Cavalli-Cocchi, Lanzetti, Roversi -
Cavalli-Cocchi, Lanzetti, Roversi


(CD 2011, 45:44, Esoteric Recordings eclec2280)

The tracks:
  1- New Life On Mars
  2-  Jpg Card
  3- Morning Comes
  4- Words Got The Power
  5- Why Should I?
  6- By This River
  7- Great Love Does Burn Fast
  8- The Late Hour
  9- Blue Boy Under An Ethnic Sky

Cherry Red Records


When you read the names Cavalli-Cocchi, Lanzetti & Roversi (CCLR) you might think that you deal with a law firm, but that's certainly not the case. These are the names of Italian musicians that made some name in the history of progressive rock music. Together they formed a trio that released an eponymous debut album. For those who aren't familiar with these musicians I'd like to give a short introduction. Gigi Cavalli-Cocchi is the drummer of Mangala Vallis that released two amazing albums. Bernardo Lanzetti used to be the lead singer of PFM and Acqua Fragile. In recent years he joined the ranks of Mangala Vallis as well being their lead vocalist. Cristiano Roversi is best-known as the keyboard player of Moongarden, but he also recorded an excellent album with Submarine Silence and he joined The Watch on stage. Just like Lanzetti, he lately joined Mangala Vallis when their keyboard player left. However, no album has been recorded with Roversi playing the keyboards.

The reason why Roversi recorded an album with the above-mentioned musicians and not with Mangala Vallis is easy to explain after you've heard the entire album. The nine tracks on CCLR don't contain the same style of music you can enjoy on The Book Of Dreams (2002) and Lycanthrope (2005) recorded by Mangala Vallis. Although you can still call it progressive rock music, on CCLR the music is very mellow and relaxed. Bombastic keyboards or fierce electric guitar solos are absent. Instead the album is dominated by the voice of Lanzetti, a real Mellotron from the seventies and an acoustic piano both played by Mr. Roversi. However, some wonderful musical passages are also performed on the acoustic guitars. On all recorded tracks a guest musician appears showing his talents on the acoustic guitar like Steve Hackett, Aldo Tagliapietra (ex- Le Orme), Max Cottafavi and Eric Montanari. They all contributed in an excellent way; these musicians added so much value to the music that these mellow songs never get bored. Well, I guess prog heads never get bored while listening to a Mellotron in full glory and this instrument has been mixed in the front.

Most of the songs were written by Roversi and Lanzetti, but Morning Comes is a cover taken from the eponymous album by Acqua Fragile (see review). The song starts similar to the original version. However, the second part - in which the tempo increases - hasn't been included. For me, the second cover didn't ring a bell. By This River was written by Brian Eno and was taken from Before And After Science, his fifth studio album. Since I've never heard the original version I can't make a comparison. All I can say is that it fits the album perfect just like the other eight tracks. The mellow, relaxed way of playing certainly has a high level indicating that you're dealing with professional musicians who know how to create bombastic epic pieces, but also a very intimate atmosphere.  

People who enjoy strong bombastic epic pieces better should listen to this album first, before buying it otherwise they might buy a pig in a poke. But those who enjoy the Mellotron in a relaxing atmosphere creating beautiful choir and flute passages this album is a must have. I myself enjoyed the mellow tracks a lot and therefore both thumbs up for this fine release!

*** Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)

Where to buy?






All Rights Reserved Background Magazine 2013