CINCINNATO

Cincinnato took form in 1970 under the name Eros Natura in Marnate, a small town in the province of Varese. They changed their name into Cincinnato when they signed a deal with the PDU label in 1972. The new name refers to a statesman and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a legendary figure of virtue and whose name is still synonym of a person who does not fall in love with power and honours but prefers a simple and modest life. In 1973 the band managed to record an eponymous album with a line up featuring Giacomo Urbanelli (keyboards, vibraphone, vocals), Gianni Fantuzzi (guitar), Annibale Vanetti (bass) and Donato Scolese (drums). Their music draws on many influences, from jazz to hard rock, but the band tried to shape their own compositions in an original way, in full freedom, through long jam sessions. The recording process of the album took only a few days and a low budget, so the result is uneven...

The opener is a long instrumental track, "Il ribelle ubriaco" (The drunken rebel) that starts with a burst of energy. Then a calmer, dreamy section follows before a new acceleration that brings a vague atmosphere of chaos and turns into a fiery tarantella rhythm that could recall PFM...

"Tramonto d'ottobre" (October sunset) is a delicate, dreamy track based on a slow piano pattern evoking autumnal atmospheres, falling leaves and beautiful colours... Then "Esperanto" ends the first side of the LP with strong jazz flavours and a pulsing rhythm, blending many musical languages into one...

The long, complex "L'ebete" (The fool) is the only sung piece of this work and stretches along the whole second side of the original vinyl. In my opinion it's an excellent piece with a visionary atmosphere and evocative lyrics that conjure up the image of a man who feels like a fool in front of the mystery of life and death. He can't understand what he really sees, he can hear confused voices around him, surprise and fear hit hard on his heart and he stands still, bewildered by the power of nature, overwhelmed by love and a sense of pity for his fragility... After a first part where vocals take the lead, a long instrumental journey follows driving you through many different emotional landscapes...

Unfortunately, the album was released only in 1974 when the band had already called it a day, it wasn't adequately promoted by the label and was soon forgotten, until its re-release on CD. The AMS new edition features three bonus tracks: a new version of "Tramonto d'ottobre" recorded in 2006 by Giacomo Urbanelli and Donato Scolese plus Piero Orsini on bass, a new piece entitled "Tangando", recorded in 2006 by the same trio, and a live recording dating back to 1972, "Eros natura", with a very poor sound quality...

On the whole, a good work from a band that would have deserved more credit.