Procession

A lesser known act among the Italian prog bands of the 70's and formed in early 1972 in Turin, Procession were an idea of singer Gianfranco Gaza. In April 1972 the band started to perform in local base, but the next month, with the help of artistic director Tuccimei Pino, they found themselves unsigned but performing before 50000 people at the biggest rock event of Italy, the Villa Pamphili Festival. In October Procession move to Rome and record their debut ''Procession'' within a week, distributed by the smaller label of RCA, Help.
This is a great find for lovers of guitar-driven hard prog, as the band features two talented guitarists (Roby Munciguerra, Marcelo Capra), though it contains a few suprises as well. Plenty of hard guitar breaks, some nice soloing but also a few dual guitar attacks makes ''Frontiera'' a classic rock release presented under a progressive scope…

Procession: An Aural History 1981-2010 is a compilation album by American post-punk band Savage Republic, released on September 7, 2010 by LTM Recordings. The release included selected material from all of the band's studio albums, including tracks from EPs and singles. The two-disc edition comes with a live performance of the band in Spain on January 30, 2010.

A new Weather Report lineup makes its debut here, with Victor Bailey filling Jaco Pastorius' shoes, Omar Hakim on drums, Jose Rossy on percussion, and Joe Zawinul now thoroughly in charge. But contrary to the conventional wisdom which claims that WR went downhill after the departure of Pastorius/Erskine, the new lineup actually recharged WR's creative batteries; the material here is superior to that of the previous two albums at least. Bailey, while not Jaco's technical equal, is mobile enough to project through the texture, and Hakim has the versatility and swinging Third World rhythmic influences that must have appealed to Zawinul. "Procession" itself is a masterly Zawinul tone poem, with moody electronics and voices building to an emotional crescendo and ebbing away, a high point in WR's output.

After the debut album "Frontiera" released in 1972, Procession released their second album for the record label Fonit Cetra in 1974 with a different line up festuring original members Gianfranco Gaza (vocals) and Roby Munciguerra (guitars) plus Maurizio Gianotti (sax, flute) and Paolo D'Angelo (bass). In studio they were helped by some guests musicians like drummer Francesco Froggio Francica (Raccomandata Ricevuta Ritorno), keyboardist Ettore Vigo (Delirium) and vocalist Silvana Aliotta (Circus 2000). The result was excellent. The overall sound is less raw and aggressive if compared with the previous album and dreamy acoustic atmospheres prevail while lyrics by Marina Comin perfectly fit the music blending dreams and reality.

Bernard Xolotl is a French synthesist who has worked with Clearlight's Cyrille Verdeaux, which could give some indication of his stylistic direction. Daniel Kobialka is a well known violinist from the bay area, and the author of music that you see in new age bookstores - fluffy, meditation music. "Procession" celebrates the harmonious fusion of violin and viola (played by Kobialka) and the serene, heavenly and uplifting electronic textures of Xolotl. The outcome is of an overall tranquil, spacious and sometimes even romantic nature as the tapestries of melodic cosmic music delicately unfold.

A new Weather Report lineup makes its debut here, with Victor Bailey filling Jaco Pastorius' shoes, Omar Hakim on drums, Jose Rossy on percussion, and Joe Zawinul now thoroughly in charge. But contrary to the conventional wisdom which claims that WR went downhill after the departure of Pastorius/Erskine, the new lineup actually recharged WR's creative batteries; the material here is superior to that of the previous two albums at least. Bailey, while not Jaco's technical equal, is mobile enough to project through the texture, and Hakim has the versatility and swinging Third World rhythmic influences that must have appealed to Zawinul. "Procession" itself is a masterly Zawinul tone poem, with moody electronics and voices building to an emotional crescendo and ebbing away, a high point in WR's output. Even Wayne Shorter's sole composition "Plaza Real" is the most interesting tune he had come up with in a long time. The Manhattan Transfer, the champions of "Birdland," make a fascinating electronically distorted appearance on Zawinul's marvelous "Where the Moon Goes." This is an unjustly overlooked Weather Report treasure, hopefully due for CD reissue soon.