Artist
IL BARICENTRO
Francesco Boccuzzi (keyboards, guitar, percussion)
Vanni Boccuzzi (keyboards, percussion)
Tonio Napoletano (bass, percussion)
Piero Mangini (drums, percussion)
Coming from the ashes of Festa Mobile this band based in Rome chose a very different musical style, concentrating on an instrumental jazz-rock that was very popular in Italy during the mid/late 70's. Their name was taken from Bari, where the Boccuzzi borthers came from.
Both their albums, released by EMI in 1976 and 1978, show strong influences by the likes of Weather Report or Mahavishnu Orchestra, mixed with a mediterranean feel that's more evident in Trusciant. The first album Sconcerto contains a track, Della Venis, that has the same name as the first group of the Boccuzzi brothers.
After the second album the group disbanded, and
reformed for a short while as a trio in 1983-84 with a disco-inclined self produced
single.
Brothers Boccuzzi have not left the music, still playing as sessionmen, Francesco in the States and Vanni in Rome. Among other productions they composed the music for the rock opera Androidi, directed by Ida Mastromarino (issued on LP in 1989 by Ricordi International).
| LP | |||
| Sconcerto | EMI (3C064-18152) | 1976 | single cover |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic (VM LP 201) | 2018 | reissue of 1976 album - orange vinyl | |
| EMI/Universal (3598263) | 2021 | volume 11 in the Universal "Prog Rock Italia" series - single cover - exists with red, yellow (99 copies each) or black vinyl (899 copies) | |
| Trusciant | EMI (3C064-18322) | 1978 | single cover |
| BTF/Vinyl Magic(VM LP 202) | 2018 | reissue of 1978 album - blue vinyl | |
| EMI/Universal (4889600) | 2023 | volume 23 in the Universal "Prog Rock Italia" series - single cover - exists with purple (99 copies) or black vinyl (899 copies) | |
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CD |
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| Sconcerto | Mellow/EMI (MMP 210) | 1994 | reissue of 1976 album |
| BTF/VM 2000 (VM 078) | 2002 | as above | |
| Trusciant | Mellow/EMI (MMP 211) | 1994 | reissue of 1978 album |
| BTF/VM 2000 (VM 079) | 2002 | as above | |
SINGLES (with picture sleeve) |
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| Endless man Flox |
EMI (3C006-18327) | 1978 | B-side from Trusciant |
| Tittle tattle Tittle tattle (twice) |
Superdance/GV Music (SD 3802) | 1983 | 12" version with white art cover |
| Tittle tattle Tittle tattle (twice) |
GV Music (GV 8405) | 1984 | 7" version with picture cover |
Both albums by Il Baricentro are still common and cheap
in Italy. They were also issued in some foreign countries (Canada and Portugal
among the others) and reissued by BTF for the first time on vinyl in 2018.
The singles are more difficult to find.
Francesco and Vanni Boccuzzi with Tonio Napoletano appeared on the 1985 LP Bassingher, by singer-songwriter Ernesto Bassignano (GV Music 8507).
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Sconcerto - front cover |
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Trusciant - front cover |
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Endless man - 7" single |
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Tittle tattle - 7" single |
Tittle tattle - 12" single |
Thanks to Fabio Locatelli and Ubaldo Cibei (Franco) for information and pictures
