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Campo Di Marte biography
Founded in Florence, Italy in 1971 - Disbanded in 1975 - Reformed in 2003 for Live acts
The
story of CAMPO DI MARTE (named after an area of Florence) is a familiar
one in the annals of Italian progressive rock. Like many of their
fellow countrymen they released one album and due to a lack of interest
and record company promotion split up. In fact the band had already
called it a day before the album was released. Nevertheless it remains
an important release and well worth seeking out for anyone with more
than a passing interest in the genre.
The band was formed in
Florence in 1971 by ex-SENSO UNICO guitarist Enrico Rosa who also
composed all the material. Drummer/flautist Mauro Sarti had previously
played with Rosa in LA VERDE STAGIONE and the line-up was completed by
American bassist Paul Richard (real name Richard Ursillo), on keyboards
and French horn Alfredo Barducci and second drummer Carlo Felice
Marcovecchio who had previously played with I CALIFFI. All band members
are credited with vocals, though they only appear sporadically, the
album being for the greater part instrumental.
Musically the band
played classical influenced symphonic prog alternating with a heavy
rock style. Fans of PFM should find much to their liking and parallels
can be drawn with DE DE LIND on the heavier sections. A high standard of
musicianship is present and the albums subject matter deals with the
futility of war. Confusion may arise with the sequencing of the album.
After completion their record company decided to swap side A and B
around due to their feeling that what had been conceived as side B was
the stronger of the two and more immediate. This understandably messed
with the concept causing the original titles of the seven tracks to be
changed to I Tempo through to VII Tempo. The current cd version sees the
originally intended running order restored.
After the split Rosa
formed a completely new version of CAMPO DI MARTE and recorded a second
album. Unfortunately to this day it has never been released. Shortly
after this he turned down an offer to join BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO and
moved to Denmark where he's still a professional musician to this day.
Richard, now reverting to his real name of Richard Ursillo moved onto a
career with SENSATION'S FIX and Sarti joined BELLA BAND. Both these
bands can also be found on Prog Archives.
In 2003 CAMPO DI MARTE
were to rise again with a line-up that included original members Rosa
and Sarti. They were joined by bassist Maurilio Rossi, on recorder Eva
Rosa and keyboardist Martin Alexander Sass. They played some live shows
that were released as a double album which also included a concert
recorded in 1972.
-Paul Fowler/Nightflyhttps://www.progarchives.com/video.asp?id=4873
Formed in 1968 - Disbanded in 1978 - Reformed in the 1990s and are still active (as of 2017)
Finland's WIGWAM were truly one of the pioneers of early progressive rock. The history of WIGWAM can be subdivided into two separate eras: the original or "old" WIGWAM of 1969-1974 and the "new" WIGWAM of 1974-1977. The two were dramatically different, in terms of personnel and overall sound. The music of this unique band is dominated by the piano and organ sounds, all of those wrapped up in a sometimes dark music filled with typical Scandinavian influences. There is some great interplay between all the musicians. It gives you the feeling they were doing this to stay warm!
Though not a classic album, "Tombstone Valentine" was the first WIGWAM album that seems to show the band members getting to grips with each ones individual musical desires. In many ways, "Fairyport" was a continuation of "Tombstone Valentine", but I would say it is a bit more experimental and progressive. Nowadays, this album is considered a classic within progressive rock circles and it has a number of features that make it stand out as one of the great progressive albums of the seventies. "Being" (1974) was the last album by the legendary Pembroke/Gustavson/Pohjola/Österberg lineup. This album is a concept album, with most of the music and lyrics written by Jukka GUSTAVSON. This is an essential album for any fan of progressive rock. In early 1975, the new lineup was up and released the album that became an instant classic, "Nuclear Nightclub". When the new titled "Dark Album" was released in late 1977, WIGWAM had ceased to exist.
In the nineties PEMBROKE, RECHARDT and GROUNDSTRÖM suprised many by coming back with a third edition of WIGWAM, but that's a whole new story, to be continued...
First, the electronics. Bocci is a skilled creator of audio software; many of the programs he uses to generate and manipulate sound are his own custom designs. These are basic compositional tools for him; with them he composes floating drones and dirges, thickly woven textures of overlapped and interleaved timbres, stretched and compressed tones, basic motifs that are looped, granulated, and otherwise transfigured.
But for all their ability to expand on the possibilities of sound-as-sound, the electronics are ultimately in the service of the music. Many of the compositions on Beyond the Dark Zones seamlessly incorporate acoustic instruments, modal tonalities, and cyclical rhythms into surrounding electronic frameworks of varying abstraction. Bocci has a fine ear for creating ad hoc instrumental ensembles from disparate parts; brass, reeds, piano, and even the human voice all have a place here, along with Bocci’s signature 6-string electric bass. One of the most striking features of the album, in fact, is its unusual employment of trumpet or flugelhorn as the melodic voice in an electronic setting.
Certainly, the aesthetic core of the album is defined by the deep pitches and minor keys of dark ambience as well as by an associated sensibility, but this is a point of departure rather than a destination reached at the end of a cul-de-sac. Along the way, there are echoes of jazz and slowed-down jazz fusion, hints of field recordings, harmonies of a multi-tracked brass ensemble, down-tempo electronica, portentous prog rock, spoken word performance, and choral music.
Ultimately, in Beyond the Dark Zones, genre is an irrelevance; creative interfusion is of the essence.
Daniel Barbiero
credits
Our thanks to Raffaele Pezzella for providing us with a promo copy of this release.
REVIEWS
Avant Music News
avantmusicnews.com/2022/09/24/amn-reviews-cristiano-bocci-beyond-the-dark-zone-2022-unexplained-sounds-group/
Music composed by Cristiano Bocci
Cristiano Bocci: electric basses, electric upright bass, contro-baritone 8, string guitar, electronics, synths, drum programming.
Paolo Acquaviva: trombone on tracks 5, 6 and 8
Gianluca Becuzzi: voice on track 4
Mara Lepore: piano on track 8
STIGMATE (a.k.a. Nicola Locci): noise on track 2
Emiliano Nencioni: trumpet and flugelhorn on tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8
Diego Rossi: baritone saxophone on tracks 5, 6 and 8
Published by Unexplained Sounds Group
Mastered by Raffaele Pezzella
Artwork by Marinella Caslini / DisGrafica Atelier
© 2022. All rights reserved
license
experimental avant-garde drone improvisation musique concrete sound art Italy
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