RICCARDO SCIVALES keyboards, composition ELISABETTA MONTINO vocals GIOVANNI PIRROTTA electric guitars FRANCESCO CALABRO' bass guitar PAOLO ONGARO drums MASSIMILIANO CONTI alternate drummer
audio clips:
CHANT OF THE SEA HORSE
music by Riccardo Scivales
recorded 1995
vocals: Elena Camerin
vibes: Antonio Marotta
piano: Riccardo Scivales
THE DEATH OF THE BALL TURRET GUNNER
music by Riccardo Scivales, words by Randall Jarrell
recorded 1982
vocals: Riccardo Scivales
From the most famous of Jarrell’s war poems, a metaphor of life and death, where the turret under the «belly of the State» (a B-17 fighter) is the womb of a mother. As in abortion, what remains of the gunner is «washed out» from the turret when the battle is over.
From my mother’s sleep
I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly
Till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth,
Loosed from the dream of life,
I woke to black flak
And the nightmare fighters.
When I died
They washed me
Out of turret
With a hose.
SAILOR SONG / NO TIME FOR FEARS
words and music by Riccardo Scivales
recorded 2008
vocals: Andrea Cuzzolin
AFTER THE RAIN
music by Riccardo Scivales, lyrics by Alessandro Monti
recorded 2008
vocals: Andrea Cuzzolin
«This band has something special. Quanah Parker[...] is a pioneer band of the Italian new prog [...] The originals featured in this DVD are a perfect display of Quanah’s style: long and very elaborate pieces in line with today’s new prog trends [...] with little gems like Silly Fairy Tale, Quanah Parker and People In Sorrow. A good cover of Yes’s Roundabout makes this quintet’s true love clear, i.e. an art rock with plenty of facets, intriguing melodies and instrumental games, breaks, and sudden reprises. It is a real pleasure to find this long-lived band active again: a band that along with various others (Yleclipse, Taproban, Portal Way e Torre Dell'Alchimista) swells the ranks of our new progressive». [...]
«Riccardo Scivales is one of the finest Italian keyboard players». [...]
(excerpted and translated from Donato Zoppo’s reviews to «Quanah Parker: Demovideo DVD» and «La Torre Dell’Alchimista: Neo», in MOVIMENTI PROG, 2007)
Influences
The foremost sources of inspiration of Quanah Parker’s music are great prog bands and soloists such as Yes, Rick Wakeman, Genesis, ELP, Banco and Ekseption/Trace, along with various other suggestions from Celtic music, early XXth century classical music, and jazz.
The QUANAH PARKER progressive rock band has a long and venerable history that really makes it one of the pioneer bands of the so-called ‘Neo-Prog’ current. First active in 1981-1985 with a line-up made of Riccardo Scivales (keyboards/composition), Roberto Noè (guitars/vocals), Alessandro Monti and/or Alfio Bellunato and Maddalena Cutaia (lead vocals), Roberto Veronese or Giorgio Salvadego (bass) and Giuliano Bianco (drums), this band played originals mostly written by Riccardo Scivales and brilliantly recorded as demos by sound engineer Roberto Lucano. That line-up sometimes also included guest musicians such as Francesco Calabrò (bass) and Franco Moruzzi (drums). The band was highly regarded and performed successfully, but the compulsory military service then caused various troubles that finally forced to disband in 1985.
Following the renewed interest around Prog music (and also at many early fans’s suggestion), in late 2005 Riccardo Scivales re-founded Quanah Parker along with Giovanni Pirrotta (guitars), Andrea Cuzzolin (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Giorgio Salvadego (bass), and Paolo Ongaro (drums). This new incarnation of Quanah Parker plays Scivales’s old and new originals as well as many covers of Yes, Rick Wakeman, Jethro Tull, Genesis and Beatles classics. It has successfully performed in important international reviews such as Musica Continua 2006/2007 (Mestre-Venezia) and has produced a Demovideo DVD that has gained very favourable reviews.
Solo piano arrangements of some of Scivales’s Quanah Parker originals have also been published in the prestigious PIANO TODAY US magazine and have consequently been performed by various musicians around the world.
line-up evolution & bio's
Fall 2007 Francesco Calabrò replaces Giorgio Salvadego on bass; Summer 2008 QP play a series of concerts with their original drummer Giuliano Bianco; Jan 2009 Andrea Cuzzolin leaves the band; after a brief spell with Sara Righetto, QP's new vocalist is now Elisabetta Montino.
