ABBIAMO TUTTI UN BLUES DA PIANGERE

Second album from this Roman group (unchanged line-up), released on the same RCA label, and coming with a fascinating artwork, ruined by an unlikely title. The group is still solidly run by bassist Tomasso, but unlike in Azimut, he allows the others (keyboardist D'Andrea mostly) some space for their own material, but he's still by far the most prolific writer in the group. Actually for years and from the opening track of both albums, every time I put either this album or its predecessor I always had to take a look to indeed confirm which one I am listening to. I must say that between Azimut's Posto Di Non So Dove and this album's Non C'e Tempo Da Pedere (no time to lose), both are strikingly similar, from Tomasso's great vocals to the use of a bowed bass and Sidney's Hackettian guitar, and D'Andrea's great piano (first acoustic, than electric).

The following Déjà Vu is a strange and haunted piano piece that often draws on the border of dissonance and leading into Tomasso's wordless vocals and Fasoli's sax lines. The lengthy Rituale starts on small percussions, soon joined by the piano and Sidney's wailing guitar, which histrionics will last for a good part of the track. Indeed if in the debut album US-born Toni Sydney was almost inexistent, on Abbiamo, he's certainly on of the group's hero and he was probably attracting the chicks to the group in concert with his good looks. The title track is a slow builder constructed around Biriaco's solid drumming and Tomasso's brooding bass work, Fasolli's sax and D'Andrea's piano just going with the flow.

Most of the flipside's tracks follow suit to the A-side (if you'll except the finale's dissonant improvised start) and in general it is relatively safe to say that apart of Sydney's guitar taking on a front role, Abbiamo is very close to be Azimut's carbon copy. And for me, if it's as good as Azimut, than Abbiamo is another easy 4 star album. Perigeo has their sound on their first two albums somewhere between Mwandishi, Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, Soft Machine circa 4 to 6, Nucleus and Iceberg, so if you like these, you can buy these eyes closed.

Well, Perigeo is one of the classic and most important italian bands of this genre, along with "Area" and "Arti e Mestieri". Often regarded as the more refined, gentle and polite of the three, they produced their best known opus in 1973. Over 44 minutes of music, unusual for the italian classic scene. Nevetheless it's difficult for me to appreciate entirely their music 'cause, as you know, despite some of the most famous records, I don't know very well this genre. All I know is that this album has its moments of grandeur but is too jazzy for my personal tastes. I feel to lose any sense of direction 'cause its "simple complexity"! That' why, even after so many listenings, I hardly manage to appreciate it in the right way. So you won't read from me the usual "lobbying" for another italian band...actually, all I can say, it's that I find more easy and exciting the music of Arti e Mestieri, their "Tilt" in particular.

A refined work, worthy of special mention and to be included in any good jazz-rock fan's cd collection. Hardly a great favourite of mine, though... 3.5 stars.

So few reviews and ratings...I thought there were more jazz-rock freaks in this site...

4.5 stars. What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be. I really like the atmosphere and experimental passages that bring WEATHER REPORT to mind but the similarities to that band end there.The guitar is outstanding and there are some good vocals as well on this album.

"Non C'e Tempo Da Perdere" opens with barely audible piano that builds as cymbals clash and vocals come in. Sax follows and then guitar all the while the piano and drums seem to be playing random almost dissonant notes and patterns. It stops completely as a new melody comes in at 4 minutes with vocals. Love the guitar before 5 minutes as piano and drums play on. A great opener. "Deja Vu" opens with piano as dissonant sax comes in. A new melody arrives a minute in with piano and sax leading the way in this mellow soundscape. It's dissonant 2 1/2 minutes in followed by piano, sax and vocals this time. Dissonant again late. "Rituale" opens with what sounds like shakers and percussion. Bass before 1 1/2 minutes is good. Piano joins in and we get a fuller sound after 2 minutes as sax joins in then guitar. So much going on here. Fantastic ! It settles after 5 1/2 minutes with some nice drum work followed by sax. "Abbiamo Tutti Un Blues Da Piangere" opens with some intricate acoustic guitar melodies as bass joins in. A melancholic mood is the result. Drums after 3 minutes then sax and piano. Nice. No awesome !

"Country" opens with those liquid keys before sax arrives after a minute. Sax and piano leads the way before 2 minutes. "Nadir" is the only song that the bass player didn't have a hand in composing. The keyboardist did this one. Electric piano to start then sax after a minute. Guitar 2 minutes in adds to the sound. "Vento, Pioggia E Sole" is the final track and my favourite, the longest as well pushing 10 minutes. Experimental sounds to open then dissonant sax before drums then piano then guitar follow. Very cool. The sax blasts away then guitar lets it rip after 3 minutes. Sax after 4 1/2 minutes as piano plays on. The sax is just wailing away 6 minutes in. The guitar is back 6 1/2 minutes in. Nice bass lines then the sax starts blasting again before 9 minutes. The piano is incredible here as well.

I'm so impressed with this band and look forward to checking out more from them. The music is almost as perfect as the album cover. Essential !

