Gruppo 24ore

This dedication appears at the beginning of the collection of madrigals titled I DIPORTI DELLA VILLA IN OGNI STAGIONE ,spiegati in quattro canzoni dall’Ill.S.Francesco Bozza Cavaliere et posti in musica da diversi famosi Autori, a cinque voci (“The Pastimes of theVilla in Each Season”, explained in four songs by the Illustrious Knight Francesco Bozza and set to music by several famous Composers),published inVenice in 1601 by the publisherAngelo Gardano.

Antonio Salieri is still better known today for the renowned composers with whom he was associated than for his own many and varied compositions. While he cannot be ranked among the great masters himself, he has nevertheless come into view as an underrated and important composer deserving of closer attention. Salieri was the dominant figure in Parisian opera from the mid to late 1780s. Tarare (1787), generally considered his finest achievement in the genre, is a masterpiece. He also wrote significant instrumental, sacred, and vocal compositions, and shaped the Viennese musical world that would produce so many important composers for a century and a half.

The radical free jazz group Gruppo Romano Free Jazz electrified the musical world of Italy when it was organized in 1966 and brought its members worldwide acclaim. Since then, Mario Schiano, Giancarlo Schiaffini, and Bruno Tommaso have appeared on dozens of recordings and, to varying degrees, developed considerable reputations in Italy and internationally. The live concert at the Roman Philharmonic Academy (with 1,400 in attendance) documented on this recording was a 36th reunion of sorts, with the young trombone phenom Sebi Tramontana added for the second piece…

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its recording in 1966, this reissue makes one of the cornerstones of the experimental music tradition available again in its original form. A testament to the interaction between the experimental avant-garde and the free improvisation, the album was originally released on Rca, and played by musicians who include Ennio Morricone on trumpet, Frederic Rzewski on piano, Mario Bertoncini on percussion, John Heineman on trombone, Roland Kayn on Hammond and vibes, Franco Evangelisti on piano and percussion, and Ivan Vandor on tenor sax.

One of the few professional bands to come from Sardinia, Gruppo 2001 were formed around 1971, with a commercial single in the same year for the small King label. After a successful appearance at the Disco per l'Estate TV festival with Messaggio, the band released their only album in 1972, that, starting from their typical melodic pop style, had more ambitious and prog-inspired arrangements.

Another fairly unknown band heading from Italy, Gruppo D'alternativa was formed in Milano in the early 70's and managed to release one album (named "Ipotesi") before they splitted and drowned into further obscurity. Some could consider them as a 'proto-RIO' band due to their activity long before the first RIO movement in the late 70's, and their alternative and experimental prog-rock sound confirms this well although they also reveal some notable Jazz-Rock/Canterbury influences in their sound. "Ipotesi" was based on the death of a friend of the band who was killed in a road accident some time before the album was written, but whenever this explains the bands musical approach is unknown…