COGLI IL GIORNO

Seize the Day! Basso's masterpiece

If you ask most progressive music fans about Luciano Basso they will talk about the album "Voci." Indeed one prominent rock writer called "Voci" one Italian album that was not a bunch of "vocal-heavy operatic twaddle," a phrase that cracks me up every time I think about it. (The full quote said Italian prog was "vocal-heavy operatic twaddle-dated, clichéd, badly produced organ dominated prog." To which my reply would be..well, maybe another time. Back to Basso. As I said, most fans, like that rock writer, will tell you "Voci" was the be-all, end-all of Luciano Basso. But if you ask Basso he will tell you his own personal favorite work was this one, his second album "Cogli il Giorno" ("Seize the Day.) And after hearing it I am inclined to agree. This is an amazing RPI beauty that provides concrete evidence the classic Italian progressive scene was still kicking as late as 1978 (though the acknowledged peak was earlier of course.)

Basso hails from Venice and began the study of music and piano from early childhood. In 1976 he released the critically acclaimed progressive title "Voci" which has become a beloved RPI gem for its combination of rock and smooth symphonic atmospheres punctuated by some soaring electric guitar solos. Later Basso would spend three decades in the music industry in Italy and abroad, releasing many albums, producing, and actively composing music. But "Cogli il Giorno" was his second album on the heels of the successful "Voci." It was composed between late 1977 and early 1978 and became a rarity, never released on CD until now. Written, arranged, and performed by Basso, the album features many guest musicians, including Leonardo Dosso from "Gruppo D'Alternativa".

"Cogli il Giorno" indeed picks up from where "Voci" left off and is not simply a retread. While both are deeply steeped in classical influence, Voci was a more rocking symphonic affair and a more melodic one. On Cogli, Basso retains the classical music but the rock has been largely removed. Instead the progressive part of the equation moves in the avant-garde direction, even sometimes ambient territories. But we're not talking about the far-out weird zone here, we are still in the realm of the emotional and the easy to enjoy. Cogli is a fantastic album that catches an artist on fire, in a creative and expressive zone that occur only occasionally during most lifetimes. It moves along like a rolling wave of piano, sometime plaintive but more often it is fiery, alive piano. Accents come to the music from various strings, flute, bassoon, sitar, and saxophone. Basso explains his affinity for the album like this: "my favourite album, both for the progressive-classical experiments it contains and or the particular way instruments were played on it: I created an ensemble of musical effects and counterpoints, trying to find a way to pronounce the word "modern" in music..expresses a strong synergy between images and music. The way I worked on pacing-an elusive component in every musical expression-is very important here, because it became a sort of operative kernel for a never-ending series of variations and modulations. Sounds and words derive from a long journey through my way of living and facing musical creation." [Luciano Basso, April 2008]

The music unfolds like the soundtrack to a story in your mind. Part one of "Seize the Day" and "Mattino" are the set-up. The piano playing is sublime as Luciano spins a melodic pattern that inspires like a new day, very peaceful and pleasant. Immediately I am captivated by the album's confidence, you can sense he knows exactly what he wants throughout. In "Mattino" (Morning) the flute comes to double with the piano and is played with a breathy forcefulness as the piece continues to build. It is during "Ruotare"(Rotating) where the standard expectations fall away and I realize I have something special on my hands. Basso adds heavy drama to the mix in the form of wordless operatic soprano vocal, conjuring emotion, meditative, other-worldly places for several minutes. Out of nowhere he suddenly drops an insane Bartoccetti-like electric lead over his furious piano, pushing for obvious contrast-it's a bit of a risk but I think it works considering the flow of the album which is after all experimental. These vocals put this track into the Opus Avantra realm but in the last two tracks, constituting side 2, the album takes its third and final shift. On side two the vocals are gone leaving the piano and various treats moving to almost ambient territory in effect, reminding me of Popol Vuh sometimes. The piano playing is again pretty animated and patterns seem to repeat, but there are subtle changes. The other instruments cloud your concentration on the linear as well. Another interesting factor is the *way* the instruments sound and this is near impossible to describe, but at times various instruments are altered somehow to sound just a tad different than you might normally expect. In the final track there is a bit of distant Mark Knopfler-like lead guitar over the piano sounding a bit "Love Over Gold" for a bit. There is also some sitar playing that again clouds up the air nicely.

