PICCHIO DAL POZZO

Not long after this album was released, I heard Cocomelastico on a local college radio station. Being a Zappaphile, I loved the song, and put Picchio Dal Pozzo high on my list for albums to search for. Back then, I never found any. Years later, I mentioned that to a fellow prog lover I met while working in a record store. It turns out that he was the DJ who played the song (he is also the guy called "clueless and slightly slack" by Fripp in one of the King Crimson boxed sets - a label he is proud of). He gave me a tape of the album. Was I surprised. This band didn't just create Zappa-like music, the created Canterbury prog as good as anything out there.

Song after song, this album compares favorably to the best of the Canterbury groups: National Health, Hatfield & The North, Egg, and all the rest. The music is jazzy and cool, and even the vocals, in Italian, seem to work well in the songs. I am particularly fond of Paolo Griguolo's guitar playing. Especially when he reminds me of the great FZ.

I have since purchased the album on CD (thank you, Internet), and intend to eventually get their other releases, as well.