RICCARDO SCIVALES (keyboards/composition)
>>founder of the first incarnation Quanah Parker (1981-1985) and of the Afro-Cuban combo Mi Ritmo (1995-2004) >>pianist and composer for various stage productions and cocktail pianist in Venezia >>his Afro-Cuban originals have been arranged by Giannantonio Mutto and performed by Italian and American classical ensembles >>his transcriptions of stride piano recordings have been recorded and performed by famous specialists such as Marco Fumo, Alan Feinberg, Massimiliano Damerini, Meral Guneyman, Donna Coleman, Sue Keller… >>author of two dozens piano books and methods mostly published in the USA by Ekay Music, Steinway & Sons, and Kjos Music >>Contributing Editor of Piano Today and Sheet Music Magazine (USA) >>about two hundred of his compositions, arrangements, transcriptions and articles on prog rock, jazz and Latin music also published in such leading magazines as The Piano Stylist, Keyboard Classics, Musica Oggi, Ring Shout, Rassegna Veneta di Studi Musicali, Jazz, Musica Jazz, Venezia Arti… >>translator of all the Italian editions of the Bastien piano method (Kjos Music/Rugginenti Editore) >>Collaboratore all’orchestrazione of the Italian première of Gershwin’s musical Lady, Be Good! (Venezia, PalaFenice, 2000) >>professor (since 1999) of Civiltà Musicale Afroamericana at the Venice University of Cà Foscari >>teacher in the Laboratorio di Composizione e Improvvisazione of the Corso di Letteratura Pianistica Afroamericana at the Conservatorio of Castelfranco Veneto (2005-2007) >>modern piano & keyboards educator in several music schools >>performed and lectured at some festivals and conservatories, CDpM of Bergamo, Accademia Tadini of Lovere, Musica dalle due Americhe (Lecco, with Giorgio Gaslini) and Settimane Musicali Montelliane (Montebelluna) >>author of about three hundred radio programs on jazz history for RAI-RadioTre and of liner notes and booklets for several recordings >>also worked with Bruno Gennaro, Roberto Rusconi, Marco Fumo, Claudio Angeleri, Alessandro Bedendo, Donella Del Monaco, Ale Pasqual, Moreno Marchesin, Mattia and Andrea Ghion.
GIOVANNI PIRROTTA (electric guitar)
>>graduated in Modern Guitar (acustica-elettrica) in 2002 with Donato Begotti at the CPM-Centro Professione Musica in Milano >>specialized in Musicoterapia at The Revival of the Classic Art school of Milano >>studied with Massimo Scattolin (classical guitar), Roberto Ortolan (blues guitar) and Giorgio Pisciotta (jazz guitar) >>courses with Franco Mussida, Frank Gambale, Maurizio Colonna, Walter Calloni, Lucio Dalla, Greg Bissonette, Jennifer Button, Massimo Varini, Luca Colombo, Paul Reed Smith, Andy Timmons >>electric guitar teacher in various music schools in Milano, Venezia and Treviso since 1998 >>lead guitarist with the Martina Group orchestra (2000-2005) >>lead guitarist with the country-rock band Fool Brand (since 2003) >>in 2005 he started collaborating with Riccardo Scivales to the re-foundation of Quanah Parker.
FRANCESCO CALABRO’ (bass guitar)
>>basic training under double-bassist Vanni Gobbo and "Perfect Pitch" Gianfranco Viola >>in the early 80s, he was in an embryonic Blue Note Orchestra in Treviso and in the Venetian band Ruins >>after a 20-year break, he came back to 'active' music attending to workshops and classes directed by Francesco Cusa, Alfonso Santimone and others.
PAOLO ONGARO (drums)
>>studied with great drummers as Moreno Teso and Camillo Colleluori >>Lars Ulrich, Mike Portnoy and Christian Meyer among his foremost sources of inspiration >>played blues, reggae, pop, rock and metal music with various local bands >>co-founder of the valued prog-metal band Soul Mirror >>currently completing his drums course at Franco Rossi’s Accademia Musica Moderna >>drums teacher in various music schools of the Venetian area >>joined Riccardo Scivales’s new Quanah Parker band in 2006.
ELISABETTA MONTINO (vocals) bio coming soon... MASSIMILIANO CONTI (alternate drummer) bio coming soon...
Ciao Riccardo, come stai? Un saluto da un vero viso pallido. Se mai facessi un recupero di " WAX" fammela ascoltare :) Speriamo di incrociarci, prima o poi..
Carissimi, grazie dell'add! Localando. it è un progetto senza scopo di lucro, nato con l'idea di raccogliere e catalogare informazioni sui locali del Veneto. Con il tempo abbiamo pensato di offrire una panoramica più completa sul mondo del divertimento notturno, e da poco abbiamo aperto la sezione 'band', dove chiunque si esibisca in Veneto può iscriversi gratuitamente ed inserire in modo autonomo le informazioni sulla propria band e le date dei futuri concerti! Spero che l'iniziativa vi interessi, ma in ogni caso vi ringrazio per averci dato la possibilità di interagire con voi!
CIAO!!Grazie x aver accettato la richiesta d'amicizia!!
Se volete aggiungere anche le vostre date in zona triveneto nella nostra pagina, mandateci un messaggio con data e luogo dell'evento e le pubblicheremo il prima possibile!! A presto!!
Bella ragazzi! Mi scuso per il ritardo dovuto a problemi tecnici del mio pc e ho l'onore di comunicarvi che siete sul nostro database e ovviamente in top!! Vi consiglio di iscrivervi al nostro blog per essere sempre aggiornati sulle prog band della vostra zona! Che il progresso sia con voi! -Luca
