“THE CLOCK” is the debut album of the rock-blues group Roagna, Rizzi, Buelow (RRB in summary), i.e. Marco Roagna on guitars, Giorgio Rizzi, bass and vocals and Stefano Buelow on drums.
The group is led by Marco Roagna, who already has an intense and long professional career behind him. For 11 years he was the guitarist of "arti & mestieri", one of the most representative groups of Progressive and world jazz-rock, with which Marco performed in the most important Prog Festivals in the world. Marco has an active solo
career both in recording and live, in Italy and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, which led him to join Giorgio Rizzi, bass singer and Stefano Buelow, drummer and form RRB in 2022.
The group deliberately distances itself from the virtuosity of the power-rock trio to aim directly at the heart of rock-blues. And it does so with the impact of an extremely close-knit band. The songs, written and sung by Giorgio are completely stylistically aligned with the instrumentals composed by Marco, just as the drummer Stefano Buelow has fully entered into a sound born before he was born.
Each song has its own identity, its own precise and defined world that differentiates it from the other songs with which it shares a common nature that is always found in the identity of the group. The definition of rock-blues may even appear narrow given the
naturalness with which the band delves into areas bordering blues-rock.
“Dreams Of Freedom” is the ideal opening track. It's the band's "Easy Rider", it's their hymn to freedom. “The clock” softly enters country, supported by Marco's Dobro. “Jail, with its penetrating theme, takes us back to the atmosphere of those who feel imprisoned and are
looking for a way out. “El Pollo Loco” is a Latin rumba, composed by Marco during a Mexican arts & crafts tour.
“Goodbye” is a tribute to Steve Ray Vaughan in a Mingus atmosphere. In “Maj Al Hospo” we find prog/jazz rock atmospheres with the final climax of exchanges between guitar and Miminoog. “Rag night” is an acoustic rag time composed by Marco in the middle of the night
after returning from one of his numerous evenings. To be precise, at 4 am as the neighbor will point out the next day. Then we have the 3 songs composed by Giorgio. They are songs that integrate perfectly into the RRB style, helping to create a sound, from "Samarkand Hotel", dedicated to Jimi Hendrix (the title of the song is the hotel where Hendrix spent his last night), with a well-chosen drumming Mitch Mitchell, in the context of a particularly Hendrixian performance and production. “We are the aliens” is a song dedicated to the Rock alien, David Bowie, with “lunar” atmospheres underlined by a “Space Oddity” Mellotron.
Marco Roagna originally inspired by 3 of the most influential and innovative guitarists in the history of rock, Hendrix, Beck and Santana, in this new recording experience he gives the best of himself, developing his own authentic phrasing with a well-defined character
intensely melodic, with Marco's incisiveness and heart.
The album is produced by Beppe Crovella, original member of the arts & mestieri, for 11 years with Marco.
Beppe gave the production a marked 60/70 color that is relived today. He is also a guest on vintage keyboards.
The blues is more than 100 years old, electric blues and rock blues are more than 60 years old. We can continue to revive that extraordinary path that reached its peak in the 60s and 70s. It's a completely different undertaking. how easy, but RRB do it great and they do it with their sound, their intense feeling and their personality.
The Clock is a rich and varied album that has the profile of an ancient rock that manifests itself as alive and current as ever.