I believe "Cogli il Giorno" is a more important work than "Voci" as it seems to be Basso really reaching for something. In my opinion it does succeed and this is what music is all about. It is presented in the usual outstanding gatefold mini-lp sleeve edition by BTF/AMS and includes a live bonus track from the period. Dramatic, mysterious, impossible to conveniently define it is one definition of a masterpiece. Basso's first two albums are rewarding RPI gems and the kind of prog that keeps me interested. 4 ½ stars.

Masterstroke #2

Two years after crafting and polishing the paragon of recordings that shook the world of RPI in 1976, il maestro Luciano Basso appears to have accomplished an almost impossible task: producing an opus satisfactory enough to have a take on Voci. Hence, on Cogli Il Giorno, playing it safe was not an option. The thoroughly organised, almost mathematical structure present on every single Voci track seems to have vanished, leaving room for more experimental approaches. Basso thus, immerses into previously unexplored waters, even finding himself venturing in the realm of avant garde, which he so beautifully manages to transpose into his classical upbringing.

As the listeners embark on this acoustic journey, they are greeted by the ever so gracious piano thrills, which are slowly blending into the array of strings only to father a dazzling sunrise moment, because, after all, in order to seize the day, one has to commence early in the morning. Thus, with a linear transition Mattino upholds the joyous piano which is soon accompanied by Baiocco's flute. At first, the two do not interweave acoustically, but as the song develops, they almost become one and along with Dosso's bassoon tunes, they help paint the uplifting atmosphere that had been dominating the record up to this point. However, in a dramatic twist of events, the tempo suddenly drops, synthesisers replace the piano and soprano vocalises now dictate the direction in which the composition is heading. The overall uncanny ambience on Ruotare is sustained by the occasional rough sounding guitar and the return of Basso's grand piano notes which shift from allegro to an allegretto cascade like sensation, then it finds itself building and fluctuating recurrently augmenting the eeriness until towards the end when it finishes on a relaxed piano tone. The second part of the title track does not reiterate the heavenly mood created in the first one; instead, the intro is spine-chilling, almost Jacula-esque, with the grand piano and vibraphone creating organised chaos, which soon continues with a jazzy soprano sax solo accompanied yet again by the piano. The further dissonance and avant approach in the use of the soprano sax is at times reminiscent of Third Ear Band's oboe playing style. Surprisingly, out of all this sonic turmoil, a main theme emerges with the precise scope to elegantly glue the cluster together. Lastly, Aliante revolves around Basso's mellow, but forever building piano playing. The wind instruments follow the keys as guitars seem to pop up at times, making way for an unexpected sitar appearance, which goes along with the melody and succeeds in not sounding indo/raga. With all the countless tempo changes, the album ends in a rather eerie note, thus distancing itself from the symmetrical arrangements on Voci.

With the above in mind, Cogli il Giorno is a striking and absolutely spectacular record with practically inexistent dull moments, a breath of fresh air on the RPI scene and not only, even more than 30 years after its release. Sadly it is lacking a certain 'something' that prevents it from being a true masterpiece and condemns it to lead its existence in the shadows of Voci.

4 stars!

In autumn 77' Basso started working on his second personal album, which was eventually finished in spring 78'.It was again released on the Ariston label under the title ''Cogli il giorno'' and features a different line-up than on Basso's debut release.Only Massimo Palma remained in his place and this sophomore effort features New Trolls's Giorgo Baiocco on flutes and Leonardo Dosso from Gruppo D'alternativa on bassoon among others.

Basso characterized this album as a work full of Classical experiments and that is more or less the truth about this release, which sees him somewhat moving away from his previous more progressive style.''Cogli il giorno'' is closer to Avant-Garde/Chamber/Classical music than Progressive Rock despite the important number of guest musicians and especially the long tracks are quite experimental with Basso's piano on the forefront and sporadic contributions from the other musicians.The more used instruments are definitely the string ones with Basso's workouts surrounded by depressive cellos and violins as well as some cosmic sitar strings.His playing is both romantic and dramatic depending on the track, but the evident lack of additional instruments make it a hard-to-follow experience.The overall atmosphere is haunting, outlandish and bizzare with no particular changes.Actually only the pair of short, opening tracks seem to be the best ones for a prog fan, offering melodic, pleasant and delicate symphonic music with some great work by Baiocco on flutes.

This was not an accidental step towards more Classical-inspired works by Basso, as with each work he moved even closer to contemporary Classical music, setting up arrangements for orchestras, most of which have been released on Ariston over the years.

Great work if you consider it more of an acedemic or experimental work, but with little lack to satisfy fans of Progressive Rock.