PERIGEO - ABBIAMO TUTTI UN BLUES DA PIANGERE - 1973

Second album from this Roman group (unchanged line-up), released on the same RCA label, and coming with a fascinating artwork, ruined by an unlikely title. The group is still solidly run by bassist Tomasso, but unlike in Azimut, he allows the others (keyboardist D'Andrea mostly) some space for their own material, but he's still by far the most prolific writer in the group. Actually for years and from the opening track of both albums, every time I put either this album or its predecessor I always had to take a look to indeed confirm which one I am listening to. I must say that between Azimut's Posto Di Non So Dove and this album's Non C'e Tempo Da Pedere (no time to lose), both are strikingly similar, from Tomasso's great vocals to the use of a bowed bass and Sidney's Hackettian guitar, and D'Andrea's great piano (first acoustic, than electric).

The following Déjà Vu is a strange and haunted piano piece that often draws on the border of dissonance and leading into Tomasso's wordless vocals and Fasoli's sax lines. The lengthy Rituale starts on small percussions, soon joined by the piano and Sidney's wailing guitar, which histrionics will last for a good part of the track. Indeed if in the debut album US-born Toni Sydney was almost inexistent, on Abbiamo, he's certainly on of the group's hero and he was probably attracting the chicks to the group in concert with his good looks. The title track is a slow builder constructed around Biriaco's solid drumming and Tomasso's brooding bass work, Fasolli's sax and D'Andrea's piano just going with the flow.

Most of the flipside's tracks follow suit to the A-side (if you'll except the finale's dissonant improvised start) and in general it is relatively safe to say that apart of Sydney's guitar taking on a front role, Abbiamo is very close to be Azimut's carbon copy. And for me, if it's as good as Azimut, than Abbiamo is another easy 4 star album. Perigeo has their sound on their first two albums somewhere between Mwandishi, Miles Davis's Bitches Brew, Soft Machine circa 4 to 6, Nucleus and Iceberg, so if you like these, you can buy these eyes closed.
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