This is some excellent space jazz psych prog from Italy that manages at times to be rather mind-blowing. I would make comparisons to Sensations' Fix, Santana (Caravanserai), Weather Report, Brainticket (mainly Celestial Ocean, also Psychonaut), Mahavishnu Orchestra, Popol Vuh, as well as to some Canterbury (Supersister, Soft Machine), Italian Jazz Prog (Picchio Dal Pozzo/Duello Madre/Dedalus), Funk, and Avant Garde (Henry Cow,...). Great album! I was hooked immediately!

My favorite song might be the entrancing opener "Non c'è Tempo da Perdere", but a lot of great stuff on this album. I like the first side a little more as the second drags a little at some points with more soft slow jazzy essays, though there is still a lot to like. A generally very inspired and very proficient jazzy atmosphere fusing influences from many styles, with a nice dose of psych.

I will update and elaborate this review and possibly the rating as I listen more to the album.

4.25 stars

The second Perigeo album continues where the debut left off, combining early Weather Report's mystic atmosphere with the occasional Mahavishnu shredding and a delicate Italian touch. The album confirms the potential of the debut but fails to surprise or to surpass the previous material.

The opening Non Tempo da Perdere is spot on though, a superb melodic fusion song with breakable dreamy vocals. Just as with the other Italian fusion supergroup Area I find the vocals to be one of the most attractive elements. Even if Giovanni Tommaso's sad-romantic vocals are entirely different from the crazed obsession of Area's Demetrio Stratos, they really add a special flavor to the band's sound.

The album offers a varied set of jazz pieces of which the lightly dissonant Deja Vu, the groovy Rituale and the dramatic title song are the best. Also the electric guitar and piano interplay of Nadir works out right, even if it is a bit derivative of Mahavishnu Orchestra. The closing Vento, Pioggia e Sole is a fairly standard fusion jam, lacking some of the melodious mastery of the other compositions but still inspired.

If you're on a mission to find new Italian fusion masters, Perigeo won't be your next Area but they are certainly a band with a personal sound, soulful playing and excellent song writing. At least their first two albums are a great addition to any fusion collection.

Let me begin by saying I wrote this review after having only owned this album for a few weeks, and there may be that first flush of excitement to keep in mind as you read. On the other hand, I purchased it within a group of seventeen albums during an overseas trip, and this is the album I keep coming back to now, even months later.

Perigeo are a jazz-rock band from Rome who probably lean more toward the jazz side of things. While there is fiery electric soloing from Tony Sidney on some tracks, and some riff-work, it is more of an atmospheric rather than foot-stamping album (Although the outro to 'Rituale' cooks.) Instead, acoustic and electric piano, along with acoustic guitar, bass, sax and vocals, often create brooding soundscapes (like in opener 'Non c'é tempo da perdere') or even downright mournful moments like 'Déjà vu' - which makes highly effective use of acoustic piano.

Throughout the album 'Abbiamo tutti un blues da piangere' I hear flashes of 'Hot Rats', 'In A Silent Way' and others, but find them to be suggestive rather than derivative. Even the title track brought Van Morrison's 'Astral Weeks' to mind with the focus on band leader, singer and bassist Giovanni Tommas' soloing. Much more in line with the rock side of their sound, the rhythm instruments build 'Abbiamo...' effectively before a shrieking sax breaks in for a long solo, employing a familiar structure to rock audiences, and fusing it with the freer nature of jazz.

In general terms, parts of the album's second half are less impressive, with 'Country' and 'Nadir' coming across as a little too sparse for me. The closer, 'Vento, pioggia e sole' however, seems to fulfill the hints of 'Bitches Brew' that the album promises. Rockier than the Davis epic, it has a less shuffling and more driving rhythm beneath energetic soloing from the lead instruments, presented in a more hard bop 'trading off of solos' tradition. It's a stand out track, almost as satisfying as 'Rituale' or 'Abbiamo...' the other clear favourites.

Fans of the aforementioned albums should get definitely something out of this great record by Perigeo, which is a confident and emotive set of (mostly) instrumentals delivered with equal parts snap and subtlety. Well worth the investment, especially if you're looking to start exploring Jazz Rock.

Perigeo's second album `Abbiamo Tutti un Blues da Piangere' from 1973 reminds listeners that not every progressive related band to emerge from Italy decided to work in the Rock Progressivo Italiano style, this group preferring a fascinating take on the jazz fusion genre with plenty of unique ideas of their own. What makes this album so special is that a range of psychedelic elements have been worked into the expected jazzy arrangements to create something truly unique, full of a precious and fragile beauty all perfectly captured by this talented group of musicians. Disorientating, sometimes even a little noisy, the album takes it's time to slowly weave around you.

