http://www.bielle.org NOVEMBER 2006 - Il "Milione" americano di un Marco Polo odierno

Seconda prova per il veneziano Guido Marzorati, dopo l’autoprodotto “Live At Home” che risale all’ormai lontano 1999. È incredibile come già al secondo lavoro Marzorati ci offra un disco di notevole maturità, sia per quel che riguarda le musiche, sia per i testi, con ovviamente il tema del viaggio in primis, ma sempre con riferimenti a quel che succede intorno a noi, tra piccoli fatti quotidiani, amore, guerra.
Dicevamo delle musiche: ottimamente supportato dai suoi fantastici Blugos (contrazione di blues e gospel), Marzorati dichiara il suo amore per un certo tipo di cantautorato americano in tipico stile anni settanta, con Jackson Browne su tutti, ma anche Leonard Cohen, e un pizzico dello Springsteen più intimista.
È quel che si dice rock d’autore. Pochi i pezzi “duri”: il primo è “Complainer’s Disease”, su uno dei mali dei nostri giorni, con tante persone, soprattutto giovani, che affrontano la vita con un’indolenza e un’apatia che rasentano l’atarassia; proprio il contrario del protagonista di “Out Of My Skin”; “Keep Beating” inizia con una chitarra “desertica” per poi aprirsi in un rock che sarebbe piaciuto molto a Bob Seeger.
Ma anche quando il rock’n’roll fa capolino tra un brano e l’altro, il “rumore” delle chitarre di Marzorati, del basso di Iliano Vincenzi e della batteria di Andrea Scarpari è comunque sempre levigato dal pianoforte della fenomenale Elisa Marzorati che spesso assurge al ruolo di protagonista. “Journey Of Hope”, la title-track, narra del viaggio di un padre in un Paese straniero alla ricerca del benessere da offrire al proprio figlio.
“Come To A New Land” e “Virtual Love”, seppur diverse tra loro, sono canzoni che parlano d’amore, mentre “Blooming Roots” è il grido disperato di una persona che non vuole arrendersi mai, a dispetto delle cose brutte che possono accadere.
È “A little story of war” e in “Song from the next world” che il riferimento a Cohen diventa evidente. La conclusiva “What Can I Do?” parte con un’armonica sbuffante che lascia poi spazio ad un pianoforte da saloon e ai cori femminili. “Journey Of Hope” è un disco come non se ne sentivano da tempo, tutto giocato su un rock stradaiolo rivestito con melodie allo stesso tempo semplici e affascinanti.
I veneziani sono sempre stati grandi viaggiatori e Guido Marzorati è partito verso ovest dimostrandoci di aver messo a frutto le sue esperienze americane (ha suonato in locali storici come lo Stone Pony): “Journey Of Hope” ne è la summa, il suo “Il Milione”. (LUCA VITALE)

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www.rootshighway.it OCTOBER 2006 - GUIDO MARZORATI & THE BLUGOS - JOURNEY OF HOPE - Velut Luna

Ci sono, in verità sempre più di rado, dischi che sarebbe un vero peccato lasciare che non abbiano un meritato risalto, solo perché hanno diffusione limitata che li fa diventare oggetti per pochi intimi. Una fine questa che non merita sicuramente Journey Of Hope, affascinante conferma della bontà del songwriting di Guido Marzorati, veneziano che aveva esordito qualche anno fa con il valido Live At Home, in completa solitudine, mostrando una stoffa da storyteller che gli aveva permesso di reggere un disco intero affidandosi soltanto alla sua voce, ad un'armonica e a una Takamine acustica. In questo caso il suo progetto prende il nome di Guido Marzorati & The Blugos, i quali sono Elisa Marzorati al piano, Iliano Vincenzi al basso e Andrea Scarpari alla batteria, qui al servizio insieme alla solita Takamine di una manciata di gran belle canzoni. L'impianto sonoro richiama atmosfere di cantautorato di gran classe anni'70, per l'uso continuo del piano, con una ritmica e una chitarra mai invadenti. Un profumo di California sembra sprigionarsi dalle casse, quando in ordine sparso, è Virtual Love, morbida ballata, a farsi apprezzare. Journey Of Hope in apertura ed Out Of My Skin, dai toni appena più decisi ma sempre controllati, con il pianoforte di Elisa che le segna e ci emoziona, sono altri due ottimi esempi delle capacità compositive di Guido, il quale dà un ulteriore sfoggio delle sue qualità ed i Blugos del loro essere sicuramente più di una qualsiasi backing band in Songs From The Next World, uno dei pezzi migliori, progressione di accordi assolutamente cantautorali, incorniciati da un piano sempre dietro la voce, che, se chiudiamo gli occhi, ci trasporta d'incanto al di là dell'oceano, dalle parti di Los Angeles, all'incirca trent'anni fa… Blooming Roots alza appena il ritmo, ma in modo molto piacevole; Keep Beating ha un taglio più urbano, a dispetto della bella intro strumentale di slide e ci mostra un altro volto di Guido, che non si nasconde se c'è da pigiare un po' di più sul gas, come avviene in What Can I Do? che ci conduce alla fine di questo viaggio sui binari sciolti di un bel rock sempre ammorbidito dal piano. Un disco completo che cresce dopo ogni ascolto e che non ha nulla da invidiare a produzioni più blasonate d'oltreoceano, a cui in alcuni casi manca sicuramente il cuore con cui Guido Marzorati porta avanti il suo discorso musicale. (GABRIELE BUVOLI)

