LIBERO ARBITRIO

"Libero arbitrio" is the first solo album by Amos Ghirardelli, a keyboard player and composer from Sassuolo, now based in the province of Venice, with years of experience behind him. It was released in 2024 on the independent Velut Luna label and recorded with the contribute of a group of talented musicians who help highlight the compositional value of the pieces, mostly inspired by the symphonic progressive rock of the seventies. In fact, the line-up includes Amos Ghiradelli himself (keyboards), Andrea Valfrè (keyboards), Filippo Ghirardelli (piano), Andrea Ghion (bass - from Egonon and Aldo Tagliapietra Band), Roberto Parolin (drums - from Egonon), Matteo Ballarin (guitar - from The Former Life and Aldo Tagliapietra Band) and Massimo Bellio (vocals). The recording sessions took place at Magister Recording Area, in Preganziol, Treviso on August and September 2024 and I'm sure that the final result will please many prog fans...

The title track, "Libero arbitrio" (Free will), is a sort of declaration of intent that opens the album. It's a long suite that starts by rarefied and dreamy atmospheres. The rhythm is slow but gradually grows while the melodic lines evoke strange trajectories in space and time. Then a short funky section followed by a marching beat introduces the sung part. The title refers to the capacity to choose between different possible courses of action, an ability that is connected to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, advice, persuasion, deliberation and prohibition. But do not worry, this is not a boring philosophical treatise. The music and lyrics are meant to give a stern warning: it is better to take the time to listen and carefully consider the advice of interested benefactors who could do you a lot of harm. They are like beasts that hunt you, black crows that do not help you, they are like a pack of wicked children who do not know the limit of fear and who seek you... You've better get rid of those people! Think twice and make your own choices...

The long instrumental "Oltre la nebbia" (Beyond the fog) begins by a slow keyboard intro that paints in black the musical canvas. Then dark organ sounds set a mystical atmosphere and a sense of bewilderment and restlessness. The central section with a delicate piano theme could make one think of a boat searching for its way through the fog, illuminated by soft night lights, among the narrow canals of Venice, while the final part, more decisive and jazzy, seems to suggest the exit from the strange lagoon web made of fog, doubts and nostalgia and the beginning of a new journey towards the unknown...

"Frammento di me" (Fragment of me) is an introspective and melodic song that speaks of the awareness of one's choices with hermetic verses and fragmentary images. Without scruples the protagonist rearranges and finds new words that he then interprets. Shivers of fantasy flow and the colours of May offer us images and destinations without tomorrow where you can get lost. Try to surrender to dreams while the mind leads you to secret places where you can find new songs. Don't let yourself get down, choose and what you have chosen will become possible and will make you see the deception of your freedom...

Then comes another long instrumental piece, "Dreaming Sanremo". The organ introduction evokes an almost liturgical atmosphere, then the rhythm increases and the music takes you on unexpected paths, where relaxed and nocturnal moments alternate with sunny and majestic passages. The sky is a wonder and flowers are everywhere. Maybe it's not for nothing that Sanremo, the city of the title, is also known as the city of flowers. By the way, Sanremo is also famous for the Italian song festival, an event that fortunately has very little to do with this track...

The short instrumental "Malinconia" (Melancholy) closes the album with a soft and relaxed atmosphere. Here you can find a hint of nostalgia and a touch of regret while the notes are used as pastel colours to paint an expressionist picture...

On the whole, a very interesting album that is worth listening to.