Reviews 250: Il Giardino dei Semplici / Whodamanny
After visiting the gorgeous pop exotica of Marcelo Antonio’s JKRNDA 7” and the sexual vocoder funk of Mechanismo, Futuribile sets its sights on the past with a reissue of Il Giardino dei Semplici’s “Carnevale da Buttare.” Il Giardino dei Semplici are undeniable legends, having sold millions of records and ascended to the very heights of Italian pop stardom. Their body of work reaches back to the mid-70s and covers a remarkably wide range, with diverse styles such as prog-kissed disco and Neapolitan folk all tied together by radiant vocal harmonies, breathtaking arrangements, and a wholly unique sense of pop songcraft. Originally released in 1982 as part of the album …E amiamoci, “Carnivale Da Buttare” finds the band in prime form, as magical, melancholic, and at times ecstatic vocal harmonizations fly above swooning string synth movements, sunshine guitar riffs, e-piano dreamscapes, and soaring saxophones. And though re-releasing this beautiful track would have been fine enough, Futuribile have gone one step further by including an instrumental rework of “Carnevale da Buttare” by interstellar groove explorer and Casio funk master Raffaele Whodamanny Arcella, who also happens to be the son of Il Giardino dei Semplici’s keyboardist and founding member Andrea Arcella. Thus the release gains an extra layer of emotional resonance as Whodamanny pays tribute to his father and the very music of his DNA.
Il Giardino dei Semplici - Carnevale da Buttare (Futuribile, 2019) The drums of “Carnevale da Buttare” are crisp and gliding, as Tommy Esposito moves through joyous hi-hat, shaker, and cowbell patterns while toms flash and snares crack above a disco kick pulse. Gianfranco Caliendo’s candy coated voice is sensual and vaguely melancholic…a beautiful whisper with the potential to swell into all-out falsetto power…and certain lyrical lines are trailed by echo hazes while swooning string synths evoke the ecstatic warmth of a Neapolitan summer. There’s a brief interlude dominated by smokey jazz guitar wanderings…as if we’ve briefly flashed into the world of fusion…before the track explodes into a radiant vocal passage where Arcella, Esposito, and bassist Luciano Liguaro back Caliendo with spellbinding harmoninizations, all while the drums gallop through clouds of string synth romance. The guitars riff and scat somewhere between reggae sunshine and funk intoxication and Liguaro’s bass guitar snakes through sexual groove motions, with everything leading towards a climactic solo passage wherein emotional saxophone solos wrap around the heart and carry the spirit away to a mediterranean paradise. After another sensual verse and further jazz guitar noodling, the track breaks into another pounding drum gallop, though instrumental this time and featuring swooning orchestrations rising towards the sun. After the group serenades return and wrap around a crooning and fragile voice solo, we are treated to one more sexual saxophone firestorm, this time drawn out and even more emotional, with twilight runs and screaming reverb tails fading into ether.
The instrumental version expertly walks the line between reverence and exploration as the original track’s instruments, melodies, and arrangements are gently phase-shifted into a futuristic dimension. We start with an extended drum intro, with claps flying over double-time cymbal patterns, four-four kicks, and cycling tom fills. The cowbell is still present, though minimized, and melodious bass lines now flow through Whodamanny’s acid-fried funk machines while scatting wah-wah liquids replicate Gianfranco Caliendo’s guitar. Symphonic feedback melodies evoke swooning string orchestrations while lush synth-piano riffs bring hues of sunset sensuality and huge blasts of spectral synthesis sweep through the mix, at some point leading to a pounding rhythm passage where squelching synthbass energies and ritualistic toms accompany a tropical disco gallop. Later, riffing synth/guitar fluids and romantic waves of e-piano magic sway in the sunshine while claps and snares crack hypnotically on the beat. And instead of exploding into searing sax leads as in the original, Whodamanny instead drops a mind-melting synth solo…a sort of intergalactic rain of psychedelic sound backed by gaseous organ atmospherics. Later, we find ourselves in a tribal dub-drum breakdown, with stomping kicks, cowbells, and electro-toms percolating through reverb caverns. Whodammany then builds the jam back up, introducing each element in turn before exploding into another far-out synthesizer solo, one that’s somehow even more freaked out than before as it travels through neon dimensions and polychrome starfields.
(images from my personal copy)