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“BUSCADERO” MAGAZINE, JULY 2006 - GUIDO MARZORATI & THE BLUGOS
JOURNEY OF HOPE - Velut Luna ***

Influenced by American singer/songwriters of the rock/folk genre, Guido Marzorati follows up his first album of 2000 with an album that brings to the fore his more intimate side and his vagabond spirit.
After testing himself vocally and musically during a long stay in New York, where he played in cafés and clubs, such as the Stone Pony, Guido Marzorati returned to his home town of Venice. With the help of a group of friends, he has created a sort of journey through the places of his music and inspiration, a journey of hope as the title suggests, dictated by his love of those American musical paths that formed his (and our) imagination. Dreams become songs, ten beautiful songs played in a style that embraces Springsteen, the writers of the Village and Jackson Browne.
Shy and quiet, a little bit apart with respect to the rest of the Italian music scene, where musicians often fly the flag of a love of Springsteen in order to find their place in the sun, Marzorati is almost unknown. This is a bad thing because his elegance in writing, his romantic voice, the calm interpretation and the care that he takes with the arrangements and the details of his songs all point to an interesting singer/songwriter, who places importance on soft tones and intimate ballads. He has a strongly evocative style in which the guitar is accompanied by a classic-style piano of the highest quality which is one of the most distinctive aspects of the record.
Marzorati is the author of the lyrics and the music but a group of family and friends has gathered around him who participate in the project which he leads. The Blugos are the talented Elisa Marzorati on the piano, Iliano Vincenzi on bass, and Andrea Scarpari on drums. There are also backing musicians, Daniele Scala from the Morblus on Hammond, Filippo Bonini on the violin and three backing singers. Francesca Palazzi is the art director and it’s worth mentioning her given the quality of the sleeve notes complete with lyrics and photos. They have nothing to be ashamed of when compared with the best Anglo-Saxon productions, presenting that style of street-balladeer that Marzorati wants to convey with his music.
The ballads Journey of hope, the touching Song from the next world, the catchy Out of my skin with Elisa Marzorati’s piano playing well to the fore, the Springsteen-like (and it couldn’t have been any different given the title) Come to a new land are among the best things on the record. The more upbeat songs also have their place. Worth mentioning are Blooming roots, What can I do? with its sounds reminiscent of Little Feat, the high-paced Complainer’s disease and those bluesy sounds with the slide guitar and the usual great piano work of Elisa Marzorati on Keep beating. These are songs however that never lose the good manners of a slightly “reserved” rocker who resembles more Jackson Browne than the heroes of the Jersey Shore.
Recorded with professionalism Journey of hope has body, soul and a brilliant sound.
Maybe Guido Marzorati needs a bit of toughness and “nastiness” but then again we know that Venice is a happy island, no traffic jams, no cars, no underground (despite the fact that the album cover has one on it) and nice talks over a glass of wine are still today the daily rhythms of those who aren’t born to run. How can we say that they are wrong? (MAURO ZAMBELLINI)

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“VENEZIA NEWS” MAGAZINE, JULY 2006 - GUIDO MARZORATI & THE BLUGOS - JOURNEY OF HOPE Velut Luna

