Artist Profile:

Celebrating the 33rd anniversary of its inception in 2007 with a new album, a DVD, a tour and a special concert with guests, arti & mestieri has long been hailed as one of the truly essential Italian progressive rock bands. With its high-calibre musicianship and unique mixture of rock, classical and jazz elements, angular harmonies and unexpected rhythmic figures, its music stands as a timeless example of the best one can expect from the meeting of prog rock and jazz fusion.

arti & mestieri came into being in Turin, late 1973, when keyboardist Beppe Crovella (from The Mystics) and drummer Furio Chirico (from The Trip) got together with bassist Marco Gallesi (from Il Sogno Di Archimede), guitarist Gigi Venegoni, violinist Giovanni Vigilar and sax/vibist Arturo Vitale. At first calling themselves just Arti, they immediately attracted interest from Gianni Sassi, manager of the Cramps label, and Franco Mamone, PFM's manager, with their debut performance at the Festival Del Proletariato Giovanile in Parco Lambro (the Italian Woodstock !) in June 1974, which left both the critics and 45,000-strong audience breathless.

The next couple of years were like a whirlwind - they quickly recorded their first, largely instrumental, album, Tilt, in Rome, and promoted it with relentless touring, supporting the likes of PFM and Gentle Giant in sold-out theatres all around the country. In 1975, they again appeared at Parco Lambro and, with the addition of singer Gianfranco Gaza, recorded their second album Giro Di Valzer Per Domani. This was followed by extensive touring with labelmates Area and - sadly unfruitful - contacts with ELP's Manticore label.

By 1976, this heavy schedule had taken its toll and arti & mestieri entered a turbulence zone. This first manifested itself (after recording one last track together, "Necropoli") with the departures of Marco Gallesi and Gigi Venegoni (who went on to form his own group, Venegoni & Co). Without a guitarist, but with new bassist Gigi Fregapane, they toured Southern Italy, and started work on their third album, but it remained unfinished as the band collapsed for good. Beppe Crovella formed Mock-Ups, in a similar fusion/prog vein, while Furio Chirico joined forces with Gallesi in a new band, recording the album Quinto Stato which, following record company pressures, was released under the name arti & mestieri although this wasn't their initial intention. Chirico went on to front other arti & mestieri line-ups into the 1980s, with no other original members but with young up-and-coming jazz musicians, including trumpeter Flavio Boltro (now an international jazz star), recording two further albums, Acquario and Children's Corner.

Renewed interest in the band following CD reissues of their 1970s albums (there have so far been six reprints !) led to a reformation of arti & mestieri in 1999 with five of the six original members - Beppe Crovella on keyboards, Furio Chirico on drums, Gigi Venegoni on guitar, Marco Gallesi on bass and Arturo Vitale on sax, with Marco Cimino (who had played on Quinto Stato) on second keyboards 'replacing' Giovanni Vigliar (singer Gianfranco Gaza died in 1986). Vitale left after the first few gigs and was replaced by violinist Corrado Trabuio, and the resulting line-up recorded the 'comeback' album Murales, which stood stylistically somewhere between their classic sound and modern fusion.

The reunion concerts were documented on one half of the double-CD Live 1974/2000 which also included a vintage concert from their peak years. Since then there have been several personnel changes, which saw Crovella and Chirico remain at the helm with newcomers. The current line-up consists of Roberto Cassetta on bass, Marco Roagna on guitar, Alfredo Ponissi on sax/flute, Iano Nicolo on vocals and teen-age prodigy Lautaro Acosta on violin, and the band's sound and approach has moved closer to the classic arti & mestieri 1970s style. To mark their first-ever US appearance, at ProgDay festival in 2003, they released a mini-CD of the same name, followed in 2004 by a memorable performance at the Baja Prog festival in Mexico.

In 2005, a new CD, Estrazioni, was published. It is a mixture of new versions of old tunes along with new compositions. This was celebrated with a repeat appearance at Baja Prog and the band's first-ever Japanese dates in June 2005. Later that year they took part in two major Italian festivals, Sesto and 70s Flowers, the latter being filmed for a possible DVD release. In parallel with their arti & mestieri activities, Crovella, Chirico and Cassetta have also performed in Japan in 2006 as a power trio under the monicker C3. Now they are busy conceiving and recording the band's new album, which is expected for release in late 2007.

