Review: Stormy Six – L’apprendista (1977)

L’apprendista is the sixth studio album by the Italian band Stormy Six.

Founded in Milan in 1966, Stormy Six began their career playing psychedelic rock before shifting toward folk-influenced left-wing protest songs. By the mid-1970s, the band’s style had gradually drifted toward progressive rock. A few years later, Stormy Six’s music had become so complex and angular that the albums L’apprendista and Macchina maccheronica (1980) can easily be classified as avant-prog.

The avant-prog pioneer band Henry Cow and Stormy Six met in 1975 while Henry Cow was touring Italy and discovered that they were united not only by their political leanings but also by similar musical ambitions. In 1978, Stormy Six became one of the first five bands to join the loose Rock In Opposition organization founded by Henry Cow, whose purpose was to promote challenging and experimental bands operating outside the mainstream music industry.

At the time of L’apprendista, Stormy Six consisted of six members, but the album was recorded with as many as ten musicians. The core band was joined in the studio by a bassoonist, a cellist, a saxophonist, and a keyboardist. The sound of L’apprendista is mostly acoustic. The main instruments are acoustic guitars, various bell-like percussion instruments, and especially violins, which are played by as many as two members of Stormy Six. Keyboards and electric guitar are also heard at times, but their role is quite minor.

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L’apprendista’s multifaceted sound still reflects the band’s folk roots to some extent, but the complex arrangements and rhythms that shift in odd time signatures also contain more than a few echoes of Gentle Giant, who were a favorite of the Stormy Six crew (the Interview album in particular). The Henry Cow influences (the bassoon was likely included specifically under the inspiration of Henry Cow’s Lindsay Cooper) are also clear, though not quite as prominent as the Gentle Giant influence.

Like Gentle Giant, Stormy Six places vocals at the center of their music. Unfortunately, the vocal arrangements (which don’t even attempt the polyphonic singing typical of Gentle Giant) don’t reach Gentle Giant’s level. The vocals are given far too much space overall, especially since the singer delivers his lines in a somewhat monotonous, spoken-word-like, and declamatory style. Of course, my poor command of Italian doesn’t help matters. Stormy Six may have something very profound to say, but I don’t understand a single word of it.

Alongside the semi-acoustic sound, drums are of course also present, but Salvatore Garau plays them in a manner quite atypical for rock—more in an orchestral, percussive style (perhaps inspired by Henry Cow’s Chris Cutler?) than as a straightforward rhythm section. Pleasingly, the drums also fall silent for long stretches at times, allowing the other instruments to float on their own. Not that L’apprendista is exactly some light, fluffy floating. The sound is certainly airy, but often also sharp and biting.

L’apprendista is, for the most part, a very atypical example of Italian prog. It lacks the grandiose, dramatic melodicism and a certain sweetness typical of Italian prog. Nor does it build emotional intensity quite to the same lofty heights as Italian prog-rockers often did. A few times, Stormy Six does flash a delicious melody typical of bands from that country. Especially the melody played on electric guitar in “Il Labirinto” sounds somehow very Italian. In its electric nature, that track perhaps comes closest of all the album’s songs to typical Italo-prog. On the other hand, its delightful swing-inspired saxophone solo simultaneously pulls it in a completely different direction in an interesting way.

The excessive number of vocals somewhat hampers L’apprendista, but it is still a highly interesting and, ultimately, quite original album, despite its clear Gentle Giant influences. On their next album, Macchina maccheronica, Stormy Six delved even deeper into the avant-garde.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI
Tracks

1. Buon Lavoro! (5:12) 
2. L’Apprendista (5:39) 
3. Carmine (5:53) 
4. Il Barbiere (7:39) 
5. Cuore (5:51) 
6. Il Labirinto (8:25) 
7. Rosso (3:02) 
8. L’Orchestra dei Fischietti (6:29)

Stormy Six

Carlo De Martini: violin, viola, mandolin, acoustic guitar, vocals Tommaso Leddi: violin, mandolin, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano Umberto Fiori: vocals, acoustic guitar Franco Fabbri: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vibraphone, xylophone, vocals Luca Piscicelli: bass, vocals Salvatore Garau: drums

Guests

Leo Dosso: bassoon Andrea Vicario: cello Gianfranco Gagliardi: keyboards Renato Rivolta: saxophone

Producer: Stormy Six
Label: l’Orchestra

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