BTF Newsletter 25th june 2010

Welcome to our newsletter. This time we introduce some interesting CDs from DRYCASTLE Records. Some CDs are from Marco Lo Muscio discography, a great italian organist and pianist who often works with Steve Hackett.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Groove, feeling, technique, eight tracks of various genres and styles from a fine bass player and composer. Bozorius, one of the Italy’s foremost bass players. He is also a highly regarded composer, producer and sound engineer. After many years of experience playing and recording with his bands,and as a studio musician and sideman, he now presents his first solo cd. This cd is not overly technical, nor full of the usual scales and solos, but is made up of original compositions that mark his personal influences and tastes. Outstandingly played, these original songs vary from contemporary jazz instrumentals to vocal latin jazz. The music is performed with a unique warmth and feeling by some of Italy's best known musicians. Worthy of your attention. (Al Johnson) Electric and acoustic bass, guitars, composer, arranger. In 1978 he is a professional session man, and plays in a tour in South America with an Italian pop group. In 1980-81-82 he plays in the world tour of PUPO, a famous Italian pop star. This tour includes many dates in the USA and CANADA. In 1981 he meets Angel "Pocho" Gatti, a pianist, arranger, and composer from Argentina, well- known for his contributions to Frank Sinatra, Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker and Astor Piazzolla. With "Pocho" he produces two studio LPs, and one live recording at the international jazz festival of Zagreb 1981. During the eighties he continues his activity as a session man, playing with Italian pop stars (Pupo, Ramazzotti, Zucchero, Masini, Baldi, Raf, Fiordaliso), and also plays in jam sessions and concerts with Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Massimo Urbani, Franco D'Andrea, Enrico Rava, Fabio Morgera, James Thompson, Andy J.Forrest, Stefano Bollani, Enrico Granafei. In 1982 he begins a collaboration with the pianist,composer,and arranger Fabrizio Festa; together they found a jazz-rock band named "FESTAGROUP". With this group they record two LPs: "Congo Square" and "Montreux Live", and one CD: "Strings"; they play in numerous concerts in Italy and other parts of Europe, and take part, for two years in succession, in the international jazz festival of Montreux (1988-89). In 1986 Bozorius signs a contract with the best Italian publishing house of musical methods (Berben); he publishes his first book on method of bass technique "The Electric Bass", and soon it becomes a best seller (over 20.000 books sold in Italy,and still growing). In 1990, he publishes his second book on bass method "The improvising Electric bass", and in 1992 the third, "The Great Electric Bass Riffs", is published. The collaboration with Fabrizio Festa continues through the nineties. Together, they play pieces of contemporary classical music composed by Fabrizio Festa, and perform beside famous classical soloists in some of the most important Italian theaters. In 1996 Bozorius joins the world tour of the Italian pop star Marco Masini, and once again, plays in Canada and the Usa. In 1999 he also begins to play acoustic bass. In the summer of 1999 he plays in the European tour of Larry Coryell's Eleventh House (as a substitute for Jeff Berlin)with Alphonse Mouzon on drums, and Shunzo Ono on trumpet. In the same summer, he also plays with Al Di Meola and Larry in a great concert in Bologna (piazza Maggiore). In october 2000 he plays at the jazz club "Trumpets" in Montclair (NJ). In april 2001 he plays in the European tour of Ted Curson. In 2003 he plays with Michel Portal. In 2004 he creates a new indie label "Drycastle records". On august 25th 2006 he plays at the "Trumpets" jazz club in Montclair again with US musicians. In 2007 He recorded some tracks in the new cd of Massimo Ranieri : Canto perche' non so' nuotare...da 40 anni. In the same year produces the new cd of Aleandro Baldi, the popular songwriter ( No me amas by Jennifer Lopez and Passera' by Divo)

