Riccardo Zappa

Born in Forlì (Italy) in 1951, Riccardo Zappa is widely recognized as the greatest Italian acoustic guitarist. For five consecutive years he was voted the best in the poll promoted by the famous monthly magazine "Guitar Club". After that, he was declared to be no longer eligible for nomination. His music is in fact quite unique in the whole Italian prog scene; not can many other comparisons be found outside Italy, except perhaps Mike Oldfield, for his long, acoustic-based instrumental compositions.
His unmistakable trademark is the "Ovation" guitar, an instrument with a striking nasal sound, very suited to being handled with special effects. His first work, "Auhlela & Zappa" was recorded in 1974 as a duo, with lyrics and vocals by Klaus Auhlela and music by Riccardo Zappa himself…

Riccardo Fassi Tankio Band - Plays The Music Of Frank Zappa (1995) {Splasc(h) CDH 428.2}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 416 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 167 Mb
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© 1995 Splasc(h) Records | CDH 428.2
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Jazz / Experimental Big Band

Frank Zappa's music is not easy to convert to the stage of the jazz band. Although Zappa's zany compositions have always attracted some of the more adventurous jazz players, the actual jazz content of the tunes is minimal. Italian keyboardist Riccardo Fassi takes his Tankio Band of twelve players plus selected guests through a dozen Zappa charts with mixed results. Curiously, Fassi is most successful when he diverges from the structures of the tunes. When he sticks too closely to the melodies and chords, translating them into Kentonesque big band blasts, the results are less satisfying. The quality of the soloists vary, but guest trumpeter Flavio Boltro, accordionist Antonello Salis, and band member alto saxophonist Sandro Satta dish up some of the most compelling individual work.

Riccardo Fassi Tankio Band Plays Zappa - The Return of the Fat Chicken (2017) {AlfaMusic AFMCD200}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 485 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 171 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 11 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2017 AlfaMusic | AFMCD200
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Jazz / Experimental Big Band

Riccardo Fassi has often worked around the music of Frank Zappa and, with the Tankio Band, had already recorded in the nineties a first homage to the genius and opera of the great Italian-American composer. Go back to Zappa's material with an articulated, full-bodied project rich in guests and suggestions, able to enter and exit the "non canonical canon" designed by compositions and Zappish interpretations. Fassi conceives a kind of "concert": the seventeen tracks are articulated around ten tracks of Zappa, with introductions and queues, two improvisations conducted by Fassi along with Antonello Salis and Uncle Remus by George Duke. In nearly seventy minutes overall, many things happen, following the spirit of the tutelary labor number.

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music.
"The sun light the shadows, hurricane is just passed on. I come back to my town, alone and with pain. I do not see my people, roads are desert, I look around me and see life is going away…"

"The evolution of guitar is firmly secure in the hands of these kind of players… it's just a new level, the tone, the touch, the notes!" - Steve Vai