Three years after its recording and mixing, the second album of Venetian singer/songwriter GM has finally come out on the Paduan record label Velut Luna. The 10 songs on the CD all have lyrics in English, a language chosen, I assume, for export reasons and hence for finding a wider audience in a world brought closer together through the internet. Flicking through the CD booklet, complete with lyrics, the first impression is that here we are dealing with a rock album, for its choice of subject matter, photos and colours. In fact, M gives us a melodic rock, of medium-slow pace, easy to listen to. His slightly and pleasantly raucous voice reminds us, in a less aggressive way of the Boss, Springsteen and, with less nasality, the minstrel Dylan, in particular in the songs in which not only the guitar but also the harmonica takes the lead (….). The song that I liked the most is without doubt the title track and first on the album, JOh. It is a soft bossa-rock or rock-bossa depending on the point of view of the listener. ALSOW packs a big punch with its testimony to the futility of war and the hope that history doesn’t ever repeat. In other parts of the album we also find simple romanticism, such as on CTANL in which the chorus says “give me your…..”. Apart from the band’s lead vocalist/guitarist GM it’s worth mentioning the basic trio of the Blugos, piano, bass and drums, who dedicatedly follow the rhythmic variations and emotions of their leader. (GIOVANNI GRETO)

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“BUSCADERO” MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER, 2000 - Live at Home - Balancing Act Records.

One day I was wandering through the streets of Venice (with a friend who lives there) when the distinct, clean and unmistakable notes of The Ghost of Tom Joad came floating up from a little square. It was a Sunday in June and Venice was welcoming the arrival of summer with doors open to music. Amateurs, semi-professionals, bands and simple lovers of jazz, ethnic music, rock and classical music made the most beautiful city in the world even sunnier, bringing happiness and good vibrations beyond the usual and annoying traffic of mass tourism.
Among drums, saxophones and double basses and some folk bands from the Tirol my attention was captured by a young man in jeans with a Takamine who alone brought to the lagoon a sign of the Boss. An authentic needle in a haystack because Guido Marzorati, that is the name of this atypical Venetian storyteller, showed signs of good guitar playing skills and vocal interpretation, choosing a repertoire, that of solid rock , that here in Italy is anything but popular.
Later, when I came into possession of his self-produced CD, I realised that not only does Guido Marzorati have a great passion for Springsteen but he is, as they say on the other side of the Atlantic, a singer/songwriter of good promise that would not be out of place doing a set in some café in Bleecker or MacDougal St. in Greenwich Village. His style and vivacity remind you of the singer/songwriters of the Village from the end of the 70s, above all Steve Forbert and Willie Nile and his compositions have exactly those suggestions and colours of the East Coast songwriter sound.
In his songs, and the CD Live At Home shows it, there is not the standard folk/acoustic sound because Marzorati, even just with his Takamine and harmonica, manages to give vivacity and toughness to songs that have an implicit rock strength.
Marzorati assails the songs. He is never too intimate, even when he sings of love stories and the small vicissitudes of life. His voice is not a lament and his strumming is alive and energetic while at the same time clean and precise.
Live At Home is a completely self-produced work and on one hand shows the songwriting talents of the author (the ten songs are all his own compositions) and on the other Marzorati’s initiative in controlling his own music.
Live At Home was in fact recorded (really well, hearing is believing) at home, simulating the live atmosphere with friends, with the help of Michele Saviolo on the mixing desk. He then made a CD from the recording which includes a great book with the lyrics and excellent photos in cloudy, bluish tones, a perfect representation of a type of music that owes much to the lights and shadows of the night and to the streets that belong to no-one which can be placed on that Dylan/Springsteen axis which has made so many people dream.
Even though it is self-produced it is a completely professional product that is a precise image of Marzorati’s bitter and poetic rock and of his love for a musical landscape that in Italy is often snubbed and marginalised.
Ten songs for guitar, voice and harmonica, with the Village in their heart and the lagoon in their eyes, here is a personality that absolutely must be discovered. Some of the titles are Time to Choose, Work in Progress, From the Stables to the Stars, Wavelength (nothing to do with Van Morrison), The Night Alone, Tight-Rope Walker. This young man doesn’t seem to know what boredom is and rocks with his acoustic guitar like the Americans do. (MAURO ZAMBELLINI)

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