Dedalus, a jazz-rock band from Pinerolo near Turin, released two albums on the collectable Trident label. They also had a great live performance despite not being among the most prominent Italian rock bands of the time. A popular journalist called them the “revelation of the festival” after their 1973 live performance at the Festival di Avanguardia e Nuove Tendenze. The first album was a personal mix of jazz-rock with Soft Machine influences. It was all instrumental with the lead parts being saxophone, cello and guitar. Materiale per tre.esecutori.e nastro magneto was the second album. The group had become a trio following the departure of Furio di Castri, bassist for a more stable career as a jazz upright bass player. It was more avantgarde-oriented and made greater use of electronic instruments. Dedalus remained a duo until 1977 when drummer Enrico Grosso resigned. They collaborated with jazz musicians like Steve Lacy but ended their collaboration in 1979. In 1990, the band reunited with the same lineup that had released the second album. However, other musicians joined and left the band over the years. Pia visione was released in 1997. This CD was limited to a private pressing and features Fiorenzo Bonneansone, Marco Di Castri, and bassist Domenico Sciaino. It is the first Dedalus album to feature a strong vocal part (not used on Materiale per Tre esecutori, e nastro magneto only), and also includes the reworking traditional songs to give the mix an unusual folk flavor. Fiorenzo Bonansone, a member of Bonansone Dedalus Group since 2000, has been trying to revive the spirit of the original Dedalus, but using a minimalist approach. BTF/Vinyl Magic released the first album of the group in 2004. It also features reworked tracks from Pia visione. Nomos Apache Alpha, which is very different from the previous Trident album, is fascinating and based strongly on cello and flute. This gives it a strong classical and chamber-music feel. Along with Bonansone on flute, Riccardochiriotto on bass trombone, and Michele Kathak Strocchi drums and percussion round out the line-up for this CD. This group should not be confused with Collettivo Dedalus, a Calabrian group that has released two albums privately in 1990-91: Singolarefemminile (featuring traditional Southern Italian folk songs with jazz) and La terra delle ginestre (featuring jazz). bio from www.italianprog.com
