GAN EDEN - IL GIARDINO DELLE DELIZIE

The name of this Rock Progressivo Italiano band is "Gan Eden-Il Giardino delle Delizie". Gan Eden is Hebrew for Garden of Eden and Il Giardino delle Delizie is Italian for The Garden of Delights. The band was founded in 2004 by Angelo Santo Lombardi who is a keyboardist for the band who utilizes several artists for backup on his different albums. His 5th album is called ". . . Canta Fabrizio de Andre" where Lombardi plays all the instruments except for guest Gabriele Paganoni who plays additional acoustic and electric guitars, bass, drums and effects.

The music here is a nice mix of Italian folk prog utilizing mostly acoustic guitars with frequent keyboards. The music isn't really heavy in the prog department, but there are places where there are tricky meters in certain songs, the proggiest of which are "Creuza de Ma" and "Nei Miandri dell'Alba". The vocals are all in Italian and are quite pleasant sounding, supported many times with background singers and possibly even a small chorus of singers.

The individual tracks tend to be inspired by folk dance styles and a few lean towards a ballad style like "La Guerra di Piero", which is led mostly by piano, or towards a pastoral sound as in "Giordie", which also features a female vocalist and a lovely orchestration of acoustic instruments.

The music is nice and mostly pastoral, the vocals don't really change much as far as timbre is concerned, but Lombardi doesn't stretch beyond his capabilities and the songs are interesting enough to help carry the variety in style. But, he isn't a bad singer either and is quite confident in his sound. The occasional female vocals also help add variety. The instruments are pretty much mostly acoustic with the only track with discernable electric guitar riffs is the final track. So, this is a good album for those who like their music on the folk side, pastoral in sound with occasional hints of progressiveness.

The Italian band Gan Eden ' Giardino Delle Delizie is the brainchild of musician and composer Angelo Santo Lombardi. The first CD entitled I Giorni Di Eurisko (2004) was released under his own name, but the second Lavori In Corso (2007) became a bestseller on the Italian Btf. Label. And this third album entitled Ritratto Di Ballerina (2009) is presented as Gan Eden : Giardino Delle Delizie.

I was very pleased with the lush vintage keyboard sound on Lavori In Corso but not every track succeeded to keep my attention, due to the experimental sounds in some compositions (3 long between 10 and 20 minutes and 1 short). Listening to this new CD I notice that Gan Eden sound more captivating and compelling than on the two previous albums, with strong symphonic rock hints. The focus is on the impressive keyboards skills of Angelo, this album is a Vintage Keyboard Heaven: a majestic church organ sound, sparkling and swinging Grand piano runs, lush Hammond organ, fat Minimoog flights and mighty choir-Mellotron eruptions, mouthwatering! The interplay between those vintage keyboards and the guitar and dynamic rhythm-section is exciting, with hints of Dutch keyboard driven band Trace. The atmospheres are often bombastic or contain fluent rhythms with propulsive guitar riffs or wah-wah guitar (Epilogi) and sumptuous keyboards. At some moments the music turns into more mellow, like a virtuosic solo piece on the Grand piano in the short Impatsi Emotivi (a kind of 'Emerson meets Rachmaninov'). Also in the epic Reazioni A Catena (a part with twanging electric guitar and powerful bass sound) and in the final (ghost) track Emozioni featuring acoustic guitar, emotional vocals and soaring classical orchestrations beautiful!

If you like Classic Italian Prog with strong native vocals and lush vintage keyboards (like early Le Orme, Metamorfosi or Rustichelli & Bordini) and you are up to some experimental interludes, this is an album to discover.

My rating: 3,5 star.

Second effort by Lombardi under the moniker of Giardino delle Delizie was inspired by the attempts and difficulties of any artist to create, promote and live on his artistic work as well as the death of his father.Gabriele Paganoni is again present in an album entitled ''Ritratto di ballerina'' with BTF being again the publisher.

