Arti & Mestieri
First Live in Japan (Moonjune Records, 2008)
Arti & Mestieri is a legendary Italian group from the 1970s that earned an excellent reputation in progressive rock circles. Although the group’s sound has some connections with the outstanding Italian prog groups of the 1970s like P.F.M. and Banco, Arti & Mestieri went in a jazzier direction. This live album, recorded at Club Cittá in Tokyo contains some of the finest material by the Italian musicians.
The first includes the pieces from Tilt, one of the must have albums fro any progressive rock collector. The signature sound includes lead violin, lots of keyboards (including the king of progressive rock keyboards, the mellotron), saxophones and the lead vocals of Iano Nocoló. Imagine a jazzier version of P.F.M., with rock, classical music, Italian folk and lots of room for improvisation.
Kudos to Moonjune Records for sharing this wonderful Japanese performance with the rest of the world.
Buy First Live in Japan.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
