You might know the Italian multi-instrumentalist Mauro Montobbio from the band Narrow Pass, who released three albums between 2006 and 2014, or possibly from the Rome Pro(g)ject to which he contributed a song. On his first solo album Scattered Memories he mainly plays guitar and keys and luckily he had the clear realization that he does not have to play everything himself but asked various fellow musicians to contribute. We hear several singers and that can sometimes work out well, but it can also cause a certain unrest and imbalance. The opening song Destinazioni is sung in Italian by Anna Marra and immediately shows where we should place Montobbio's music. Pretty easy and relaxed prog with a hint of Canterbury in the style of Caravan or maybe Mike Oldfield. The other songs that have vocal parts are sung in English. With the instrumental Take A Mile In My Shoes, the tempo initially goes up and Mauro shows that he can play a nice bit of guitar because he immediately solos away. This track comes closest to rock without being really heavy and the beautiful quiet passage in the middle makes this a very pleasant track to listen to. There are many of those beautiful quiet piano passages hidden in various other songs and G.B. Bergamo is responsible for most of them. Into The Light starts with an acoustic guitar and floating keys over which the slightly instable male voice of Pete Hicks (former Steve Hackett) in the style of Roger Waters, enters into a duet with the angelic vocals of Valeria Caucino. The guitar solo that completes this ballad is beautiful and makes it one of the better tracks on the album. But then things change, in the long, instrumental No Man's Land we hear a very present saxophone played by Stefano Guazzo who starts quietly but gradually starts to play more and more furiously. You have to love this but to be honest, the guitar work is fine again and the acoustic intermediate piece fits perfectly into the whole. The serene keyboard work provides a beautiful foundation and that is actually the case throughout the entire album. Montobbio generally opts for a track length that leaves the necessary room for variation. Heaven Is crying starts with a kind of tripled female vocals by Anne Marra and the supplied info shows that no one less than Nick Magnus (former Steve Hackett) is responsible for the orchestration and programmed drums. The vocals are then taken over by the already mentioned Hicks and Caucino and again Montobbio takes care of the beautiful guitar solo. Marra returns to close the song as atmospherically as it began. Forever Friends is instrumental again and is a relatively short song that starts with an acoustic guitar and flute and returns to this combination after a lingering electric guitar solo. For the balance of the album, it is a good choice to bring some spice back into the whole with the almost ten minutes long The Gate. Every now and then you hear some Oldfield-like pieces and the saxophone is present again. Yet I would have chosen a song with vocals for the balance. However, this track does offer some instrumental virtuosity with a jazzy slant and room for the piano and other keys to solo. A Stroll In The Park is a very short intermezzo of acoustic guitar and flute, played by Gianlucca Nicolini. The album is closed by A March For Hope and here too Magnus has taken care of the orchestration and plays some keys. On a careful marching rhythm, the song works towards a grand finale that resembles the music of Vangelis and Montobbio lets his guitar sing again. An artificial choir and the sound of the guitar reminds me of Mike Oldfield and perhaps that is ultimately the most obvious reference we can mention to interpret the music on this album. I have to admit that in the end I enjoyed Scattered Memories more than I initially expected. For me, more vocals would have been desired because keeping the attention with instrumental music is often rather difficult, but this talented Italian musician largely succeeds in this. If we take the term progrock as a guideline I would have to say that the rock part is only slightly applicable but for those who like the music of the aforementioned bands and musicians, Scattered Memories might just be a hidden gem. *** Erik Fraanje (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
