FRUTTI PER KAGUA

"Frutti Per Kagua" is a previously rare and expensive album from early progressive rock masters CAPITOLO 6. If you are a collector or love prog-rock, this respected classic Italian progressive rock LP should have a place in your collection. Interestingly enough, even though the band hailed from Rome, this was is a concept album based on late stories of Native Americans.

The title track encompasses the entire first side on the album, running for 22 minutes. Their crowning glory is truly a prime slice of prog-rock heaven with beautiful flute passages interlaced with guitars and keyboards. The vocals are exceptional, even though I did not understand them; they seemed very expressive and fit well with the music.

This was yet another revelation for me in regards to the importance of Italian progressive rock. I realize I probably have said this before but it is worth reiterating, some of these bands early on were just as critical to the prog-rock genre development as British bands were. I certainly have heard enough proof of that over the last few years thanks to the superb reissues of Comet Records. This one is definitely a must have!

Capitolo 6 was another of the many groups that rode the tidal wave of progressive rock that swept across Italy in the 1970. Personel issues hampered the group, and despite good reviews from their various apperances on TV, and in the pop festivals across Italy in the early 70's they only left us with this one album. Frutti Per Kagua.

Like Osage Tribe's Arrow Head, my last review, this is another America Indian inspired album. As any true RPI album, it is in Italian not English. And like many RPI albums.. the 'sound' on the surface sounds like a clone of the English 'masters'. This case being Jethro Tull if only for the prominent up front flute of Riccardo Bartolotti. Other than that.. there is no similarity with Tull.. or any of the 'masters'. While not a masterpiece.. is quite an individual work.. with no real discernable influences from the major English prog groups. Unless you think every prog band with flute is Tull influenced hahhaha. The structure and tone of the music is nothing like them.

The album kicks off with a bang with the side long title track. Kick off it does alright with a heavy bluesy flute riff doubled by the electric guitar. The riff is interupted for several lyrical sections which deal with Indian spirituality as best as I can tell.. this was the 70's you know. After a sudden stop.. the another flute and guitar riff is introduced at a quicker tempo and with the drummer more pronounced. A third shift in dynamic comes with the introduction of a saxophone and a monsterous repeated riff that the sax plays over and around. Then bam... the frenetic and rather heavy music to this point (about 5 minutes) ends and we have a atmospheric section with the ensemble voices taking the place of what normally we would have heard the Hammond Organ with an ascending chord progression that the flautist dances over until the voices drop out and a tasteful electric guitar solo.. in the line of the atmospheric nature of the music and the lyrics. Rather minimalist in there is not much going on.. but rather effective. This continues for another 5 mintues or so before the drummer increases tempo and the flautist adds some wah-wah'd flute passages over a high register bass pattern. This continus again for several more minutes. It tends to be sort of hypnotic after the 3rd minute or so. A brief moment of silence leads us into the next musical section where the singer reappears to the same rhythm and tempo as the first atmospheric section. If I'm reading the lyrics right the warrior has prepared himself to die and bid farewell to his mortal body and enter the spirit world. The track ends not with a bang like it began ..but almost with a whimper.

The next tracks are short (3 and 6 minutes) are are rather unremarkable.Grande Spirito has some inspired vocals by the groups 2nd singer (Donati I believe)r. Musically.. not much to say. The next song Il Tramonto di un popolo does have a bit more life in it with a high energy, fast tempo riff.. that is broken into with musical sidetrips with some accoustic guitar and 'clean' flute. I do like the drumming on this track.. especially in the last couple of minutes of the song when the energy level is on max. The last song L'Ultima Notte is probably my favorite on the album. Lots of twists and turns.. nice solo... I like the harmony singing on this.. comes across to me in a rather theatrical way. Good solos.

I wouldn't call this one of the highlites of the RPI movement.. but it is a worthy addition to any collection. A good album I would recommend for those who want to push their RPI collections into the 3 digit range. I do listen to this album with some regularity mainly for the first part of the title track and for L'Ultima Notte. For me 3 stars.. a good solid RPI album.. for the forum at large.. 2 stars. For collectors of RPI only.

Michael (aka Micky)

"Frutti per Kagua'", a concept album about the tricky negotiations of Indian lands by the white man, is the sole album by Italian ensemble Capitolo 6. This band shows a varied assortment of family airs with other one- or two-shoot bands such as Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno, Campo di Marte and Garybaldi, as well as some traces of early Ossana. The album's repertoire comprises three tracks, with the first half strictly occupied by the namesake suite. This piece kicks off with a strong bluesy rock section that may remind us of early Jumbo-meets-"Benefit" Jethro Tull. The bucolic section that follows gives room for the flute to show off a bit, and the same can be said about the electric guitar lead (which is very emotionally charged, by the way). Once all the instruments shut up for a couple of seconds, the emergence of classicist organ arpeggios build up a momentary crescendo that gives way to a progressive rondo motif, upon which the flute and organ state interesting dialogues. This section occupies a considerable time scope of the suite, and ultimately, its abrupt end leads to yet another bucolic acoustic portion. The last 30 seconds bring a passionate coda. This suite is the band's definitive manifesto, and all in all, I understand why it is the most acclaimed track by Capitolo 6 connoisseurs (I do not agree, as I'll explain later). The album's second half begins with 'Grande Espiritu', which happens to be an OK acoustic ballad: the main motif is catchy indeed, but not really brilliant. The last two tracks are the most colorful in the album, and they are certainly my personal favorites. 'Il Tramonto di un Popolo' starts with a brief chant and drum rolls, before the instrumentation brings a solid alternation of furiously rocking passages and pastoral ones. The diversity that took 18 minutes to develop and settle for the suite is here comprised in 5 ½ without losing an ounce of tension. The closer 'L'Ultima Notte' bears a very similar vibe, albeit with bigger doses of expansion and fluidity, which is fine for its 11 ½ minute span. The drummer works efficiently in the basis while the lead guitarist delivers what are arguably his best solos in the album. The last rocking moments are filled with sarcastic gibberish: a touch of Zappa in this exposure of Mediterranean psychedelia. Capitolo 6 is a very good item in any good prog collection.

