LA LUNA

A trained musician, an inspiration to others!

This is what i think about Angelo Branduardi, actually i know very little about him or his music, but from what i know is that he became a musician since he was a child, he learnt to play the violin in a recognizable Italian school, and he is nowadays a well known artist in the local musical scene, his music can be an example of Rock Progressivo Italiano, due to his classical influences and folkish oriented music he has created.

This album entitled La Luna, has been my introduction to his music, and i must say that i am very pleased with it, released in that far year of 1975, in the decade where a lot of Italian bands an artists raised their flags in order to show the world how prolific they were (are, of course), a decade when the albums that marked our destiny were released, and also a decade where a lot of those artists disbanded or simply dissapeared after one or two albums. Angelo Branduardi came up with his beautiful music, which may not be considered as prog rock as a whole, but that did belong to that musical and political movement from the 70s called Rock Progressivo Italiano.

This album features 9 songs, almost 35 minutes of music all of them are short songs and kicks off with the title track La Luna which is a soft and melodic song with the traditional italian flavour, acoustic song. Tanti Anni Fa has the same style, the vocals are beautiful i love that language and when its sung with nice music, is much better of course, this song is very nice, the bass lines as the strongest instrument on here, acoustic guitars and a nice and catchy rythm. Donna Mia starts with a piano sound and then the vocals enters, let me tell you that they are beautiful vocals, which makes the listening more pleasant, the music actually follows the same line during the whole song, but in addition we will hear the violin sound, which makes it still better. Gli Alberi Sono Alti is a song with a totally italian folkish flavour, acoustic guitars and some harmonica there, a beautiful song, but being strict, hardly progressive. Notturno, one of my favourite songs here, beautiful music actually very calm and mellow at the beginning, then it turns a bit faster and the violin enters again making the song better, then do you want some prog?, you will find it here, the second part of the song is the best, musically talking is superb. Rifluisce il Fiume has a beginning alike to the previous songs very soft and calm, but then it turns into a totally folk song, traditional italian folk i mean, not really prog folk, you will hear the flute sound on here. Confesioni di un Malandrino is actually the same line as the other ones, when we are reaching the final episodes of the album, it doesn`t show anything new, but still good of course. Primavera is another of my favourites, this time the beginning is different with some bass lines and drumming, then guitars and vocals enter, the sound is exquisite italian folk, also there is a wind instrument. La Danza is the one that closes the album, very nice song with the same style, nothing more.

This album is actually pretty good, if you like the italian language and music, you will find it enjoyable, but let me warn you, this album can be hardly described as a progressive rock album, nor italian symphonic, since their prog elements are just a few, no matter the obvious italian flavour and the folk sound. As a prog reviewer, i may rate it with 2 stars for the same reasons, the lack of prog elements, but i will give it 3 stars because i like it and may be a worth listening to some of you.

Enjoy it!

Angelo Branduardi can't be defined in a sub-genre. He's almost unique, even if the influence of medioeval madrigals, leids, and british folk is more than evident. La luna can be considered his debut album, as it contains songs already present on his first work that was everything but a best-seller.

"La Luna (The Moon)", the title track, is a relxing song lead by soft percussions (bodhran?) classical guitar, flute and various acoustic string instruments. Angelo's voice is soft and whispered. Think to a full moon in a clear night and enjoy it.

"Tanti Anni Fa (Many years ago)" Is driven mainly by bass and light drums. The guitar is played in a folky style: not properly a finger picking because Angelo is a classical player. Another relaxing song with interesting passages.

"Donna Mia (Oh my Woman)" starts with a mellow piano intro, immediately followed by the voice that sings on high notes. Maybe a bit too mellow; just a short love song.

"Gli Alberi sono alti (Trees they do grow high)" is a traditional British song about a young princess constrained to marry a young boy. She betrays and has a son, then her husband dies in a war (at least this is what I remember of the lyrics). Angelo added an intro of classical guitar, that's almost the only instrument helped by just some harmonica. A jump to the 15th century. I'm quite sure that versions of this song exist played by Pentangle, Clannad and Greenoch Duo.

"Notturno" is probably progressive as we intend it. The initial part is slow and dark. Lyrics speak about animals, plants and Earth itself sleeping. This is followed by a 12-strings guitar, violin and later drums and bass. Now the lyrics speak of dreams. The coda is instrumental and goes back to the initial theme. Prog lovers will likely appreciate this as the best album's song.

