Wednesday 6 April 2016

RECOMMENDED!!! Gianni Marchetti and the missing RCA April Orchestra Volume 15




So here it is, the big surprise I was referring to last week, last two weeks...  
and it surely is a beauty!


At last this final one missing from the RCA Series of Ital-AO's can be heard, of course, it's by Gianni Marchetti.  I think I spoke about him at length in the post on his magnificent Solstice album.   Which was truly a lost masterpiece of composition.  Someday I will nail those other two that are contemporaneous, Iris and Gimmick, and perhaps provide everyone with the great pleasure of hearing them too.... I hope!
Anyways,  I'll be honest, this by comparison is definitely a mixed bag, with some standard-clause library tunes like A1's Mexico Border (probably written in a state of anesthesia, or while he was sitting in his underpants), some pretty gratuitous silliness maybe for some slapstick comedy with that balding curly-haired Italian comedian that starred everywhere in the seventies frantically running about while beautiful big-bosomed starlets slept with all kinds of leading men, there's some bona-fide righteous funkiphizing, but then, abruptly, there's some really gorgeous Italian soundtracky Morricone stuff like A3's Over:





Check out how the high F over a 7-octave (!) below bass D creates the Dminor sound on the grand piano, which is later echoed with a high C over the tonic key of F.  The arrangement of the strings is just superb.  Unbelievable mastery of composition here.  (It makes me weep to think of the classical music being played in concert halls all over the world at the expense of stuff like this.)  And to close out, that fantastic high note D plays again at the end, like a bell tolling, because:

"Don't ask for whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee..."

[Who wrote that again? was it Milton? or Pope?]

Stay tuned till the end, difficult as it may seem around halfway through the second side (when it sounds like he forgot to get dressed after a bathroom break), because the last track called Equinox is a real stunner showing to me very clearly the influence of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon with the slide guitar effects and the wordless yelling/singing of the infamous, inimitable, Great Gig in the Sky...  
Yes, that Great Gig in the Sky will be something we'll all hear one day, all of us...

But before that, we have the most utmost beautiful music to leave us with the happiness of miracles.  

Like I've said before, for those like us who love music, this is the closest we will get to heaven in our lifetimes.  

That last track was well worth the price of admission here, without a doubt... you won't believe your ears!

14 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Julian, really just wanted to say hello it has been a while. I have been preoccupied for the last 4 months dealing with skin cancer. Anyway St James jazz club just shared with me Solis Lacus and Good Buddies Michel Herr and said they originated from you. So thank you for those. they are both excellent. While I'm here I thought I would check out Synthetronics so thank you for this also. Hope all is well with you. Do you have a music degree? You sound like you have a great understanding of the music. I am self taught but had friends with degrees so they were helpfull in understanding what I was playing. Fortunately I was blessed with a great ear. A good friend of mine use to make me laugh when he would say I could hear around corners. If I can hear it I could play it with a little practice.

      Delete
    2. I am so saddened to hear this! There's nothing worse than a diagnosis of c.... Yes those two albums were amazing and really I have to thank you for drawing my attention to that Good Buddies I never knew about! I wish I had a degree in music, I went early on onto a different path altogether but I always wanted to be a musician...
      I really hope everything works out well for you!

      Delete
  2. Hi Julian - Thanks for this and especially thank you for reposting Synthetronics!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brilliant!! Ta! - and 'bell tolls'... - Dryden

    ReplyDelete
  4. thank you for this and all the AO posts! much appreciated

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you so much Julian, as always a spot on revue.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks so much Julian. This has been on my wishlist for 150 years! I really appreciate your efforts. And keep up the great work - your reviews are completely on the money. There are some gems out there but not everything that is polished sparkles.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks a lot! Your analytical write-up is also very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful !
    Thanks a lot Julian

    ReplyDelete
  9. sorry, but could you reup this? missed this beauty

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. no problem, here it is, new upload:
      https://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/ful0y9

      Delete