JAZZ   NEW The third album of Carlo Colombo, a witty and amusing jazz songwriter, pianist and singer. Carlo Colombo, jazz singer and pianist, presents the third and perhaps most controversial work entitled "Design" produced by Maurizio" Bozorius "Bozzi for the independent label Drycastle Records. In this CD he describes in a very amusing way the history and state of mind of the contemporary human being who have lost direction, both moral and philosophical. Carlo Colombo, cantautore e pianista jazz trevigiano, da alcuni definito una “scheggia impazzita del panorama jazz italiano”, presenta il terzo e forse più controverso lavoro dal titolo “Design” prodotto da Maurizio “Bozorius” Bozzi per l’etichetta indipendente Drycastle Records. Rispetto ai precedenti lavori, “Sfonderai” del 2002 e “Playboy”del 2006, quello nuovo si presenta con sonorità più varie ed arrangiamenti più complessi, passando dal classico quintetto jazz ad una piccola big-band con grande spazio ai solisti. In “Design” le sonorità sono principalmente acustiche ma, in alcuni brani, si fa largo uso dell’elettronica, per quanto riguarda gli effetti ed il sostegno ritmico. Carlo ha voluto così aprirsi a nuove possibilità stilistiche, pur mantenendo una struttura metrica ed armonica di stampo jazzistico ed un suono sempre morbido e carico di swing. Le canzoni del disco raccontano in modo ironico momenti di vita quotidiana in apparenza banali eppur carichi di umanità. Si va dai dubbi esistenziali di un venditore porta a porta a quelli di un manager figlio di papà, dalle strane avventure che possono capitare bloccati in mezzo al traffico a quelle di una persona persa nella nebbia o addirittura all’interno di un brico-center. Il cd descrive le storie e gli stati d’animo di persone che hanno perso la direzione da seguire, sia morale che filosofica, raccontano lo smarrimento epocale dell’uomo moderno, quello religioso ma anche quello sentimentale. La soluzione a tutto questo smarrimento esistenziale risiede nella traccia “Rapito dai marziani”, dove la colpa di tutto ciò sta nel nostro stato di rifugiati in un pianeta non nostro, quindi tanto vale abbandonarsi al completo fatalismo e vivere con ironia a tempo di swing. Tutto il disco è condito da un perfetto assemblaggio di suoni e stili, con arrangiamenti che prendono temi classici, come il jazz e la canzone d’autore, e li trattano in modo inedito e originale, cosa che contraddistingue da sempre i lavori di Carlo Colombo. Da sottolineare il complesso lavoro svolto sulla canzone “Fuori moda”, presentata in due versioni con la stessa armonia ma arrangiamenti diversi che ne fanno praticamente due canzoni a sè.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Wandering..with ears and eyes open..discovering cultures.. two great musicians and composers.. many years of friendship and cooperation... In 1982 started a cooperation between the pianist, composer and arranger Fabrizio Festa (Al Di Meola's arranger and conductor for the cd "The Grande Passion", Telarc 2000) and the bass player, arranger and composer Maurizio "Bozorius" Bozzi(Coryell- Mouzon's Eleventh House...), together they founded a jazz-rock band named "FESTAGROUP". With this group they recorded two LP's: "Congo Square" and "Montreux Live" and one CD "Strings"; they have performed a lot of concerts in Italy ,Europe and Usa; have been guests, for two years in succession, at the international jazz festival of Montreux (1988-89). Festagroup "Congo square" (Splasc(h) Records) Festagroup "Montreux live" (Splasc(h) Records) Festagroup "Strings" (Nueva) Festagroup "Vinyl" (Drycastle records) Other cds by these artists you can find in Cdbaby: Bozorius-Bozorius Fabrizio Festa-The Vast Conspiracy of Birds The Sultans Of Swing-All The Things We Are Carlo Colombo-Playboy

