LIVE TASTING

LATTE E MIELE, one of the classic 1970s RPI bands, released three albums in the 1970s, the first of which, "Passio Secundum Mattheum" is truly one of the essential works of the genre. After the first two albums, the trio (Oliviero Lacagnina - keyboards/vocals, Marcello Giancarlo Dellacasa - guitar/bass/vocals, and Alfio Vitanza - drums) broke up. In 1976, drummer Vitanza reformed the group with three new members, including Massimo Gori on bass, guitar, and vocals. The final album of the classic period was released in 1976.

After years of inactivity, the band reunited in 2008 for a series of concerts. The reunion consisted of the original trio--Lacagnina, Dellacasa, and Vitanza--as well as Massimo Gori from the second incarnation. They also added a second keyboard player, Pino Nastasi, whose contributions are very important. Incidentally, this is the same lineup on their wonderful 2009 studio album, "Marco Polo - Sogni e Viaggi."

For this concert recorded in Canada in 2008, the band chose excellent selections from each of their three studio albums, as well as adding a couple tracks that hadn't yet seen the light of day. The band faithfully reproduces the wonderful choir and lush orchestral arrangements from the first album, although the production of this live album is even better than the studio version. The singing is beautiful and doesn't appear to have dropped off at all. The sound is very reminiscent of the later "Marco Polo" album, and it's not surprising given the success of this concert that they chose to produce a studio album together. In fact, it's very interesting to hear some songs from the second and third albums treated with this symphonic approach-- fresh insights into old friends.

Overall, this is a wonderful live reunion, which thankfully doesn't ever make me ask, "Why in the world did you get back together?" This album is highly recommended to any prog/RPI fan, and is essential to fans of LATTE E MIELE. Four stars.

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