Red Canzian
L'istinto e le stelle

"L'istinto e le stelle", or "Lo sguardo e la pelle", as the DVD documenting the production phases of the second album of Red Canzian's career is called, the historic bassist of Pooh since 1973. Twenty-eight years after "Io e Red", which among others included "Canzoni per mestiere" and "Sogno messicano", a lucky charm song for the Italian World Cup in Mexico, "L'istinto e le stelle" is released, an album where Bruno from Quinto di Treviso puts into music all the reasons that made him realize at 15 that music would be his profession. The album is structured in 12 tracks, creating a homogenous atmosphere, with no particular falls in style but also without notable peaks, instrumentally speaking. It opens with a "paradox" track, "Elogio del silenzio", listing everything that exists in silence, "the daisy, the sun, the taste of coffee"... It continues with "Tu ci sei" and "Corro verso te", the latter including a videoclip with the bassist's band, featuring his son Phil Mer, also drummer for Pooh since 2011. Songs that are average and may or may not appeal. But then the level rises, and "L'infinita" arrives, a touching, poignant track about a loss, with a perfect text by Miki Porru, author of 9 tracks on this album, the man who penned "Sogno messicano". The Sardinian author crafts a tear-jerker text, as Red Canzian himself admitted on one occasion (the article's author saw him at the University of Salerno explaining the song's origin). After "Sia quel che sia", where Porru again demonstrates his skill with words, Giuliano Sangiorgi, described by Roberto Vecchioni as "the best author in Italy currently", signs "Per un attimo", whose text, interestingly, was sent to Canzian on a plane via SMS. Red was initially surprised by the length of the message but quickly understood it was the text he commissioned from the Negramaro leader. Not a single word was changed from the Salento voice's work, one of the most successful in recent years of Italian music. Furthermore, the text was composed in just two hours from the commission! Indeed, Red initially thought the message was to decline the offer. But instead, everything all at once! End of the first part. Beginning of the second half. Yes, it is appropriate to speak of time because it is a metronome that features and sets the rhythm in the video for the album's lead single "Ogni giorno è un altro giorno che ti amo", a song in full "Canzian-style": the Venetian's velvety voice expresses class, elegance, and passion. Also very beautiful is "Inesorabilmente", with Canzian musically adopting a '60s style, indeed returning "to the origins". Ivano Fossati, who retired in 2012 from the scene, continues to write texts, and for Red Canzian, he signs "Tutto si illumina", continuing to offer his great professionalism and talent to the public, who perhaps would want him back. "A un passo dalle stelle" is probably the track that partly gave the album its title. "L'istinto e le stelle" means "life and hope", "reality and desire". The track is dedicated to the singer's daughter, Chiara. Concluding this album brilliantly, it's worth saying, are "Il boxeur", the best song on the album along with "L'infinita", where Red remembers his father, with great text and music. An album, therefore, with family memories, music memories, life memories, love memories. But there's still the last gem, "Sinfonia d'autunno", instrumental, demonstrating that music matters too, not just the text. An album that opens with the praise of silence and ends with the praise of music, forming a balanced and seamless design. Introspective is the cover project, with Red's penetrating gaze on which leaves are projected. Noteworthy is the presence in the arrangements, besides the already mentioned Phil Mer (also the drummer on all tracks), of the British multi-instrumentalist Paul Gordon Manners, formerly of Cugini di Campagna from 1978 to 1986, and since then, leader of Grammar School. Also worth noting is the participation of a symphonic orchestra led by the Archimia string quartet, which had already collaborated with Red, and the use of various instruments also from Red's collection, among which Jaco Pastorius' bass that the Venetian gifted himself for his 60th birthday! The "monster" of Weather Report has always been his bassist model, and he once had the chance to meet him, with a journalist introducing him as "the greatest Italian bassist", and he felt embarrassed, facing whom was perhaps the greatest bassist of all time.

"Well" is the elementary school grade I would give to a performance like Red's in this album, a grade that translates into three stars, slightly elevated, for the Pooh who wanted to take a two-year break before the fiftieth-anniversary celebrations and wanted to allow themselves one album each in this interval. Roby Facchinetti released "Ma che vita la mia", and Dodi's album will be released in spring 2015, together with the esteemed Tommy Emmanuel.

THE POOH ARE MORE THAN THE SUM OF THEIR PARTS.