PROGRESSIVE   NEW Marco Lo Muscio's follow-up album to 'New Horizons' including original compositions by Marco and grand piano/pipe organ transcriptions of music by composers including Steve Hackett, Anthony Phillips and Keith Emerson (see tracklist below for details) Tracks 1-8 : Grand Piano Tracks 9-15 : Pipe Organ (Organ Mascioni in the church of 'St. Paul's Within the Walls' in Rome) Steve Hackett quotes about Marco's CDs... "...Brilliant CD played fantastically! It was wonderful to feel the power of the organ combined with your complete commitment to the instrument and the music of all the composers. It was a sensational experience to hear music that started out as little doodles on the guitar being given such a extraordinary treatment. I'm a big fan of the sound of the organ which is a complete world in itself, especially in dedicated hands." "...a marvellous musician!" "...'Meditation On Horizons' is very interesting, particularly as you had changed the harmonies to good effect. You've made a lot of a track that was only one minute thirty seconds long originally." Il secondo album di Marco Lo Muscio con proprie composizioni originali (la title track ispirata a Tolkien) e bellissimi arrangiamenti per Grand Piano e Pipe Organ dei grandi del progressive: Anthony Phillips, Steve Hackett, Arturo Stàlteri, Rick Wakeman e Keith Emerson.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW An album of Steve Hackett's music performed on grand piano and pipe organ. Performed and transcribed by international organist & pianist Marco Lo Muscio In Marco’s own words… “This musical project comes from my passion for Progressive music of the late 60’s and early 70’s. In my opinion Progressive Rock is a highly creative and important movement in contemporary music. It blends rock with classical music - notably with Stravinsky, Bartok, Debussy, Bach and Beethoven - with Blues and with Jazz. The core of my creative idea is to make transcriptions of selected Progressive Rock compositions adapting them for pipe organ and Steinway 9’ grand piano, to enhance the musical qualities of the compositions and to give them a deeper acoustic feeling, closer to Classical music, with the breathtaking beauty of these magnificent musical instruments - the D274 9’ Steinway grand piano and the Ruffati pipe organ of the Canadian church in Rome. This album is a tribute to Steve Hackett, composer and guitarist, born in 1950 in London”. Il primo tributo ad opera del concertista internazionale e compositore Marco Lo Muscio al grande chitarrista dei Genesis! Trascizioni ed arrangiamenti per Grand Piano e Pipe Organ dagli album solistici di Steve Hackett: "Voyage of Acolyte", "Guitar Noir","Bay of Kings" e "Momentum".

PROGRESSIVE   NEW “This project was born from my passion for Tolkien and Progressive music.” - Marco Lo Muscio International organist, pianist & composer Marco Lo Muscio’s latest album features 3 special guest artists, each of whom composed a track on the album, and play on their own track... Steve Hackett (Genesis / GTR / Solo Artist) Track 4 - “Galadriel” John Hackett (Steve Hackett Band / Steve Hackett Acoustic Trio / Solo Artist) Track 7 - “Thoughts Turn Homeward” Pär Lindh (Pär Lindh Project / Antenna Baroque / Vincebus Erupturn / Solo Artist) Track 1 - “The Fellowship On Entering The Magic Forest Of Lothlorien” Il nuovo album di Marco Lo Muscio totalmente ispirato al mondo di Tolkien. Tre ospiti d'eccezione che hanno scritto un brano ciuascuno inedito proprio per questo progetto: Par Lindh, John Hackett e Steve Hackett!

PROGRESSIVE   NEW A fresh blues rock band, with a progressive '70 flavour. Three original and seven cover songs by N. Young, J. Buckley, I. Anderson, F. Zappa, Depeche Mode, Hot Tuna. Bozorius - lead vocals, double bass, electric bass, some guitars & keyboards, sound engineering Sauro Balducci - guitars Mauro Giorgeschi - drums Special Guests: Silvano Navini - Hammond organ Riccardo Migliarini - mouth harp Claudio Matteini - backing vocals There are so many beautiful colors in the cover of this CD, there are many nuances in this beautiful recording. An ambitious project, researched and successful for this trior formed by experienced musicians from various musical influences and who sees the training involved in the reading standards of famous authors "not strictly blues": Neil Young, Jeff Buckley Frank Zappa and the most famous. The result is a delicate mix of electro-acoustic bluesy style rich in atmosphere, feeling and imagination.

PROGRESSIVE   NEW A SINGULAR AND RARE NEOGOTHIC CONCEPT ALBUM WHICH SUCCEEDS IN COMBINING THE SOUND OF A GRAND PIPE ORGAN WITH A TYPICAL PROGRESSIVE RHYTHM SECTION. Neogothic Classical Progressive from this italian band from Tuscany. Similar to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis, Yes, Gentle Giant and Goblin. STARRING: PAOLO LAZZERI as "JULIUS" Pipe organ, composer MAURIZIO BOZZI as "BOZORIUS" Electric bass, sound engineer ROBERTO BICHI as "PLACIDUS" Drums & percussions CLAUDIO CUSERI as "URSINIUS" Drums & percussions Mixed By Torben Lysholm at Tune Town studios (Denmark)