Fabio Concato
Giannutri

The seventh studio album by Fabio Concato is a great album that borders on masterpiece. Giannutri, a title inspired by vacations in Ansedonia, from where the island could be seen, comes four years after Senza avvisare, although one of the songs included had been released as a 45 rpm two years earlier, complete with a jazz club version played by Franco D'Andrea on the B-side. Concato does things in a big way, and with the production of Phil Ramone, he also diversifies the product depending on the format, highlighting the CD which, compared to the 33 rpm and the cassette, contains two more songs.
It opens with "Speriamo che piova", a highly successful single with a video set on a beach featuring a woman with a hat. The track is romantic, soothing, and alludes to bus trips just as Eugenio Finardi does in the same year in "La forza dell'amore". A classy opening! "Entertainment" is a song in English sung ironically, reminiscent of "Ai fil romentik", a cover by Ricky Gianco sung in 1979 but only released in 1992 in the collection Vita quotidiana. "Quasi quasi mi metto a cantare" is part of a symbolic trilogy, which began with "Canto" and continued with "Prima di cena". Singing as the ultimate means of expression and even as therapy. "Un amorevole mistero" is the only track not written by Concato alone, but in collaboration with Peter John Vettese, keyboard player of Jethro Tull and arranger for the occasion, and with B. Hulligan. It's a damned Latin piece, a rumba that talks about "a charming girl named Elèna", with the accent on the second "e". Melina Bruhn sings the second part in English, a blast! At this point, one literally needs to stand up and applaud because we are listening to the Masterpiece, with a capital M, of Fabio's discography, as well as the author's favorite song: "Gigi". The song fondly and emotionally recalls his father Luigi Piccaluga, between childhood memories and the present. A superlative and inspired text on equally high-level music, complete with a jazz incursion midway through the track. The part that goes from "but since you left..." is chilling! "Senza far rumore" begins with an introduction where those five notes immediately get stuck in your head, and it's a track set in a church. And after "Gigi" comes the second Masterpiece, again the capital letter is a must: "051/222525", which was the number of Telefono Azzurro in the eighties. The track had been released two years earlier to promote the fight against child abuse, and featured, as already mentioned, a jazz club version not included on the album. The song is truly superlative from every point of view, and the most moving part, for the writer, is when Fabio sings "e non mi picchiaaaaaaare un'altra volta..." Every time you hear it, it's hard to hold back a tear. "Dancing blu" is practically the continuation of "Sexy tango", with the words "dancing", "sexy" and "hips" recurring. "Valzerone" is a dedication to the loved one to whom something wanted to be said... and so a "demodé" song is born, as we are you and me. Notably, it is sung that "there is a lot of wind", foreshadowing the 1994 piece. The 33 rpm version closes with "Portati via", in which Fabio invites Maria to leave home. The CD version features two "outtakes", namely "Roba da gatti" and "La nave dell'amore". In the first, there is a parallel between human courtship and that of the cats in the title, while the second is a divertissement sung in mock-Spanish that then spills over into the Milanese dialect. The style is that of the much better-known "A Dean Martin".
Giannutri is a great album, for production, musicians, and cover, curated by Francesco Messina, a close collaborator of Franco Battiato. Just as the three years of pause after Zio Tom were used to create a high-level product like the 1982 record, so the four years after Senza avvisare would be used to release an excellent work. Which would be followed by another equally excellent album, perhaps the best after the eponymous 1984 album, with a black and white cover and a photo of a family in a car.