The album will contain seven powerful and labyrinthine songs performed by ZUFFANTI – a group of highly-talented musicians whose experiences run the gammut. The concept for the album was inspired by "The Mirror in the Mirror": a book of gothic and surreal tales, written by Michael Ende.
With this stunning new album, the legendary Italian progressive bass maestro and extraordinary composer has created what is sure to be hailed by many as one of the most important works of modern progressive rock. It is an effort destined to once again elevate Italian Prog back into the limelight, at the forefront of appreciative audiences around the world.
To accomplish "La quarta vittima" Zuffanti (here in the role of composer and singer) has gathered around him a group of talented musicians (including three different drummers) whose experiences ranging from metal to jazz, from folk to funk to prog.
Here they are in detail:
Saverio Malaspina: drums
Jazzist and indie rockers with a famous italian indie-rock band called "Maganoidi". He has the right balance between a jazz and a rock drummer. Saverio played in four songs (some of it very difficult to play) making "dancing" his drums with lightness and passion.
Paolo "Paolo" Tixi: drums
Drummer of talented proggers "Il Tempio Delle Clessidre", Paolo is powerful and very technical, perfect for the two most "hard" songs of the album. He suggested me some very inventive drums parts that changed (positively) completely a song.
Enzo Zirilli: drums
Internationally known jazzist, Enzo lives in London and has played with a lot of famous musicians. He played in the most "jazzy" song of the album. When he comes to record his parts he started to play doing one take better than the other. In the end he said "you choose!" It 'was very difficult.
Riccardo Barbera: bass, contrabass
Another jazzist, Riccardo have also a gret "rock heart" and played his instruments with technic and passion. For this record Zuffanti decided not to play his intrument (the bass) to have a musican that could do the things that he's not able to do. Riccardo did his work excellently!
Laura Marsano: guitars
Laura comes from the tecnhical world of metal/fusion music but when she did the guitars solos on the album Zuffanti discovered also a musicians with a great heart in her fingers. When Laura starts to play her solos there are some moments in which she totally blow away your mind and leaves you breathless!
Emanuele Tarasconi: keyboards
Emanuele is the keybordist/singer of "Unreal City", one of the band that Zuffanti produced for his label Mirror Records. He's a young great talent and he has filled of all his "Emersonian" touch the album with his Moogs, hammond and pianos.
Alberto Tafuri: keyboards
Alberto is one of the most famous italian pop music producers with great accomplishments behind. But he's also a jazz and prog lover. He plays in only one song, the more "jazzy" (the same in which Enzo Zrilli plays). In particular he plays a piano solo that is something of ultra-terrestrial!
Gian Marco "Pantera" Pietrasanta: sax/flute
In his life Gian Marco has played rock, jazz, folk, funky, electronica and many other styles. Is a complete musician and with his wind instruments has put the icing on the cake in the album.
Fabio Biale: violin
Fabio is basically a folk musician with many groups, he played only two short parts in the album but with what intensity!
Luca Scherani & Agostino Macor
Luca and Agostino are respectly the keyboardist of Hostsonaten and Maschera Di Cera. They play two short cameos, Luca on vibraphone and glockonspiel and Agostino on Theremin.
Carlo Carnevali & Simona Angioloni: backing vocals
In the album Zuffanti sang all the songs but he wanted to have also some other voices that could help him to transmit different emotions. Carlo and Simona was the right choice!
Rossano "Rox" Villa
Rox is the most important person for the good success of this album. He helped Zuffanti to produce and arrange it and choose the right musicians. He also played mellotron and trombone and, most of all, he recorded it at his Hilary Studions. Sometimes not sleeping at night until he had found the right sound. This record would not have been the same without Rox's great talent.
"La quarta vittima" will be released on January 15, 2014, by AMS Records, currently, the most important and active record label dedicated to Italian Prog.
2014 World Tour: "FABIO ZUFFANTI + BAND – A 20-Year Celebration!"
Zuffanti, has assembled a stunning new band, poised for a 2014 World Tour in support of "La Quarta Vittima" and celebrating the twentieth year of his brilliant musical with fresh renditions of his classic work with Höstsonaten, Maschera di Cera, Finisterre and more.
FABIO ZUFFANTI + BAND is:
Fabio Zuffanti: bass, vocals
Giovanni Pastorino: keyboards, backing vocals
Martin Grice: sax, flute, backing vocals
Matteo Nahum: guitars
Paolo Tixi: drums
The band is an Italian Prog "supergroup," of sorts: the young Giovanni Pastorino is involved in the reunion of the historic prog band Gleemen (pre-Garybaldy group); Matteo Nahum has been the guitar player with La Maschera Di Cera; Paolo Tixi is the powerful drummer of the excellent Il Tempio Delle Clessidre, and; the veteran Martin Grice is the sax/flute player with the legendary Italian Prog band of the '70's, Delirium.
These are the confirmed gigs for now:
January 16 – Sesto San Giovanni (Mlan), Marelli79 (showcase).
April 5 – Milan, Casa di Alex
April 26 – Belgium, Prog resiste convention
April 27 – Holland, Boerderij
May 18 – Canada, Terra Incognita festival
FABIO ZUFFANTI
Fabio Zuffanti is is a renowned bassist and composer from Genoa, Italy.