The album contains plenty of emotional moments, led by the intense concept ideas around its creation, and is split in three long suites, over 10 minutes each, and a short piano improvisation.It features again highly melodic, Italian-spiced Progressive Rock with a fair amount of Classical interludes and lots of bombastic organ sections, while Lombardi displays his ability to sing in passionate Italian.With him as the leading man, the sound of Giardino delle Delizie contains once more evident symphonic orchestrations with occasional guitar power, delivered in polished, elaborate arrangements with impressive piano themes, soaring synthesizers and vintage ogran-based grandieur.The focus here is on long, instrumental ideas with endless keyboard twists, which sometimes tend to sound like Classical Music, but the bulk of the album contains a steady rhythm section, while Lombardi seems fond of producing grandiose, twin keyboard lines.LE ORME, METAMORFOSI and RUSTICHELLI E BORDINI appear to be deep influences of the Italian keyboard wizard.As aforementioned, the album contains also some moving passages and when Lombardi puts his virtuosic workouts aside his music becomes sensitive and laid-back, characterized by atmospheric, melodic textures.

Plenty of material for a third album and reputedly more bombastic effort was already written, but Lombardi's lack of financial support apparently put the plans on ice.

For lovers of keyboard manifests and Italian-flavored Prog.Orchestral, cinematic and atmospheric Symphonic Rock with an emotional background.Recommended.

Coming from Milan, Angelo Santo Lombardi is a keyboardist who appreciates Italian Progressive Rock.For this reason he collaborated with bassist/guitarist Gabriele Paganoni and came up with his original material in 2004.His debut was a self-produced work, produced by Alessio Brocca in Lissone near Milan, and saw the light under the title ''I giorni di Eurisko''.

What strikes the listener already from the first listening is Lombardi's very romantic and highly emotional approach in music, highlighted by his work on piano and keyboards.For keyboard/piano lovers there are lots of things to love in this album.From Lombardi's vintage organ sounds to his sensitive piano interludes and the atmospheric synth work.Additionally his voice is great, typical of an emotional Italian singer and close to this of PIETRO RATTO of ATON'S fame.Actually the musicianship has often much to share with ATON'S albums, soft and melodic semi-prog adventures with plenty of vocal parts with a warm delivery but still with some nice instrumental parts.The style is fairly symphonic with a fair dose of Classical influences but also plenty of pop sensibilities of fine inspiration.The drumming though is programmed and a reason the album never really takes of in terms of quality.Paganoni has his moments too and when the space is offered he performs some great electric solos, making the album a bit more flexible.

A new entry, which is more than welcome.If you are a fan of LE ORME and a few accesible tunes do not bother you, Angelo Santo Lombardi's debut is a reason to stay at home and listen to some decent modern Italian Prog with an excellent atmosphere.Recommended.

This Italian band is a duo who play a keyboard driven brand of music. Angelo plays a variety of keyboards and sings while Gabriele plays guitar and bass. He also did the programmed drums on here.

"Ritratto Di Ballerina" has some powerful organ early on then it settles in with the piano and drums standing out. More organ 2 1/2 minutes in then we get vocals for the first time after 3 minutes. A calm with piano before 5 minutes then it picks back up with synths leading the way. Vocals a minute later. Piano and drums lead again then the vocals return.

"Reazioni A Catena" opens with some atmosphere as spoken words come in. A change after 1 1/2 minutes as the piano and drums lead. The synths and organ then trade off. A dark calm follows then it picks back up after 5 minutes. It settles with piano then picks back up with organ as the tempo and mood continue to change. Piano ends it. "Impulsi Emotivi" starts out with spoken words then the piano takes over. Spoken words end it. "Epilogo / Emozion" sounds good once it kicks into gear. Church organ follows. This is pretty catchy 2 minutes in. Vocals and piano before 3 minutes. Silence for a minute then acoustic guitar and vocals take over. Strings too. Not a fan of this section.

A good album that fans of keyboards should appreciate.

Angelo Santo Lombardi and guitarist/bassist Gabriele Paganoni soon decided to come up with a name around their project and this was meant to be ''Gan Eden-Il Giardino delle Delizie''.Under this name,Angelo and Gabriele worked on their sophomore album ''Lavori in Corso'',which was released three years after their debut, at the time the duo had signed a contract with BTF.

This is a nice example of contemprary keyboard-based prog rock with certain influences from the past.I would easily compare Lombardi's work with efforts presented by (mainly) LA TORRE DEL'ALCHIMISTA,CONQUEROR or even TAPROBAN.Arrangements are centered under the symphonic and sometimes virtuosic work of Lombardi on keys.Interesting synth loops,classic piano passages and grandiose organ parts are more than attractive.Paganoni is not just a simple collaborator.Often he shines with his inspired solos and deep bass work,not to mention he is responsible for the careful work on the drum programming.The album is not instrumental as some of you would possibly believe,though it contains a series of long instrumental parts.Vocals are decent and also handled by Lombardi,who's voice has a crystalline touch mixed with the expression offered by the harmonic echoes the Italian language,though the man is not a professional by any means.''Lavori in corso'' reminds me also of some good old Italian prog bands like LE ORME,METAMORFOSI or CORTE DEI MIRACOLI to name a few.

