Lito Vitale
Sobre miedos, creencias y supersticiones

Lito Vitale is an Argentine keyboardist famous for being part of the prog band MIA in the 70s. After this experience, which lasted the span of 3 studio albums and a live performance, Vitale's career continued with a series of rather diverse experiences. From 1981 to 1985, he released four solo albums (this "Sobre Miedos, Creencias y Supersticiones" is the first in the series). Immediately after, Vitale formed a trio with Bernardo Baraj and Lucho Gonzales, with whom he produced 2 albums, the first of which, despite being an independent production, reached the considerable figure of 35,000 copies sold. At the end of the '80s, it was time for the Lito Vitale Cuarteto (in addition to Vitale himself, Marcello Torres, Manuel Miranda, and Jota Morelli), with whom he recorded 5 albums. In 1992, Vitale also began a collaboration with the television channel Canal 13, with which he created a highly successful program, a sort of daily music space where the eclectic keyboardist reinterpreted popular Argentine and international themes, either alone or with the help of a group. In 1995, he released a collection of pieces written for television, cinema, and the Pan American Games, and a second work in which he reinterpreted fragments of classical music presenting them as if they were songs. At the end of the '90s, it was time for the new formation of the trio which saw Baraj replaced by Ruben Izaurralde. I don't have the latest news on what Vitale is doing now, but considering the heterogeneity of his interests and his 360-degree activity in the musical landscape of his country, I think we can expect any type of musical proposal.

So, let’s move on to his solo debut, immediately following the experience with MIA. In this album, Vitale composed all the pieces, arranged them, and performed them by playing all the instruments himself (from the rich array of analog keyboards to drums, passing through bass, guitar, and voice). The first of the 6 tracks that make up the album (entirely instrumental since the voice, when present, does not sing lyrics but is used as an instrument) is the suite "Baguala De Los Hueseros," characterized by the alternation between symphonic parts, performed with synths, and more atmospheric piano parts that sometimes recall something of Keith Emerson or Tony Banks. Skipping over the second piece, which to call experimental is an understatement (4 minutes of vocalizations, sounds, and absolutely indigestible atmospheric noises), we arrive at "Pueblos y Caminos," a truly beautiful track where keyboards reign supreme, giving a distinctly symphonic imprint to the whole, but where the main melody is executed with vocalizations masterfully performed, closely reminiscent of the extremely relaxed and catchy fusion of the Pat Metheny Group from historic albums like "Offramp" or "American Garage." The same influence is evident in the subsequent tracks, "Noche De La Salamanca" and "La Luz Mala, En El Campo," which alternate themes in the style of the great American guitarist with more properly progressive parts. The original track list closes with a short atmospheric instrumental that does not add much to what has been expressed so far, while a series of 4 bonus tracks from the 1987 "Lito Vitale Cuarteto" album follow.

Final judgment extremely concise: despite being a predominantly keyboard-centered "one-man album," I must say there are no "inherent" flaws that often plague works of this kind; the sound is indeed full, enough to seem the product of the work of an entire band, the production is extremely polished, the compositions are balanced, without exaggerations and subsequent declines into bad taste (after all, class is certainly not water...). Recommended.