RITRATTO LIBERO

Really equal parts jazz and Italian symphonic, "Ritratto Libero" does not dwell long enough in one place to make much impact of any type, let alone as a unified or integrated work. If anything is consistent, it is the airy production and spacious atmosphere, which easily elevates my rating out of the basement. There just isn't much that is memorable or distinctive, and the longer tracks suffer more from the neither fish nor fowl syndrome. Probably the highlight is "Dietro le Mura" that is more squarely in the progressive camp. Some of the flute and piano playing that surfaces on occasion serves to brighten the mood, but it is eventually engulfed by the band's other interests. No denying this is a talented group, but, like many a prog album, it is brought down by compositional deficit and eclecticism surfeit.