"Rifluisce il fiume (The river flows)" has a south-american mood, maybe because of mandolin and cuatro, even if the melodic line is similar to Notturno. Reference: Los Jaivas

"Confessioni di un Malandrino" should have an entire review. It's the translation of a poetry from the Russian poet Esenin. A legend says that Esenin wrote it with his own blood the day he committed suicide. If you pay attention to the lyrics it's not hard to believe even if I don't know if it's true or not. It's a so intense poetry that I remember Angelo playing it in concert in 1977, alone on the stage with his guitar only and the head covered by his long hair. When he finished playing, he raised his head and his eyes were full of tears! Find a good translation. The music is pure classical guitar incredily appropriate to the lyrics. An absolute masterpiece.

"Primavera (Spring)" is a counterpart to the previous song: a jazzy piece in Canterbury style. If it wasn't for the voice, it could have found room on "In the land of Grey and Pink".

"La Danza (The Dance)" Is a closure song. Back to the spirit of the first two album's songs, it starts with a slow classical guitar, followed by a sitar. Good for meditation.

To be noticed: all the songs of this albums were reprinted later with the addition of "Gulliver" on "Gulliver, la Luna E Altri Disegni".

This album can't be classified into a sub-genre even if the most appropriate is probably prog-folk. Not all the prog fans will appreciate it, probably, but this is the album that introduced me to the world of classical guitar and helped me to appreciate non-rock music.

4.5 stars, but "Confessioni" is one of my all time favourites and after 35 years, I still play it sometimes at home for myself on my guitar.

This album is my introduction to the world of Angelo Branduardi. I got a batch of five of his albums. Based on this album, those four other albums must be worth investigating.

La Luna comes across as a nice mix of Italian prog and Italian pop. The type of music that melts the hearts of women and secures the reproduction of Italian citizens. In other words, the music is romantic throughout. I would not call the music simple though. It is true that it is mostly based around Angelo's voice and some minimalistic instrumentations. Mostly Angelo's own instruments; guitars, percussion and violin. But the arrangements are pretty sophisticated and so is the songs too.

For me, this album showcases what sets Rock Progressivo Italiano apart from the rest of the prog scene. The folk music based romantic music and the excellent vocals which is more an instrument than communication (I do not understand a word Italian). This music communicates Italy through and through more than glossy magazines from the local travel agents does. I have to admit visiting Italy is not on the list of my wish-list. But this album has changed my mind. Italy, be prepared.

The quality of this music is in other words great. Yes, it sailing very close to be melodramatic drivel. The two outstanding songs here are Gli Alberi Sono Alti and the next song Notturno. Both of them are two of the best Italian songs I have ever heard in my life. And I am not a beginner when it comes to Italian prog. Those two songs are alone worth the price of this album. A couple of songs are merely good, but does not devalue this album. So what we have here is a well hidden, but shining jewel in the Rock Progressivo Italiano genre.

4.5 stars

Branduardi continued breathless after the release of his-self titled debut to the recording process of its follow-up.''La luna'' was released a year after again on RCA,his second but also last album on this label.On this effort Branduardi collaborated among others with Italian guitarist/arranger Maurizio Fabrizio and Ultima Spaggia's bassist Gigi Cappellotto.

The style seems similar to his debut,short vocal-based tracks of Acoustic Folk with plenty of Classical references,but there are also a bit of differences to be discovered throughout.Mostly gone are the extensive string arrangements of his first album,mainly on cellos,violins and contrabass,and along with them gone is most of the intense and delicate Mediterrenean feeling.On the other hand the acoustic guitars play the basic role here,supported for another time by smooth piano and symphonic-sounding flutes,while a couple of tracks introduce another side of Branduardi,like ''La Danza'' with the banjo notes and ''Primavera'' with the rather commercial use of sax.Still the album's highlight remains Branduardi's sensational,warm and ultra-sensitive singing and his lovely vocal lines,which add another dimension to every track.

While I prefer the debut of Branduardi over ''La luna'',this album has plenty of strong content to be recommended much further to simply fans of Acoustic Contemporary Folk.Anyone into delicate arrangements along with first class vocals should approach without hesitation.