The album is quite far from an original sound,but all compositions are well-crafted,balanced and arranged and they have always some interesting moments to offer.This will never be your starting point to the prog world but it's a good addition to any prog collection,while devoted fans of keyboard-based prog should simply purchase it.

Excellent new keyboard-driven RPI!

"Ritratto Di Ballerina" is the new album by GAN EDEN/IL GIARDINO DELLE DELIZIE, which is basically the artist Angelo Santo Lombardi. On this, the third release from the artist but officially second from the band, the sound continues in a similar vein as his previous work, "Lavori in Corso." The formula is lots of keyboards, very enthusiastic drums, strong melodies, and great arrangements and instrumentation, mixed with some very occasional Italian vocals.

This album was initially based on the concept of the emerging artist struggling for recognition, but in the end not getting much reward for all the effort. In Angelo's words, "the affliction an artist proves in his fight to emerge." But during the work on the album, his father passed away, which lends the work a special kind of gravity.

In terms of points of reference for the work, if you're familiar with the last album, this one is the logical extension of that, showing more mature composition and musicianship but keeping with the same style. If you're not familiar with it, then think of keyboard-driven progressive with strong melodies--I'd say a modern METAMORFOSI but without the operatic vocals, or perhaps a more melodic, less riff-oriented ELP. Angelo is an amazing keyboard player! There are many passages that would fit well in 1970s RPI, although with better production. Occasionally the music reminds me of THE TANGENT (although more personal), and even Angelo's vocal quality is similar to that of Andy Tillison. The influences though are far-flung--the introduction of the title track even sounds like ANGLAGARD! The album contains a heavy emphasis on church organs, supplemented by thick mellotron choirs, Moog runs, and synth solos. My favorite track is "Reazioni a Catena," which is an 18 minute tour-de-force of progressive composition, stretching from solo piano to full-throated ensemble, choirs, and sudden shifts in mood and intensity. I particularly love the powerful organs accompanied by bombastic drums and keyboard ensemble.

Overall, this is a solid modern RPI album, more developed than Angelo's prior work. If you like passionate, engaging, keyboard-driven prog, especially with the kind of twist that comes with RPI, this is for you! Four enthusiastic stars.

Another wonderful packaged CD from the Italian label Btf. featuring a cover that stimulates your fantasy and a booklet with lots of information. This new Italian band 'with the long name' is a project by Angelo Santo Lombardi (vocals, Hammond organ, Minimoog synthesizer, pipe organ and synthesizers) along with musicians on acoustic- and electric guitar, drums, bass and vocals. The music is obviously rooted in the 24-carat symphonic prog tradition of the Seventies, mainly because of the frequent use of vintage keyboards like the Hammond and the Minimoog. After a few listening sessions I noticed a huge difference of composing quality between the first and final track! The opener Dolce Brezza starts in a pleasant atmosphere but goes on and on without any tension or musical ideas, only the final part delivers a sensitive electric guitar solo and a fluent shifting mood with tasteful piano and organ but 10 minutes is way too long for this track. The final composition I Take All The Way showcases Gan Eden Il Giadino Delle Delizie at their best: lots of variety and dynamics and exciting work on guitar and keyboards: sparkling Grand piano, fat Minimoog flights, a sensitive electric guitar solo, a fluent rhythm-section and organ play that strongly reminds me of famous Le Orme (Collage-era). The other four songs sound pleasant and melodic with a tasteful colouring by the guitar and keyboards like warm Grand piano, fat Minimoog runs and a pipe organ interlude in the titletrack, slow and fat Minimoog flights, howling guitar and sparkling piano in La Canzione Della Bimba and mellow Hammond runs with fiery guitar in E Dopa Il Vento. The Italian vocals on this album sound warm and inspired in the typical Seventies Italian prog tradition like Metamorfosi and Le Orme. Apart from the first composition I enjoyed this wonderful symphonic prog album and I hope this is not another Italian one-shot-band, especially recommended to fans of Seventies Italian Symphonic Prog!

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