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Il Balletto di Bronzo nel 2007 è atteso di nuovo in Messico
Intervista a Gianni Leone
Cile, Aprile 2003
YSland sta dalla parte della vera streofonia
.: Balletto di Bronzo nel mondo :.
NEARfest 2000
We announced the addition of legendary Italian progressive band, Il Balletto di Bronzo , to the NEARfest 2000! Their famous 1972 album YS is considered to be possibly the best progressive rock album ever made. We are ecstatic to be able to bring you Il Balletto di Bronzo for the first time ever in the United States!
NEARfest2000, 58 East Center St. Shavertown, Pennsylvania USA
The trio performed songs from Vero, Monitor, and YS in its entirety, along with a couple of improvisational jams. This concert was released in 1999 by Mellow as TRYS (from trio + YS). While Leone is the only member from the YS-era band, albeit the most crucial, the new players handle the material exeptionally well. Leone is in fine form on keyboards, singing as well as he did in 1972. Leone has recently brought two younger musicians, drummer Riccardo Spilli and bassist Alessandro Corsi, into il Balletto di Bronzo to revitalize its sound and record new material in the progressive tradition of YS.
Il Balletto di Bronzo ita
Gianni Leone - Keyboards, vocals
Riccardo Spilli - Drums
Alessandro corsi - Bass
Taken
from : www.italianprog.com
IL BALLETTO DI BRONZO
1969-70
Marco Cecioni (vocals, guitar)
Lino Ajello (guitar)
Michele Cupaiuolo (bass)
Giancarlo Stinga (drums)
1971-73
Gianni Leone (keyboards, vocals)
Lino Ajello (guitar)
Vito Manzari (bass)
Giancarlo Stinga (drums)
Formed in Naples in late 60's, with the initial name of Battitori Selvaggi, playing in Nato bases in Italy.
They changed name to Il Balletto di Bronzo with the first line-up, with two good singles in 1969 and 1970 and even recording some tracks in spanish (released in 1988 as a single and in 1990 on the Il re del castello LP) and their first album, Sirio 2222. The album is now considered as one of the rarest of the italian prog era, and is halfway between late 60's psych-influenced pop and prog.
The long suite Missione Sirio 2222 is one of the best tracks, while most of the tracks are in the 3-minute typical length of the time. Some collectors consider it as one of the best in the iatlian prog field, others think it's still not a mature group's work. Without doubt a very important one.
In 1971 Gianni Leone (from the very first Città Frontale) enters the group along with bassist Manzari (from Quelle Strane Cose Che) and a new Balletto is born, much more in a symphonic vein and dominated by his keyboards. Second album released in 1972 on Polydor, Ys (from the name of a legendary town in Brittany), is a masterpiece, giving the group the success they deserved. Inexplicably an english-sung version, ready to release, was never issued.
Group disbanded in 1973 after a final single, Gianni Leone having a short solo career under the name of Leo Nero, the others went to live in Sweden and disappeared from the italian music scene.
Gianni Leone has reformed the band in late 90's with bassist Romolo Amici and drummer Ugo Vantini from the neo-prog group Divae on whose 1995 CD Gianni had played; they made a series of concerts from which the live CD Trys has been recorded.
LP
Sirio 2222 RCA (PSL 10459) 1970 glossy hard cover
RCA/Contempo (NL 71819) 1988 reissue with same cover design and label
Ys Polydor (2448 003) 1972 gatefold with 4-page lyric booklet
Polydor special (2449 017) mid 70's reissue with single cover
Il re del castello RCA/Raro! (NL 74650) 1990 7-track compilation with unreleased recordings - limited 1500 copies
First two albums have been officially reissued on CD in Italy, by RCA (ND 71819, now deleted) and Polydor (523 693-2) respectively.
A new CD reissue for Sirio 2222 has been released by BMG in 2003 (cat.no 74321-98373-2, also in limited digipack edition, no.74321-98442-2)
SINGLES (all with picture sleeve except where noted)
Neve calda
Cominciò per gioco ARC-RCA (AN 4193) 1969
Sì, mama mama
Meditazione RCA (PM 3549) 1970
La tua casa comoda
Donna Vittoria Polydor (2060 053) 1973
CD's (relevant issues)
Ys (english version) Mellow (MMP 112) 1992
Trys Mellow (MMP 367) 1999 live recording from 1996
PROMO-ONLY AND JUKEBOX SINGLES (with blank covers)
Primo incontro
Secondo incontro Polydor (2060 053) 1972 promo-only with no cover
Sì, mama mama (spanish)
Nieve calda RCA (AN 7645) 1988 1000 numbered copies with plain white cover - given free to Raro magazine subscribers
Sirio 2222 was originally released on RCA Italiana blue label, promo white label copies exist. The hard cover is laminated on front.
Original copies of Ys have a 4-page 12" booklet glued in the laminated gatefold cover, containing lyrics and drawings.
The Polydor special budget series reissue had a single cover and no insert.
No counterfeits should exist of both albums.
The Il re del castello compilation was released by Raro magazine in conjunction with RCA and includes seven tracks from the 1969-70 period. Four of these are spanish language songs (Accidenti, Eternità, Nieve calda, Sì mama mama, the first two had already appeared on a 1988 promo single), another is the unreleased italian version of Accidenti, a song originally released in the same year by Il Supergruppo, and the last two are the instrumentals Il re del castello and Neve calda.
Ys has been reissued in Japan (Polydor 23MM0149) with the same gatefold cover and in Korea on vinyl (Polydor 849 355-1/RG 2230) and CD (Si-Wan SRMC 007).
Also from Japan, a mini-LP compilation called Italian rock single compilation (Polydor/Edison DMI 23134) released in 1987, included both sides of the 1973 single La tua casa comoda along with Latte e Miele and Locanda delle Fate singles tracks unreleased on LP.
In Argentina a compilation released in 1970, Festival San Remo 70 (RCA AVLP 3902) included Accidenti with the spanish name of Accidente.
Together with Osanna's Palepoli these two are rendered as the hardest albums to listen to. Honestly at first Ys seemed like a dissonant album that my ears couldn't stand but after more listens it is deemed as an incredible masterpiece.
Introduzione begins with an incredible atmosphere then developing into a complex array of chaotic rhythms that go beyond any imagined horror movie soundtrack. Primo incontro starts in the same line as the opener, guitars now jumping from left to right channel, boisterous drumming, chaotic keyboards and very strange vocals. The end of the songs includes a weird harpsichord solo that will give you the chills. Secondo incontro on Side B (LP) begins with the most interesting and oddest arrangements mixing a calm melody and then bursting into total chaos including searing flutes and crazied hammond organ. It then adds some piano and finally in the middle of chaos it breaks to a bass solo to then develop into a intricate semi slow paced number with some chorused voices. Finally Terzo incontro ed Epilogo are the rarest songs in this LP, begining with chaos then it develops into jazzy piece with vocals. After this I am afraid it is harder to describe, slow bass lines with some piano, effects and moog sounds here and there.
Ys is a very interesting album, no melody at all but the obscure music is so original and great that you'll never listen to anything similar. The CD version makes some mistakes: Introduzione only lasts about 11min., the lyrics will tell you when Primo incontro begins. Secondo incontro is about 7'30 min. it includes tracks 3 and 4 from the CD. Finally Terzo incontro ed Epilogo is only one song not two lasting about 11 min.
Juan Carlos Lopez
Thanks to Humberto Luna from www.progresiva70s.com for information on argentine compilation.
From : www.italianprog.com