Enzo Carella
Vocazione

THE REVIEW

Who among you doesn't know Enzo Carella?

This bizarre character, 'an irresistible outsider,' as those in the know more than I do define him, appeared on the music scene of the beautiful country in the roaring 77 with an LP that has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the musical trends of the period. 8 songs 8 (oh, look at that...) that listened to one after the other appear to us as a continuous flow of mischievous and graceful sounds that flow gently, an ideal background even today for a car journey or the first rounds of a summer aperitif. Thanks to a whispered and seductive singing that doesn't impose but mingles with the whirlwind of rhythms, everything could, wonderfully, end right there. Then in a pause of (our) silence while we are stopped at the traffic light or while we await this blessed third mojito, suddenly some words become clear to our ears and we wonder: what is this guy singing? We think. 

Wait, wait, but I've already heard things more or less like this, yet... Then we stop at a lay-by or set the mojito on the table, we connect and do a little research. We discover that Mr. Carella had (and has) as an inseparable traveling companion Mr. Panella, well yes, the hated/beloved co-author of Mr. Lucio Battisti's white records! So, with jolts, if the release date doesn't mislead us, we understand that Carella here sang the crazy Panellian firstfruits never appeared in the grooves, a decade before Don Giovanni!

Then we listen and listen again and lose and lose ourselves again in unimaginable images that I won't reveal to you just for pure sadism.

Carella had a moment of fame two years later when he presented the delightful 'Barbara' at Sanremo, which was followed by the album 'Barbara e altri carella'; the triptych closed in 1981 with 'Sfinge'. Afterward, long pauses and a couple of releases still of good quality.

It is said that even Battisti was fascinated by him and it seems clear to us that listening to these records strongly contributed to giving him the necessary conviction to proceed with his artistic turn.

In short, indispensable for those who believe that in our unfortunate country, in a distant and now obscure era, great music could be made.