Perigeo
Non E' Poi Così Lontano

"Oh!" That jazz-rock-progressive-fusion fan, or however he wants to call it, will immediately exclaim, seized with a tremor of excitement after reading the title of the review. He clumsily and breathlessly clicks on it, eager to read the opinion on this album, which in the fantastic world of the internet does not seem to be widely covered.

Probably the readers of this review will all be Perigeo fans seeking reviews of their idols, just as likely there will only be enthusiastic comments about the fact that someone still remembers the past existence of this group, just as likely the comments will only be compliments about the work of the musicians in question. For a first review, it should be a pretty fitting choice; but now let's talk about the album and not the cowardice of the reviewer.

In 1976, Perigeo could already boast a discography absolutely worthy of attention after just 4 years of productive activity; and if with the first 4 studio works Giovanni Tommaso (double bass, bass), Franco D'Andrea (keyboards), Tony Sidney (guitar), Bruno Biriaco (drums) and Claudio Fasoli (sax) had made many listeners happy, it is reasonable to suppose that with the fifth album they were awaited at the gate, with that twinge of curiosity that awaits all artists whose production enjoys a certain heterogeneity and originality. A rather crowded gate, considering that with the previous year's "La valle dei templi," the group had moderately expanded its audience. In this environment, Perigeo's fifth studio effort is born: "Non è poi così lontano."

Perigeo, in its musical journey, had accustomed us to a certain originality of work under the guiding motif of jazz: from the more "ignorant" sounds (forgive the term) of the beginnings, to the progressive maturity and sonic refinement that made the "jazz-rock" definition as their genre more legitimate; in this latest album, it is difficult to perceive the completion of this maturation, at least in terms of originality.

The atmosphere that one feels is of the previous “La valle dei templi,” but obviously emptied of that freshness and novelty that characterized it; the compositions are less lively, those subdued and hazy parts, with the taste of jazz-pub from previous works, suffer from a sort of “unexplosion,” in comparison to what had already been heard. It should be clear that this argument does not apply to the album in its entirety: there are episodes like Tarlumbana, Take off, Acoustic image, and New Vienna (4 out of 7) that are absolutely deserving and capable of masking that bitter aftertaste that other episodes leave. Nonetheless, the bitterness is there, you can occasionally feel a heavy and flat air, which Perigeo had never left before.

In essence, the album is without a doubt worth listening to for the group's fans, considering this is also the last “official” work of Perigeo (the group will dissolve the same year; Tommaso will create the "New Perigeo" project years later, but it will not have the same following as the first), but if trying to introduce someone to the music of these musicians, it is advisable to start with something else.

P.s.: The rating would be 3.5, but I round up considering the previous works.