The hallucinatory atmosphere hits you right from the start, as droning treated slurred vocals, rising shimmering crashing cymbals and spiralling piano tinkling swirls around the listener during `Non c'é Tempo da Perdere'. Liquid molten electric guitar wailing bubbles and pops over glistening electric piano, the bass snaking it's way around the background and drums erupt and retreat around and around before splintering into storm-like chaos again in the dying seconds. `Déjà Vu', with it's reaching quivering violin, cascading piano and crooning sax softly weeping away, achieves a melancholic dreaminess. The band aim to take you to undiscovered spiritual peaks throughout the opening of `Rituale' by use of meditative chimes and tambourine. Strident piano grows in power, a scorching lead electric guitar melody and sax weave seamlessly together and repeat into infinity, with twisting spasmodic Soft Machine-like breakdowns into a cacophony of intimidating noise.

There's a fragile, unhurried warmth to the acoustic guitar that opens the title track `Abbiamo Tutti un Blues da Piangere', a beautifully executed and dramatic build throughout, as well as deeply emotional overall. Acoustic guitar (almost sounding like sitar strains), lonely piano, booming crashing gongs and pleading sax over unleashed weighty drumming will remind listeners of bands like Out of Focus. `Country' is a more tightly compact shorter jazzy interlude, definitely more of an upbeat respite, the highlight being plenty of electric piano ripples. `Nadir' begins floating and ambient, very low-key and subtle, but snarling electric guitar and drifting drowsy sax quickly bring a hint of unease. The almost ten minute album closer and psychedelic explosion `Vento, Pioggia e Sole' (`Wind, Rain and Sun') is full of spacey electronics, abrupt honking sax squeals, grinding electric guitar manipulations, discordant piano, thrashing drums and nimble-fingered piano dashes. Without question the most freeform piece on the disc, the music is howling, racing and manic, full of bluster and noise, but there's plenty of tasty grooves as well.

`Abbiamo Tutti un Blues da Piangere' is the perfect disc to dig out as the weather starts getting warmer, the soundtrack to a lazy sunny day, maybe lying on a hill under the shade of a big tree! OK, so that might be pouring it on a little thick, but this mix of well played jazz/fusion with traces of psychedelic rock is pretty hard to beat, and fans of other Italian bands such as Arti e Mestieri should investigate this one as well.

Four stars.

Perigeo's sophomore studio album. It's nice to see the band's lineup stay the same from their debut album as I am curious to watch their development both as a band as well as virtuoso musicians.

1. "Non c'é Tempo da Perdere" (8:48) vocal-led up-tempo jazz-rock that starts out with a long intro of instrumental roaming as piano and cymbals feeling around beneath the ethereal male vocals. Reminds me of some of Tony Williams' compositions. I like Franco D'Andrea's Fender Rhodes style, but drummer Bruno Biriaco grabs most of my attention throughout this one. (18/20)

2. "Déjà Vu" (4:58) I know that I'm hearing an uncredited violin in the lead during the intro to this song. So who was it? Piano and guitar arpeggi provide the initial support for the sax (and continued violin). I really like the unconventional melody lines throughout this one--more jazz like than rock--like a Coltrane or Magma piece. (9.25/10)

3. "Rituale" (7:31) great jam that just sucks the listener in deeper as it builds and builds. Kind of like a classic Traffic (Stevie Winwood), Allman Brothers or Joe Cocker jam. I just love this! It's so fun--and so funky! (15/15)

4. "Abbiamo Tutti un Blues da Piangere" (6:08) acoustic guitars (two tracks) on display for the first minute before bass takes the lead over some very gently-picked steel-string guitar. Keys first make a mark at the two-minute mark (with cymbals) but only a couple chords for the first 30-seconds, then full complement of toms and Fender Rhodes join in as the full band kicks into sync. Soprano sax takes the lead from the three-minute mark over some awesome bluesy-jazz groovin'. So solid! Too bad I'm not more of a fan of the saxophone family. (8.875/10)

5. "Country" (3:03) more keyboard-centred DEODATO-and DONALD FAGEN-like music. Quite ( (9.25/10)

6. "Nadir" (3:46) gentle Fender Rhodes with equally gentle saxophone over the top. Switch in the second minute to fiery electric guitar teaming up with the sax to carry the melody forward. I really like American-born guitarist Tony Sidney's fire! (9.5/10)

7. "Vento, Pioggia e Sole" (9:40) It feels obvious to me that American-born guitarist Tony Sidney had been hearing either John McLaughlin or Cervello's Corrado Rustici because his guitar playing has progressed in directions reflecting this style of pyrotechnical flourishing. Such solid drum and bass play throughout. Great jazz piano solo in the last quarter of the song. (18/20)

I don't get why some reviewers have rated this album lower than their debut as I see no flaws or weaknesses in this album. Keyboard artist Franco D'Andrea's playing is far more supportive, serving in a mostly accompanying fashion than flashy noodling, which is fine, but, knowing that he develops into such a virtuosic solo jazz piano artist makes one wonder what was going on with him during the composition and recording of this session. Tony Sidney's guitar and Claudio Fasoli's sax seem to take far more of the lead/front stage on this album--which is fine since both are very good and have grown so much since the year before--while the rhythm section has just gotten tighter and more mature.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of jazz-rock fusion--even better, in my opinion, than its predecessor--the band's highly-regarded debut, Azimut.