Jet Set Roger
Lovecraft nel Polesine

A journey of Howard Phillips Lovecraft in Polesine. A surreal and therefore fascinating hypothesis, made plausible by the discovery of his notes, dated 1926, stored inside a volume displayed at a second-hand book stall. The visionary finding of Lovecraft's travel diary, which would testify, among other things, his curiosity for those myths that populate "I racconti del Filò" and that so resemble the fantastic narratives composing "The Cthulhu Mythos."

Lovecraft, known for his reluctance to leave Providence, did he really travel to Polesine? Certainly, the maze of river branches composing that landscape where the boundary between land and water is blurred closely fits the Lovecraftian narrative.

With this dilemma, Roberto Leggio - who would have discovered the manuscript in Montecatini in 2002 - and Federico Greco faced, creating in 2004 the short film "H. P. Lovecraft. Hypothesis of a Journey to Italy," and in 2005 the mockumentary "The Mystery of Lovecraft. Road to L." The works of the two authors and directors caught the interest of Alfredo Castelli who, in the same year, created a comic book version: "Martin Mystère presents: the mystery of Lovecraft."

Time passes, and the legendary visit of Lovecraft to the mouth of the Po continues to allure. This time, it captivated Jet Set Roger, aka Roger Rossini, an Italian-British composer and musician esteemed in the underground rock circuit. "Lovecraft in Polesine" is the title of his concept album, released in December 2016 by the record label Snowdonia. The album is accompanied by a comic book signed by Aleksandar Zograf, the pseudonym with which the Serbian artist Sasa Rakezic began to be appreciated on the international scene in the early Nineties.

In presenting the album, Jet Set Roger seems almost to pay homage to Leggio, Greco - and Castelli - artists who with a pseudo-historical work have literally made Lovecraft fans go crazy. Jet Set Roger tells of having found, in a bazaar-like kiosk typical of the Ferrara shores, a magazine that mentions the diary. As a passionate reader of his stories, he bought the periodical, feeling a bit like Martin Mystère dealing with one of his sensational discoveries.

The intriguing paradox of the solitary man from Providence embarking on a transoceanic journey to visit Polesine symbolizes for Jet Set Roger a new artistic phase, a farewell to the period concluded with the release of the album "In compagnia degli umani." In the concept album just released, reading and listening accompany and intertwine: the CD appears as a vinyl of the old times, with a beloved cover, a booklet to devour. Lovecraft is portrayed as a person eager to explore an environment quite different from the typical educational journeys: Rovigo is not Florence, and it is not Rome, but an exotic foreign land. A melancholic ballad is dedicated to Ruig, a city in Veneto, where drums and double bass set the limits within which the piano stands out and the guitar acts as a counterpoint. Lovecraft encounters a group of young scions of the upper-middle class, reminiscent of Francesco Maselli's "The Dolphins." The "chance meeting" is depicted by a track that recalls the sounds of the Beatles.

Together with the young, the exploration of Polesine appears to Lovecraft for a few days pleasant and intriguing. Then... The boards by Zograf illustrate the car ride along the Romea road. The music escalates: "It's always party time" with its funky Intro. Jet Set Roger is here accompanied by Pietro Zola on guitar, Marco Franzoni on bass, and Beppe Facchetti on drums.

The album features many significant presences: Marco Pirroni, a pillar of "Adam and the Ants," Andy Rourke, bassist of "Smiths," Davide Mahony of "Sepiatone," and Giorgia Poli of "Scisma." The songwriter Angela Kinczly is the second voice in "Che cosa è stato?," a piece in which the acoustic guitar and mandolin played by Matteo Mantovani, a musician who has collaborated among others with Giancarlo Zucchi and Gatto Panceri, stand out. Giorgio Marcelli plays the bass in "Qualcosa di importante"; Marco Guerrini the drums in "La ricorrenza."

The artistic project is undoubtedly valuable and deserves support.

Sara Sappino, Messina, February 27, 2017