News: Italian label Electromantic Records, celebrating the 33th anniversary of the band, is releasing a box set “33” (containing one book, 2 dvds and 1 cd)

For more info visit related websites:
www.aem33.com
www.artiemestieri.org
www.beppecrovella.com
www.furiochirico.com
www.electromantic.com

Back to Top

Reviews:

“If you are a fan of 70's Italian prog rock fusion, then you certainly should remember the name Arti & Mestieri. This band released two classic albums back in the day, 1974's Tilt, and 1975's Giro Di Valzer Per Domani, both considered staples of Italian fusion and often compared to releases from The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Frank Zappa, and UK. The band broke up in the 80's and reformed once again in the late 1990's, and this live CD contains a performance from Tokyo in 2005, with material mostly drawn from the two legendary albums plus some solid new pieces. Led by the stellar talents of drummer Furio Chirico, the band also features keyboard player Beppe Crovella (Hammond organ, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, piano, synths), guitarist Marco Roagna, violinist Lautaro Acosta, sax/flute player Alfredo Ponissi, bassist Roberto Cassetta, and vocalist Iano Nicolo. Each player is a virtuoso in his own right, and gets plenty of room to show their talents. Tunes like "Positivo/Negativo", "Strips", "In Cammino", "Mirafiore", "Dimensione Terra", and "2000" contain plenty of searing guitar solos, soaring violin, acrobatic rhythms, vintage keyboard sounds, and jazzy reeds, all played with fire and finesse. At times complex, other times loose and airy, the arrangements here are always classy and played with tremendous skill from all the musicians. Although each member gets ample opportunity to solo throughout this set, it's a total band effort all the way around, and even though many of these songs were written well over 30 years ago, they still hold up well and show what great songwriters Arti & Mestieri are. Make no mistake about it, First Live in Japan is a monumental live recording, showing that this veteran band has not lost a step whatsoever. Highest Recommendations here folks! “ (Peter Pardo, Sea Of Tranquillity, USA)

"While the emergence of Punk and New Wave rang the death knell for most progressive rock acts that came to prominence in the 1970s, the ability to create global communities via the internet has led to a surprising resurgence of interest. Italian prog/fusion group Arti & Mestieri garnered considerable acclaim for its first two records—Tilt (Cramps, 1974) and Giro Di Valzer Per Domani (Barclay, 1975)—and then struggled against popular opinion through the 1980s before disbanding in 1988. Reformed in 1998 with founding drummer Furio Chirico, keyboardist Beppe Crovella and guitarist Gigi Venegoni, this largely instrumental outfit began to record and tour again, releasing four full-length CDs and one EP. Recorded in 2005, First Live in Japan is Arti & Mestieri’s first album to receive significant North American distribution, and its energetic delivery of both retrospective and recent material makes it an excellent entry point for newcomers and a boon for existing fans. The 2005 version of Arti & Mestieri finds Venegoni replaced by Marco Roagna and, for the first time since Giro Di Valzer Per Domani, the group is a septet again with violin and woodwinds. Opening with the entire first side of Tilt, the group's power is immediately evident. 'Gravita 9,81' with Lautaro Acosta's violin and Roagna's overdriven guitar pushing the theme over a frenetic 5/4 rhythm from Chirico and bassist Roberto Cassetta, suggests an intriguing cross-pollination of vintage Mahavishnu Orchestra, contrapuntal Gentle Giant and symphonic King Crimson, with Crovella's mellotron a dominant voice. But Arti & Mestieri is equally informed by the music of its own culture, with pastoral hints of the Italian countryside and Mediterranean breezes imbuing the music as well. 'Kawasaki' features Crovella, who demonstrates a Keith Emerson-like classical pianism but without the navel-gazing self-indulgence. It's that overall lack of bombast, in fact, that makes Arti & Mestieri so appealing. All the texture, stylistic breadth, virtuosity and complexity of progressive rock is there, but equally the group can deliver a simple folk tune like 'Glory' one of Iano Nicolo's few vocal tracks. A suite of six tunes from Giro Di Valzer Per Domani ranges from the lilting waltz of 'Valzer Per Domani' to the raucous 'Mirafiori' featuring frenzied solos from Roagna and Acosta. While all the players are notable, Chirico and Crovella stand out. Chirico's a vibrant powerhouse who nevertheless knows when to pull back, while Crovella is a master of texture, melody and invention throughout. Despite revisiting old material, what makes First Live in Japan so strong is that the music doesn't feel retro at all. The more complex, idiosyncratic and episodic '2000' may signal where the group is heading, but the suites from its first two classic albums sound no less contemporary. Some bands reform to cash in on a revival of interest, but the vibrant Arti & Mestieri is clearly back to do more than merely regurgitate past successes." (John Kelman, All About Jazz, USA/Canada)

Back to Top

Photos:

Coming Soon...

Back to Top