GIRO DI VALZER PER DOMANI

After a good live activity, supporting bands like PFM and even Gentle Giant, in 1975 Arti & Mestieri released their second album "Giro di valzer per domani". The line up, along with founder members Furio Chirico (drums), Beppe Crovella (keyboards, piano, mellotron, Hammond), Gigi Venegoni (guitar), Giovanni Vigliar (violin, percussion, vocals), Marco Gallesi (bass) and Arturo Vitale (sax, clarinet, vibraphone), features a new member, vocalist Gianfranco Gaza, coming out from another band from Turin, Procession but despite the presence of a lead singer the weight of instrumental tracks prevails on committed lyrics and vocal parts. The music is in the same vein of the previous album, delivering an original and perfectly balanced twining of jazz, rock, classical music and folk.

The opener "Valzer per domani" (Waltz for tomorrow) is light and joyful instrumental. Furio Chirico's drumming is brilliant while the melodic lines played by the violin seem to bring some gusts of optimism.

" Mirafiori" is more complex. It begins softly with delicate melodic lines, then rhythm takes off backing a following frenzy violin solo. Changes of rhythm and frenetic solos seem to depict a very busy place... Mirafiori is the name of the Turin district where lies the most important car factory in Italy, Fiat Mirafiori, a symbol of the industrialization of the whole country.

On "Saper sentire" (Knowing how to feel) you can listen for the first time on this album to Gianfranco Gaza's voice. It's a nervous and introspective track inviting you to avoid the venomous spells of consumerism and to trust your feelings... "Why are you crying if I'm here with you? / If you'll look for me / You will find me inside you... Just a few people know what is a man by now / Bur there are many persons who can easily feel it.".

"Nove lune prima" (Nine moons before), "Mescal", "Mescalero" and "Nove lune dopo" (Nine moons after) are closely linked together and form an exciting instrumental suite featuring sudden changes of mood and rhythm. The titles could suggest a spaghetti western setting, featuring Indians and cow boys and the cavalry charging... Well the music here is very different from an Ennio Morricone's soundtrack but the band showcase great personality and musicianship, so you can imagine what you prefer while listening to this wonderful flow of notes!

"Dimensione Terra" (Dimension Earth) is a short instrumental featuring a tense drumming and catchy sax patterns that leads to the committed "Aria pesante" (Heavy air) where desire to change the world and rage shape a dreamy atmosphere turning into a nightmare... "Yesterday you were dreaming to set the city on fire and hang all the inhabitants / Today you wake up and, you know / It's sad when you realize that you have no fire and that they have put a rope around your neck...". The heavy air of the years of lead!

Three short instrumentals follow, forming an evocative and dreamy suite, the ethereal and nocturnal "Consapevolezza parte 1" (Awareness part 1), the joyful and wild "Sagra" (Feast) and "Consapevolezza parte 2" (Awareness part 2), a short reprise of part one.

The bitter-sweet "Rinuncia" (Renouncement), is piece about the generation gap that is structured as a dialog between parents and son. It features on vocals Eugenio Finardi (although not credited) who in 1975 released his debut album for Cramps Records, the same label as Arti & Mestieri and Area. "They dreams born some years ago are now like trees broken down by the weather / Time slipped out from us and by now we are not children but fathers...".

Next comes "Marilyn" an instrumental that begins with a delicate piano pattern, then sax and drums contribute to stir the flow of music. The last tack "Terminal" is another excellent short instrumental where violin and vibraphone perfectly interact with the other instruments. On the whole an excellent album...