Zuffanti started his musical career in 1994. Since that time, he has been involved in the making of over 40 records as a solo artist, a collaborator and leader of numerous celebrated projects (such as Finisterre, Maschera Di Cera, Höstsonaten, Rohmer, laZona, Aries. and others). He has composed and performed in a multitude of cascading genres -- with prog rock, post rock, folk, pop, electronic, psychedelic and experimental being of primary focus.
Fabio has worked with many noted, important Italian producers; thus, his works have graced a great number of iconic records labels. With various groups and projects, Fabio has performed in Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Portugal, USA, Mexico and Japan.
Zuffanti is also the director of the Mirror Records label, and his responsibilities including recording and production duties. He also works as a composer of music for TV jingles and soundtracks, dance performance and theater scores, and other background music applications. Fabio is also revered for composing two rock operas - "Merlin" and "The Rime of The Ancient Mariner." He has also authored two books.
Discography, books, info. Excludes live, participation in compilations and participations in other musicians' albums.
As FABIO ZUFFANTI
o 2007: Pioggia e luce EP (CDr, Marsiglia Records)
o 2009: Fabio Zuffanti (CD, AMS records)
o 2010: Ghiaccio (CD, Mellow records)
o 2011: La foce del ladrone (CD, Spirals records/Long Song Records)
o 2014: La quarta vittima (CD, AMS records)
With FINISTERRE
o 1994: Finisterre (CD + LP, Mellow Records)
o 1996: In limine (CD, Mellow Records)
o 1999: In ogni luogo (CD, Iridea Records))
o 2004: La meccanica naturale (CD, Immaginifica Records)
With HÖSTSONATEN
o 1996: Höstsonaten (CD, Mellow Records)
o 1998: Mirrorgames (CD, Mellow Records)
o 2002: Seasoncycle part IV: Springsong (CD, Sublime Label)
o 2008: Seasoncycle part III: Winterthrough (CD + LP, AMS Records)
o 2009: Seasoncycle part II: Autumnsymphony (CD, AMS Records)
o 2011: Seasoncycle part I: Summereve (CD, AMS Records)
o 2012: The rime of the ancient mariner - Chapter one (CD, AMS Records)
With QUADRAPHONIC
o 1999: Tecnicolor2100 (CDr, Spirals Records)
o 2000: Third Ear Band Demixed (CDr, Spirals Records)
o 2001: Sei paesaggi nella pioggia (CDr, Spirals Records)
o 2002: Il giorno sottile (CD, Mellow Records)
o 2003: Le fabbriche felici (CDr, Spirals Records)
o 2005: Gennaio senza luce (CDr, Spirals Records)
o 2009: Ir (CDr, D'ooringe l'orange)
As FABIO ZUFFANTI E VICTORIA HEWARD
o 2000: Merlin - The Rock Opera (2CD, Iridea Records)
With LA MASCHERA DI CERA
o 2002: La maschera di cera (CD, Mellow Records)
o 2003: Il grande labirinto (CD, Mellow Records)
o 2006: LuxAde (CD, Immaginifica Records)
o 2010: Petali di fuoco (CD, Aereostella)
o 2013: Le porte del domani/ The gates of tomorrow (CD + LP, AMS Records)
With LAZONA
o 2003: Le notti difficili (CD, Mellow Records)
With ARIES
o 2005: Aries (CD, Mellow Records)
o 2010: Double Reign (CD, AMS Records)
With BUC-UR
o 2007: Beol EP (CDr, Spirals Records)
With ROHMER
o 2008: Rohmer (CD, AMS Records)
As BORIS VALLE E FABIO ZUFFANTI
o 2010: Boris Valle e Fabio Zuffanti (Only digital, AMS Records)
With R.U.G.H.E.
o 2010: Niente Records Volume 3: R.U.G.H.E. (CDr, Niente Records)
With L'OMBRA DELLA SERA
o 2012: L'Ombra della sera (CD, AMS Records)
Productions for other artists
o 2013: Oxhuitza - Oxhuitza (CD, Mirror Records)
o 2013: Unreal City - La crudeltà di aprile (CD, Mirror Records)
Books
• 2012: O casta musica (Vololibero edizioni)
• 2014: Ma che musica suoni? Diari autobiografici tra rock progressivo e vita (Zona edizioni, out in febraury 2014)
Info
www.zuffantiprojects.com
www.fabiozuffanti.com
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabio_Zuffanti
AMS Records
Founded in 2005 by a synergy with the historical distribution BTF - Vinyl Magic of Milan, AMS Records is currently the most important Italian prog label.
AMS ranges from reprints or unpublished historical records of the seventies through the scenes of the new Italian prog of these years, in both vinyl and cd.
AMS projects often are not limited to the purely musical but they are a fusion of different artistic experiences. The collaborations with artists such as Lanfranco Frigeri, Luciano Regoli, Nicola Pankoff, Matteo Guarnaccia and Pietro Spica led to the creation of limited editions, some of which are already collectors' items.
A great passion of AMS are the re-prints of historical vinyl soundtracks, one for all "Profondo Rosso" ("Deep Red") by Dario Argento/Goblin, always accompanied by a thorough search of material and trivia about the movies.
AMS, careful at the eclectic Italian music scene, also publishes on two subsidiary label, EARSHOCK (hard and heavy) and EXTRAVAGANZA (indie rock).
info: www.btf.it
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