Valvulado: ZITA ENSEMBLE - Eclectic Prog • Italy

Zita Ensemble biography (https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=4697)

ZITA ENSEMBLE is a music project from Italy, counting as one of the new progressive bands with a strong tendency in stylistic transgression, surprising to the ear changes, and a kind of hybrid music, at the base of the sound and at the core of ideas and expressions altogether. While plausible to be pinpointed as post-rock (but even more so jazzy or psych), there are still many twists, arrangements and a solid evolution from one work to another, creating the complex image of a serious and imaginative signature.

The group's activity dates back to December 2003, suffering all sort of significant changes since. Although founded by guitarist Luca Vicenzi, bassist Marco Fortuna, drummer Daniele Veronese and saxophonist Marcello Consonni, new artists replaced or filled in with every major recording session - especially in the percussion section. Pierpaolo Lofrano is credited when the band recorded their first album - Volume 1, 2006 - but was soon replaced by Joao Ceser. Fabio Gatti then joined in 2007, doubled by Marco Vicenzi's contribution, onto the third, most-recent, album. Other artists that were part of the project, during the 2007-2008 period, are Francesco Agostini (playing piano & organ), Luca Urbani (producer & synths), Stefano Floriello (tablas?) and Franco Tognini (synths). Currently though, ZITA ENSEMBLE is apparently reduced to Vicenzi, Fortuna and Gatti. The music was released through Lizard Records, but also Eventyr Records or BTF (in the third album's case). ZITA ENSEMBLE received two Ommagio Demetrio Stratos awards, in 2008 and 2009.

With Volume 1, ZITA ENSEMBLE first manifested a peculiar and transitionary type of psychedelic rock, fragmented by free improvisations, experimental, contrasting shifts and, it seems, a brush-slip of heavy/metal too. 2007's Quintet Session sparked an even bigger interest, with a deeper crossover. While the range of effects flourishes apparently well enough for a split of electronica, soundscapes or even fusion, and the intricacy and spontaneity extends to the idea of something avant-gardistic (alas, mildly), the album is also appreciated for a serie of acoustic in nature leads, switching afterwards to space/electronic experimenting. Allegedly oriental-ish folk, jam-like groove and rhythmicity, recursive melody and a coloured and conceptual thematic are added to the main yet clearly detailed picture. No word yet on Volume 2, which was recorded in the first half of 2008, but released only in March 2009, and yet something just as fresh, combinative and progressively-threaded is likely to be expected.

Quintet Sessions (2007)