Gino D'Eliso
Il Mare

Annus Domini 1976. After a past as a DJ at Radio Capodistria comes the recording debut of the Trieste singer-songwriter Gino D'Eliso, titled Il mare, an album that immediately earns him an award as the best emerging lyricist. The music scene is that of progressive rock applied to singer-songwriter music, and Gino avails himself of the greatest musicians around, such as Claudio Pascoli and Paolo Donnarumma. It is produced by the glorious Numero Uno of Lucio Battisti, and the result is immediately of high profile, and the only one in this genre for the artist, who starting with the following Ti ricordi Vienna? and even more so in the next two chapters, will invent the so-called mitteleurock, which will also be the title of a track in 1980, to the point of being defined as "the sovereign of Central European rock." Trieste is a crossroads city of cultures, the Italian intersecting with the Habsburg but also the Slavic. In later years, Gino will spend much time in the former Yugoslavia, and songs inspired also by the grim wars of secession unfortunately will be born.

But returning to his debut, the LP consists of eight tracks with indeed high-value lyrics, especially "Non è solo musica," "Emilio barbone," but above all "Carso," which is also musically the best, a progressive rock piece exceeding seven minutes. The record can not only be defined a concept album, but all the discography of our artist contains crossovers and references to previous records. A bit like David Bowie, certainly a source of inspiration for D'Eliso as well as for the so-called little Bowies of Italy, namely Alberto Camerini, Ivan Cattaneo, Faust'o, and Garbo, who within five years will perfectly render the idea of Central European rock with his debut A Berlino va bene. Moreover, speaking of Camerini, two tracks from Gino's first record reference Harlequin, just as the Italo-Brazilian does in the contemporary debut of Cenerentola e il pane quotidiano. Alberto will then continue to reference the mask both in the lyrics and costumes, to the point of being identified as "the electronic Harlequin of Italian rock."

Of Il mare all eight songs truly stand out, it's an album to listen to from start to finish to grasp its essence. Besides the aforementioned songs, it's worth mentioning "Il palco è vuoto" and "I santi sui muri," two beautiful compositions in sequence. Regarding the musical aspect, an unusual instrument for Italian rock appears, the flute, so much so that someone, rightly, compared this production to the Jethro Tull of Ian Anderson.

As stated, we are at the beginning, and for me this LP is worth 3.5 stars, but with the three subsequent ones, with the pinnacle in Cattivi pensieri, we comfortably reach four stars.

After 1983, just like Flavio Giurato after Marco Polo, Gino will abandon mainstream discography, this time more out of his own diffidence, unlike Flavio, who was unilaterally blocked by CGD after the third record, really too ahead in the Italy of "Ci sarà" by Albano and Romina.

Both will return 18 years later, and both after working at RAI as documentarians. Flavio will emerge from silence with the first version of Il manuale del cantautore, while Gino will publish the "very Balkan" Europa Hotel in 2001.

Gino D'Eliso, a rocker to be fully discovered!