MAXOPHONE

Back in the day, there used to be a regular seller/trader on Wigan Market and he always had a good crate or two 'for those in the know' and his knowledge of all things esoteric, especially anything from mainland Europe, was second to none. Here is one he put my way...oh 44 years ago now! My Italian prog was just starting to expand beyond Banco and PFM and this gem showed me there was a lot else to discover. It is the Italian vox version I have. The first track touches several bases from the classical piano opening...which almost goes Locomotive Breath...before the heavy Crimson like riffage breaks the spell. The vocal style when they arrive is in the ELP camp and the only 'meh' section is a jaunty almost trad jazz passage which thankfully disappears and the track becomes an atypical mid 70's lush prog thing to fade... Fase has a hard rock guitar opening and a Kraan type sax break and a Familyesque vibes part with ELP hints re keys and phased guitar. It's all damned good but slightly incoherent as the changes seem almost random and even with years of listening I would have to come down on the side of 'for the sake of it' even though each part is meritorious...the jazz/latin flute bit included! Al Macanto has a folkier feel from the Spanish classical guitar opening via the perhaps first sustained melody lines from the accompanying flute before stacked vocals. The woodwind parts recall Gentle Giant and although my Italian is all but none existent, the vocals seem to flow in what is probably a more musical tongue than English. We do get a keys riff rock out to take the track forward and, again, as great as the convolution's that follow are, I would have preferred the opening part/s sustained throughout. Elzeviro starts off a bit symphonic but we get some very Crimson twisty turny rifferama and Yes/Nice keys and some very jazz rocky interludes. Err yes, they do seem to be doing more 'for the sake of it' changes but it is hard to argue when each change is a bit marvellous...am throwing in Refugee as a reference now! Mercanti even hauls in the harp...no, not a harmonica but the big Harpo Marx thing...and yup it works! A bit of Tull circa Heavy Horses (yes I know it came later) both pastoral and rockier elements and I hear John Abercrombie in the guitar. BJH must have popped in too. The closer has a more recognisable theme in the opening even with the prog keys barrage that drives it. The harmony vox are very Yes, maybe even CSNY and (yet another unfathomable PA omission) Heron and the track has a very JRF feel throughout with even a bit of cathedral type organ that screams Focus.

I didn't read any other reviews so I may go and scan to see if others get slightly hung up on all the random changes although it isn't a big criticism. Over 40 odd years of listening and it is still a keeper if not going to challenge a 5 star rating. Just over a 4.25 and worth finding!

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