CELESTE [AKA: PRINCIPE DI UN GIORNO]

Celeste was a band of the early seventies Italian prog scene. They came from Liguria and the line up featured Ciro Perrino (drums, percussion, flute, keyboards, vocals), Leonardo Lagorio (keyboards, flute, sax), Mariano Schiavolini (guitar, violin) and Giorgio Battaglia (bass). Their debut album was composed in 1973 and recorded in 1974 but it was released only two years later by the independent label Grog (lead by New Trolls' member Vittorio De Scalzi and by his brother Aldo, founder member of Picchio dal Pozzo). The music on this album is soft and challenging, showcasing a wide range of influences swinging from early King Crimson to Amazing Blondel, from classical music to jazz, from Italian singer songwriters like Fabrizio De Andrè to Italian prog bands like Delirium and PFM... Nonetheless the band managed to shape an original and interesting sound that would have deserved more attention.

The dreamy opener "Principe di un giorno" depicts peaceful and timeless melodic landscapes mirroring "colour changes"... "Prince for one day / You are looking for a lawn to rest / You dream the wise man in white / Who shows you the way towards endless realms / Where the wind does not blow anymore...

Next comes the long "Favole antiche" (Ancient Tales) where the band seems to be "talking to the wind": the mood is ethereal while a "coffer of sounds" invites you to listen to ancient fairy tales... The following "Eftus" and "Giochi nella notte" (Games In The Night) are delicate acoustic pieces with a nice classical flavour... On this album lyrics do not tell stories, they suggest images to stir your emotions: so, just relax and enjoy the sound of acoustic guitars and flutes while melodic vocals soaring from the dark ask "Where is it? Who knows? / It's here! / In me? In you? / Yes it is..."

The structure of the pieces is complex but rhythm never gets frenzy while "sailing towards a large fantastic island where the fate is dancing"... "La grande isola" (The Great Island), "La danza del fato" (The Dance Of The Fate) and "L'imbroglio" (The Cheat) flow among the echoes old troubadours' songs and classical music patterns leading you to the end of an album that seems to be conceived as a musical dream... "Veil your voice while you play the lute looming songs and harmonies by the seaside"...

On the whole this one is an excellent album but it needs some time to be completely appreciated: the risk on the first listening is that you could got asleep before the end...