Say, the seventh album of the Notturno Concertante, published by Luminol Records. Notturno Concertante is in the music biz since the early 80s as a duo and then evolved into an anomalous and singular prog band, always careful to acoustic elements, to elegant and sophisticated textures, to the connections between various genres.

Eight years after Canzoni allo specchio, Lucio Lazzaruolo and Raffaele Villanova return with new album, which contains elements of the past and anticipates new musical horizons. The prog of the early days has been definitively archived, Let Them Say explores the possibilities of a crossover of various influences, from world music to electronics, between jazz and rock influences. Furthermore, in Let Them Say the Notturno returns to the ancient duo line up, opening to various collaborations, in a sort of "working band" which also includes international musicians such as the Russian violinist Nadia Khomutova, the American Molly Joyce, the Canadian cellist Kaitlyn Raitz, the Canadian cellist Katlyn Ritz the Japanese clarinetist Seto Nobuyuki. The new drummer Francesco Margherita also participated together with the previous Simone Pizza, Luciano Aliperta and Giuseppe D'Alessio on bass and, presence of absolute prestige, the vocal group Gesualdo Consort directed by Marco Berrini in Dei miei Sospiri, which uses parts of a madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo (recorded live by Notturno himself).

Between one album and another, Notturno did not stop, there were important collaborations in studio for soundtracks and in live shows and projects: with director Giorgio Diritti, Ray Wilson former singer of Genesis), Giovanna Iorio, Lina Sastri, Pamela Villoresi, Daniela Poggi, Barbara Alberti and Paolo Rumiz. These collaborations, in addition to the group's innate curiosity, eclecticism and openness to new influences, have matured a detachment from the progressive of the origins, adopting a new approach, as Lucio and Raffaele declare: "If for progressive rock we mean a continuous backward glance towards a period now long gone, with the obligatory references and what many expect (mellotron, dreamy guitars, whispering flutes ...) we are no longer progressive from a long time. Instead we mean prog in a broader sense, as an attempt to keep in mind the evolution of music, to be more personal, to cross various musical genres, making them balanced, then we are more prog than ever".

Let Them Say is a sort of reboot album, which will accompany a new transition for the Notturno Concertante, already working on another album that is probably new instrumental, acoustic, with the even more marked involvement of the new drummer Francesco Margherita. After thirty years of music, Notturno dialogues once again with its listeners: "We believe and hope that our audience is mentally open, interested to know a musical proposal that has many different influences within it, not least the progressive, a music that we still like".