Two thirds of The Samurai Of Prog offer "Gulliver", a concept album dedicated to the travels that made the protagonist of Jonathan Swift's novel famous.
The section present is the one composed by the Finnish Kimmo Pörsti (drums and percussion) and by the Italian Marco Bernard (bass Rickenbacker 4003), the latter organizational soul. "Gulliver" is not a surprise, but the confirmation that we are in front of those who, at least in the studio, manage to present the best possible face of the traditional prog, made of a mixture of classicism and rock and total openness to contamination.
As anticipated, "Samurai" severed, but he does not miss his contribution - vocal and violinistic - Steve Unruh, American, third rib of the original project.
The main feature of "Gulliver" concerns the compositional phase, entirely entrusted to Italian musicians: Andrea Pavoni, Oliviero Lacagnina, Mimmo Ferri, Alessandro Di Benedetti, Luca Scherani and Alessandro Lamuraglia.
The album consists of six long songs that unfold over an hour of music:
Overture XI
Lilliput Suite (Part I - Lilliput)
The Giants (Part II - Brobdingnag)
The Land of the Fools (Part III - Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg and Japan)
Gulliver's Fourth Travel (Part IV - The land of the Houyhnhnm)
The final
The artwork is as usual by the great Ed Unitsky, capable of inventing true contemporary works of art with an ancient flavor
And here are the musicians present: Andrea Pavoni: keyboards | Kari Riihimäki: guitars | Marek Arnold: sax ! Oliviero Lacagnina: keyboards | Marco Vincini: vocals | Ruben Álvarez: electric guitar | Rafael Pacha: acoustic and classical guitars, recorders | Marc Papeghin: French horn and trumpet ! Olli Jaakkola: flute | Tsuboy Akihisa: violin | Mimmo Ferri: keyboards ! Carmine Capasso: guitars | Alessandro Di Benedetti: keyboards | Daniel Fäldt: vocals ! Federico Tetti: guitars | Massimo Sposaro: guitars | Luca Scherani: keyboards ! Stefano Galifi: vocals | Steve Unruh: vocals, violin | Marcella Arganese: guitars | Alessandro Lamuraglia: keyboards'.
