La nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno
LIVE IN ELBA

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since those early '70s when it was acknowledged that the essential sixties had come to an end, not without having laid the groundwork for what was to come shortly after. Today, if we talk about progressive, we cannot dismiss the topic by blindly citing — thinking of music from across the Channel — Gentle Giant, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Genesis, or, to stay within Italy, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso and Premiata Forneria Marconi. In this regard, it must be said that the Italian scene was something else entirely, a theater made of leading actors as well as extras, of groups and artists diverse yet similar in inspiration, never banal or even useless, as many professional detractors have claimed over the years.

The name Pholas Dactylus and their avant-garde fusion-jazz-prog-rock piece CONCERTO DELLE MENTI, the sole publication of 1973, might not mean much to many, nor would the contemporary and self-titled work by the original Uovo di Colombo, with occasional nods to Deep Purple whom they supported during the tournée that same year; even less so the Roman band Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno (like the UDC) which in 1972 released PER ...UN MONDO DI CRISTALLO for Fonit Cetra, whose subsequent reevaluation led to the group reforming almost 40 years after its founding. This last cohesive group of excellent musicians and instrumentalists, led by the voice of Luciano Regoli (formerly with Il Ritratto di Dorian Gray), gave life to an exciting debut that, beginning with texts with clear sci-fi references by the poet Maria Comin (wife of producer Pino Tuccimei), proudly showcased musical moments of clear symphonic origin, unfurling melodies with a popular flavor where the guiding lines set by a colorful guitar and some nuanced keyboards, coupled with the flute, managed to masterfully blend even in the most dissonant passages. Almost four decades later, Regoli, changing the name to La Nuova Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno, released IL PITTORE VOLANTE (2010 - BTF/Warner Music) which, while recalling the musical coordinates that distinguished the original formation, drew extensively and meticulously from a certain classical influence without lacking that familiar sonic excitement of which the purest and most informal progressive had nourished itself.

With the strength of the second album's release, the band embarked on a long tour within national borders, which in December 2013 led to a performance at the Teatro Napoleonico dei Vigilanti di Porto Ferraio on the Isola d'Elba, at the fifth edition of Il Mio Amico Jimi, concert for Trick, dedicated to the sound engineer and friend Pino Catanzaro who passed away in 2010. The resulting album is titled Live In Elba. A succession of tracks where the historical repertoire alternates with that of the next millennium, without letting the passage of time since the historic RRR took its first steps be felt, spreading sounds that were indeed children of an era but began to shine with their own light in the emerging and fertile Italian tricolor scene of what we can proudly call: progressive made in Italy. A musicality of grand breath, capable of transmitting the energy that is unleashed and that does not fail to elevate its intellectual level, precisely because of the indelible sonic mark that has always created a considerable interest around the Roman complex, evolved even more despite the long period of inactivity.

The recent material shows a more robust inclination, and "Il Cambiamento" is an exemplary proof of this, just as "Il Fuoco", while expressing the differences of the new course, displays settings shaped with a baroque aere and always magnificently visionary, also due to a truly and personally expressive pathos. The dive into the loving past first occurs with the operatic echoes of "Il Mondo Cade su di Me" and then with "Sogni di Cristallo" with a more fluid intro than the original version, but retaining the same erudite content that always manages to capture its original innovative taste and of which it became the spokesperson. Refinement and class emanate from the listening experience thanks not only to the singer's charisma but also to the skill of the historical now bassist and originally guitarist Nanni Civitenga, who together with the addition of the fresher Bruno Previtali (guitar), Alessandro Tomei (saxophone and transverse flute), Maurizio Pariotti (piano, keyboards, and programming), and Andy Bartolucci on drums, jazz musicians of exquisite quality, prove themselves capable of bringing to life frameworks and digressions that do not weaken the original musical identity. Completing the picture is the wonderful voice of Cristina Cioni, superb in the choruses and capable of alternating masterfully with Regoli's, making memorable among others a never out-of-place tribute such as "Fire" (by Arthur Brown) or the modern interpretation of the immortal "Un Palco di Marionette".

While at debut, a not exactly excellent sound quality might have been criticized, in this first live play on disc, it goes well beyond a simple and cleaner reproduction of the past relics, pouring recent tracks where singing and instruments demonstrate agility in inlaying extended melodies and scores, making this compendium a splendid document that can find a place in our personal discography, among illustrious names but serving as an essential umbilical cord with an original and indelible past.