Raw, rocking, epic RPI suite on board

Capitolo 6 were an early RPI band who origins date to the late '60s and who have many common story RPI storylines: plenty of line-up changes, hard times, and of course, only one album. They did a nice job with their moment in the sun however. "Frutti per Kagua" is a raucous title that brings to mind solid bands Jumbo, Campo di Marte, Flea, and Tull. The latter comparison is mostly due to the heavy and bold use of the flute as a prominent instrument. Otherwise this is a solid RPI sounding album but one that resides firmly in the heavy, rocking camp as opposed to flamboyant camp or the highly avant garde camp. The big sell here is the side one title track, which in true pompous prog form takes up the entire 20 minute side. It's a true feast for heavy prog fans recalling the edgy, grooving side long pieces from Flea (Topi o Uomi) or Jumbo's "Suite Per Il Sig. K". Or at least parts of it groove. As noted in Scented Gardens the piece takes a very formal compositional structure, part 1 a ferocious rocker; the large middle section for experimentation and multiple crescendos; the third part a sort of summary and finale.

They break it down as follows: Part I contains three sung verses, alternating with enthusiastic electric guitar and flute riffs. Part II takes the form of a two-part crescendo, each time starting from silence with one instrument added to the others at a time. After 4:47 minutes, the first crescendo starts with acoustic guitar introducing a new musical theme (but no relation to Part I), gradually joined by bass, wordless chanting, drums, flute and electric guitar of increasing intensity. After 9:09 minutes, the second crescendo starts with another musical theme (more celestial in character) introduced by organ and then joined by percussion, flute, bass, drums, sax and a second organ. Part III mainly consists of a vocal rendition of the musical theme from the first crescendo. [from Scented Gardens, edited for brevity]

The piece has all of the "in your face" attitude of the bolder RPI titles, with a rough, unshaven lead vocal of good quality. It must also be noted that the music, unlike many classic RPI albums, is led not by the keyboards but by the guitars (bass, electric, and acoustic) and the flute. Keyboards are there but they are generally speaking the background and not the exterior. The middle sections of the song have a well developed "Child in Time" quality building from the serene to the explosive though the payoff is instrumental and not vocal ala Gillan. In the first extended section a long electric guitar solo wails in the rock style of a Zep admirer. In the second crescendo it almost sounds (loosely, not exactly) like a combination of Tull and Sabbath, with the highly animated flute swirling together to relentless bass and drums, with guitar and organ around the edges. Many times even the electric guitar holds back, allowing the flute to come well to the front and jam with a very active, pronounced bass guitar, while to the side is an acoustic guitar doing its own little part. Never completely predictable and pretty cool I think. I love the feel and structure of the track even if it doesn't quite rise to what Jumbo did. Side two is very similar in quality and sound though with the shorter songs is not quite as memorable as side one. I'm a little more bullish on Capitolo 6 than many reviewers, I think this album is a slam dunk for fans of RPI. I would rate side one as 4 stars and side two as 3 stars, thus 7/10.

An obscure one and done band, Capitolo 6 recorded this album at the tail end of proto prog and delivered a very nice example of early RPI.

Another album that is oddly American Indian themed like Osage Tribe, the draw here is the sidelong title track Frutti Per Kagua. Like Osage Tribe, these guys lean towards the hard rock end of the prog spectrum-with Jethro Tull and Uriah Heep influences most prominently displayed. The title track opens in a fury of Tull-dom that could fool some. It veers into some 'Deep Purple with a flute' jams that will please late 60's rock fans, but are further from the typical 'symphonic Italian' sound- a nice jam that would be comfortable on Hawkwind In Search of Space powers along before rounding out in a nice pseudo classical ending. Side two is three songs that are more low key but more varied, with some random synth lines hinting at a feel later akin to Wakeman's band jams on Journey to the Center of the Earth era, far less raucous and more introspective than the flip side. Il Tramonto Di Un Popolo also nods to the future sounding like Gentle Giant wrestling/grafted with Tull and is a fairly wild cascading ride that brings the crackling electric guitars once again to the forefront. Final song L'ultima Notte finishes in a blast of Jefferson Airplane at full throttle jamming that shows their roots. It does end up veering quickly down several diversions (three or so) before finishing in a barroom single guitar singalong. A really unique and fun album.

RPI fans will still probably be more drawn to side two with some more traditional Italian prog approaches, but still filtered through their peculiar Capitolo take on prog.

The fact that they once opened for Led Zeppelin shows this band could hold their own with anyone, and had the chops to play off the cuff improvs well into the night if need be. These were not delicate art school flowers, they had cut their teeth in the heavy rock era. Vocals are solid, with the slight world weary rasp that so many Italian vocalists have. This occasionally is a sticking point for some (see Jumbo), but he's actually pretty tame for RPI singers. .

An essential RPI album? I'd have to vote no, but close. It is highly recommended for the rock n roll side fans of RPI. Because this album rocks.

Four stars for RPI fans and three stars for prog fans. Heavy rock fans of 1969-1970 of any area should check this out. Unique sounding stuff.

3.5 stars.