Le Orme
Il Fiume

Perhaps few remember it today, but for a brief season in the seventies, Italy managed to successfully export its music to the world, boasting one of the most interesting musical realities on an international level. Naturally, we’re not talking about the horrors produced by the likes of Sanremo and Festivalbar at the time, but about the golden age of progressive rock, a genre that, starting from purely Anglo-Saxon coordinates, managed to develop in Italy in a very personal way, effectively giving life to a true subcurrent, the Italian progressive. During that brief period, in fact, prominent bands like PFM and Banco managed to cross national borders with acclaimed tours and contracts with foreign record labels. However, the game didn't last long, and by the end of the decade, with the genre already in crisis, the vast majority of those groups disbanded or continued their activities only within the Italian market, almost always moving away from the original proposition to enter more easily accessible territories.

Among the prominent names of the time were also Le Orme, a true institution of Italian rock, one of the few formations in Italy that, despite forced breaks and abandonments, can boast of having entered its fifth decade of activity. Characterized by the voice of Aldo Tagliapietra, one of the most recognizable in the national scene, as well as by the keyboard arrangements of Tony Pagliuca and the percussion of Michi Dei Rossi, one of the best Italian drummers ever, the Venetian ensemble is usually remembered only for the works linked to the "classic" period, namely the 1970-1975 half-decade, during which albums like "Collage", "Uomo di Pezza", "Felona e Sorona" and "Contrappunti" were released. The subsequent phase was characterized by brave experiments, approaching the end of the decade with chamber music with "Florian", but the favor of the public was waning by then. Having lost their bearings with the arrival of the eighties, we had to wait until the mid-nineties to hear the group in great shape again, thanks to renewed interest in progressive rock and new generations curious to rediscover past masterpieces.

Determined to return to the scene for good, the four Venetians reappeared in 1996 with an album, "Il Fiume", the first of a trilogy that would develop over the next ten years and would have as its theme the relationship between Man and Nature. From a strictly musical point of view, they returned to the prog of their best times, again venturing into a suite like in "Felona e Sorona", though it should be noted that there were various innovations in the group's sound, such as the use of the sitar or the guitar simulator. Pagliuca's definitive departure, moreover, although it put a definitive end to the historical trio's activities, allowed greater involvement of Michele Bon and Francesco Sartori, long-time collaborators of the ensemble, essential to make the quartet's offering more current and modern. The lyrics, curated as usual by Tagliapietra, here in great form, are committed yet do not renounce poetry, reaffirming their author as one of the best pens in the Italian rock scene.

Tracks like "Madre Mia", "Chiesa di Asfalto" and "Il Vecchio" are to be counted among the best ever written by the group, pieces where, on the one hand, those melodies that have always been the Venetians’ trademark are well-presented, while on the other, there is also the desire to look forward, leaving behind nostalgia and some too many splits. Also beautiful is the idea of giving the album a "circular" structure, with the concluding track, a reworking of an Indian raga, that reprises the theme of the initial one. "Il Fiume", despite expectations, turned out to be an unexpected success, selling over fifty thousand copies, pleasantly surprising both its authors and the label, who never would have expected that there could still be so much interest around a name like Le Orme. From that moment, in fact, the group’s activity hasn't stopped, and Michi Dei Rossi and companions are still around today, alive and well both on stage and in the studio. If all of this was possible, we owe it in part to this album.

Le Orme:

Aldo Tagliapietra, vocals, guitar, bass, sitar

Michi Dei Rossi, drums, percussion, gamelan, glockenspiel

Michele Bon, keyboards, Hammond organ, synthesizer, and vocals

Francesco Sartori, keyboards, piano

"Il Fiume":

Il Fiume (part two)