SUDDANCE

In mid-70's occured what was appearing in the horizon, Osanna disbanded for the first time.Rustici and D'Anna went to the UK to form Uno, while Vairetti and Guarino revived their old group Città Frontale.Later Rustici and D'Anna joined Danilo's brother Corrado in the Jazz Rock act Nova that had a good yet short career.Back in Italy Rustici, Vairetti and Guarino made an attempt to reform Osanna with newcomers bassist Enzo Petrone (ex-Moby Dick) and keyboardist Fabrizio D'Angelo, an effort finally resulting to a new studio album in 1978, entitled ''Suddance'' and release on CBS.

As most of the previous acts of the old Osanna members had a more jazzy sound, the new Osanna formation had reasonably enough Jazz and Fusion influences to be regarded as a totally different band.Additionally the new album is almost entirely sung in the Neapolitan dialect.Musically ''Suddance'' swirls around the Jazz Rock and Prog/Fusion realms with keyboards in evidence and little connections with the classic style of the group.Actually Osanna resemble more to bands such as BRAND X than any Classic Italian Prog group.Plenty of synthesizer flights and naughty electric piano passages define the new style of the group.The tracks are also characterized by some nice grooves, fiery interplays and a competitive rhythm section, as a whole the group reminds also a bit of GENTLE GIANT later days.Even Rustici's guitars are delivered either in a jazzy enviroment or in a pure JOHN MCLAUGHLIN more virtuosic style.The later parts of the album contain also some more commercial vibes.Half about of the long ''Chiuso qui'' sounds like Lounge Jazz, while the closing and dreadful ''Naples in the World'', the only track sung in English, sounds like the poorest version of GENTLE GIANT.

This short-lived version of the Italian legends wasn't meant to be and after the new split Danilo Rustici formed the commercial Rock group Luna.Several attempts to revive the group appeared over the years, mainly led by Lino Vairetti, and the albums released contain mostly old reworkings of compositions of the group from the old repertoire.

''Suddance'' is a nice album along the lines of the more Jazz-oriented Prog categories.Demanding, attractive, at moments quirky, but also having a few flaws as a typical product of its release's age.Nevertheless, recommended.