Gino Vannelli
Nightwalker

THE REVIEW

And who could write this review, you might say...

Nightwalker is the most mature product of the pop phase of a great artist like Gino Vannelli, a talent as extraordinary as it is underrated, a true cult hero.

The album opens with the title track, amidst the nocturnal noises of the city and the typical Vannellian pop fusion, where the usual intimate, romantic, yet always restless verses unfold. ""Seek and you will find" begins with a captivating rhythmic riff, which surely has seduced more than one drummer and leads into a song marked by very demanding vocal lines and noteworthy instrumental performances by the whole band, particularly the famous drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. With "Put the weight on my shoulders" we enter the territory loved by Gino Vannelli's fans, the interpreter of a classic romantic power ballad where his refined voice weaves seductive melodies over supple but not cloying harmonies, embellished by the sharp guitar of Mike Miller.

An ironic confrontation with the new generations inspires the joyful divertissement of ""I believe", amidst the syncopations and fine orchestral textures of the irreplaceable "brother" Joe, the arranger keyboardist truly an ace up the sleeve in the career of the Canadian artist. And here we arrive at one of the musical pearls of the album: "Santa Rosa". A tense, breathless song dominated by the dramatic march of a piano riff onto which harmonic rhythmic interlocks are grafted and where Vannelli's amazing voice appears like a tightrope walker. The excited senses find respite in the subsequent ""Living inside myself", a classic from Our Artist's live repertoire, characterized by the customary delicacy of lyrics embellished with electric pianos and expanses of strings, colored here and there by backup singers borrowed from "black music". After another elegant guitar riff that supports the subsequent ""Stay with me" the "night walker" bids farewell with a gentle and ethereal "Sally" which, we are sure, any woman in love would want to have dedicated to her by the soft and sensual tones of which Gino is an absolute master.

Ultimately a demonstration of resplendent talent by this mysterious artist, strangely remaining underrated, who closes with "Nightwalker" his pop phase, always much missed by his unsuspectingly numerous fans.