Central do Prog: ALLEGRI LEPROTTI – Au Zulò (2007, ITALY)

August 04, 2017

ALLEGRI LEPROTTI – Au Zulò (2007, ITALY)

Allegri Leprotti are a band for adventurous listeners. Their music is steeped in the rich avant-garde tradition which runs through so many of the RPI bands from the classic era to today. So much so, this group could almost sit as comfortably in the Avant sub-genre but were approved by the RPI team for their mixture of the avant-garde, folk, jazz, classical, and even electronic, loaded through and through with the Italian vibe. And as brash and bold as their music can be it is less dark, warmer, and more frequently melodic than many of the groups which inspired it, which certainly weighed in their favor when considered for RPI.

The story began in late 1970s Milan when the Passador brothers began working on R.I.O. inspired music rich in irony, poetic-intellectual lyrics, and a good pinch of folly. For about 15 years the band continued with changing line-ups, yet never recorded, until the loss of Marco Passador in 1996 brought things to a halt. Around 2000 the band began to stir again, the members attempting to recapture the explosive creativity of their past with a bit of their present day musical maturity, always concentrated on being daring explorers of sound and style.

from the left: Mario Frascotti & Marco Passador - 1982

‘Au Zulo’ is the first and only CD to date, released on MaRaCash Records in 2007. It is such a diverse offering, filled with a passion for music and a Zappa-like sense of humor toward life. The lyrics are lighthearted, somewhat surreal musings on the mundane little things in life. The male and female vocals can be theatrical in nature, sometimes going off into mini-plays with dialogue rather than singing. There is one part where a very deep, gruff male voice is having a discussion with a female counterpart and it leaves me smiling every time, he sounds like a real character. Musically the songs begin with a nervous energy, switching to jazzy jamming or very mellow sections, sometimes electric, sometimes acoustic. One track sounds symphonic with mellotron behind adventurous saxophone and lovely flute elements. ‘Il Garzone’ sports a traditional Italian song with lovely flute and strings. ‘Casablanca’ is an ambitious 8-minute uptempo folk concoction that will transport you to an outside table of some picturesque little coffee shop. Soundtracks for life! But much of the album has what I’d call an organic, unpredictable avant-jazzy backdrop colored by all manner of gregarious instrumentation and vocal stylings. There is plenty of joyful weirdness but also plenty of melody to ease you into this world gently. It’s a far less jarring and more enjoyable album than some which dabble in this neighborhood.

A great collection of aural oddities to get this band started, hopefully albums of new material will follow. The booklet features complete lyrics in both Italian and translated English.”(from progarchives.com)

"The result of their efforts is the fine Au Zulo, a collection of compositions, some dating back to those earliest years. It should appeal to fans of adventurous Italian music like Picchio Dal Pozzo, Opus Avantra, Ossi Duri, Il Giro Strano, as well as Frank Zappa"

Towards the end of the '70s, the Passador brothers used to animate at their boite in Milan a musical collective, one of the most original and creative in the alternative Milan scene, thus fouding Gli Allegri Leprotti and developing a taste for a music rich in irony, poetic-intellectual lyrics and a good pinch of folly.

For the next fifteen years or so, never giving up the Rock in Opposition wave, the line-up has been repeatedly renewed and regerated, giving way to new sound colours and images, until the loss of Marco in 1996 put a definite halt to the bands activity, leaving a heritage of unmistakeable modern ideas and contents. So when, on the verge of the new Millennium, the thought of putting back together the band is born again, the idea is bringing back all this multi-shaped repertoire. So they gather back the musicians, adding the creativity of the past to a recent musical maturity. Then the aid of technology, the miracles of digital assembling, together with the mellonitrons sprayings, and alongside the acrobatical, sarcastic and malicious feminine voice, the refined improvisations with oud and dud?k, the appreciated series of contributes and creativity that exploit this musics yearning for collective research and invention. The perfect record for open minds...

Successe a Milano, sul finire degli anni 70, che i fratelli Passador animassero un collettivo musicale tra i pià originali e creativi del panorama alternativo milanese fondando Gli Allegri Leprotti e sviluppando il gusto per una musica ricca di ironia, testi poetico-intellettuali ed una buona dose di follia.

Per un quindicennio a venire, senza mai smettere di aderire alle suggestioni della corrente Rock in Opposition, la formazione si è rinnovata e rigenerata ripetutamente, lasciando affiorare ogni volta nuovi colori e immagini sonore, fino a che la scomparsa di Marco nel 1996 ha segnato definitivamente l'interruzione della produzione leprottesca lasciando in eredità un patrimonio di idee e di contenuti inequivocabilmente moderni e attuali.

Così quando sul nascere del nuovo millennio riemerge lidea di ricomporre il gruppo, i nostri recuperano i nastri, le bobine, i multitraccia, i pochi vinili; coniugano la creatività del passato con una sopravvenuta maturità musicale.

Completa il tutto l'aiuto della tecnologia, con i miracoli di montaggio digitale abbinati alle spruzzate di mellotron a scompaginare le atmosfere lounge, l'acrobatica, beffarda e maliziosa voce femminile, le raffinate improvvisazioni per oud e dudk. Il risultato è un album che non capita tutti i giorni di ascoltare, dal livello qualitativo strabiliante e all'altezza delle aspettative più sfrenate... (from Altrock.it/)

JP/5人組だが多くのゲストも参加する作品で、管楽器主体の部分が多いためか若干アヴァンギャルド寄りのプログレになっている。カンタベリー風というか、チェンバー・ロック風というか。その類は決して得意ではないのですが、本作は往年のイタリアン・ロックのドラマティックな部分なんかもしっかり登場し、アヴァンさと決して交じり合わない唐突な展開が面白いです。美しさだけでなくアヴァンな不気味さも同時に出ているフルートも大活躍。芝居がかったというか、ちょっと狂い気味の女性ヴォーカルも良い。一番好きな部分は5曲目の長閑なとこなんですけどね。

Tracks Listing:
1. Au Zulò - Part 1 (1:32)
2. Mohammed (4:29)
3. I Nuovi Abiti (3:47)
4. Arancio o Rosso? (2:06)
5. Il Garzone dell'Autorimessa (4:47)
6. Magellano el Navegador (3:19)
7. Caro Amore (3:41)
8. Casablanca (7:53)
9. Gli Oriazi e i Curiazi (3:02)
10. Il Separé di Cartone Ondulato (2:02)
11. Sorda al Mio Richiamo (1:40)
12. MI Hai Lasciato (3:54)
13. Casablanca Reprise (2:08)
14. Au Zulò - Part 2 (5:45)