PROGRESSIVE: A PARALLEL, NOT SUBTERRANEAN, MUSICAL
WORLD.
END OF THE SEVENTIES�
The
musical panorama at the end of the seventies in Italy was very rich: the strong
signal launched from the historic groups of �Progressive Rock� like
PINK FLOYD, GENESIS, YES, KING CRIMSON, V.D.G.G. and, from Italy, LE ORME, PFM,
BANCO e NEW TROLLS still lives on. In Turin there are groups like ARTI+MESTIERI,
HORUS, GNOMI & ZAUBER and until 1981, there were many other groups influenced
by �Progressive Rock�.
The
historic nucleus of MAURY E I PRONOMI, was born in 1979; formed by Maurizio
Galia, keyboards and vocals, Enrico Testera bass, Nicola Guerriero guitar and
Aldo Leone drums named "AQUAEL".
They were boys aged between 14 and 17 years old, but
with bright ideas.
In fact, since the first moments, this group had a typical �Floyd�
sound and like many other beginners they had a limited capability with their
instruments.
� EIGHTIES...
Since
the 1981 the times were changing; the sounds of �New Wave� and �Punk�
coming from the anglosaxon world is also here in Turin. New groups and ideas
are born but AQUAEL continue on their own way.
In 1983 the group appeared in a review in the magazine �Frigidaire�
as �a typical Rock band�. And the birth of new English groups like
MARILLION, IQ, TWELFTH NIGHT and PENDRAGON brought a breathe of fresh air into
the �progressive� world.
Anyway , big pressures and more difficulties surrounding the group forced to
a change.
During 1985 a new singer arrived; Marco D�Angeli and a new drummer; Alberto
Bordone, with new ideas in agreement with the 80�s pop music and the birth
of modern songs..
However
,the old �progressive� stuff remains, and two concerts at �Centralino�
and �Metr� (music temples in Turin during the 80�s) were
well appreciated by the public.
From 1986 to 1989 the group changes it�s name to LEGO, in an attempt to
turn away from the past, but it was only an illusion; after discussions over
the future strategy the group disbanded for two years.
The new singer and the new drummer left the band and the three original members
during the spring of 1990, re-started with new sessions..
� NINETIES�
The
three original members return using the name �AQUAEL� and start with
new ideas. Many things changed: each member of the group has a different life,
more of them had families and different jobs. The band becomes a group of friends
united by the love of music, rather than a group searching success. With arrogance,
the group sweeps away all the restrictions of the previous decade; track lengths
of over 10 minutes returned; Sergio Cagliero, old friend and great arranger
enters the line-up on keyboards; Aurelio Marsiglia coming in on saxophone and
a new strong (heavy) drummer like Pasquale Di Monte.
Turin and the Italian musical panorama is very changed even though there are�progressive�
groups like FANCYFLUID, ATON�S, ARCANSIEL, EAZYCON, EZRA WINSTON, NUOVA
ERA, HOP FROG and the never surrendered ZAUBER.The new music of the group contains
new flavours from Funky and Rhythm & Blues and after many changes between
1992 and 1994 and big concerts like the evening at �Garage� in Ivrea
and at�Hiroshima Mon Amour� in Turin, new discussions stopped the
band. After 15 years of music together, still there�s not an album recorded
and within the band there are very few members recognizing this truth.
MAURY E I PROMEMORIA
During march 1995, Maurizio Galia, keyboard player, vocalist and songwriter
meets Andrea Marasea, last drummer of AQUAEL and his friend Roberto Regolizzo,
bass player and co-former of �PROMEMORIA�, they start the recording
of an album. They chose a selection of songs from AQUAEL, songs from �LEGO�
era and new interesting stuff. After 18 years from the first session in a garage,
�ZIQQURAT NEL CANAVESE� was released.
A very good album, with special guests like Dino Pelissero on flute, Bruno Giordana
on sax and Silvia Delfino on backing vocals.This album is appreciated by the
main music magazines (A fantastic review is published by CIAO 2001!) as a good
presentation for new projects.
Anyway, this album realized few sales, rejected by many peoples that didn�t
find a homogeneous �Progressive� style.
THE YEAR 2000 ON
At
the end of the "ZIQQURAT NEL CANAVESE" recordings, Maurizio Galia
recognized that the completion of his work needed the help of his old friends;
for example, in this album Nicola Guerriero plays lead guitar, Sergio Cagliero
plays Hammond organ, Enrico Testera appears as co-arranger and the first drummer
Aldo Leone appears as a guest. After reviews in magazines and presences in various
websites they threw away forever the name AQUAEL and became MAURY E I PRONOMI,
respecting the separation from the band by Marasea e Regolizzo: the owners of
the name PROMEMORIA. The other fact is that the band is the project of Maurizio
Galia, the only member registered as a songwriter by SIAE.
During the spring of 1999 Maurizio Galia, Nicola, Enrico and Pasquale Di Monte
on drums began new recordings. The result was three new tracks for a compilation
prepared for the twentieth anniversary. This compilation contains another 9
tracks recorded during the group's history.
TANGANICA, IL PASSATO E IL FUTURO,
was distributed to the press in only 150 copies and was a sell out through the
websites of Vitaminic and Peoplesound. The work was appreciated one more time
and the group got an airplay list in California through Progradio.com, titled
"the Maury Show".
(EC)CITAZIONI NEOCLASSICHE
In the autumn of 2000 the group enlisted a new drummer, young and strong: Sergio
Ponti, a pupil of Furio Chirico, one of the best drummer in the world with a
great past in the "progressive Rock" history. In fact the group began
a collaboration with Raoul Caprio of Kaliphonia Records as supervisor of the
new songs for the new album, although Maurizio signed a contract with Mauro
Moroni. "(Ec)citazioni Neoclassiche" is published by Mellow Records,
finally with a great "progressive" sound. The new record begins with
"Il Racconto degli Dei", a long song divided in seven parts.
Return to the seventies? Opportunism? Nothing of this! This album gets ideas
and stuff from the past, but the constant search for new sounds and direct communication
with the public is the proof of the talent of Maurizio Galia, a new reality
in the universe of Italian Authors and Musicians. Special guests like Dino Pelissero
again on flute, Bruno Giordana again on sax, Marco Giacone on lead guitar and
Sergio Cagliero again on keyboards, makes a great sound and pushes this album
to a high and mature result.And last but not least, the presence on percussion
of a group from Senegal, directed by Michael Seck, is the proof of a group launched
across the year 2000 but looking back to 1979.
Francesca Bellino
DISCOGRAPHY ZIQQURAT NEL CANAVESE TANGANICA, IL PASSATO E IL FUTURO (EC)CITAZIONI NEOCLASSICHE You can purchase all these albums
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