Tredici Bacci - Proggish Orchestral Pop, Italian Style

[Baribrotzer]

Tredeci Bacci have been around since 2013, but I just found out about them, and no one else here seems to have mentioned them. They are not, in fact, an Italian band - although much of their inspiration comes from 60s-70s Italian pop tunes and movie scores - but are based out of NYC, and have roots as students at the New England Conservatory. They're led by Simon Hanes and feature Sammi Stevens; otherwise, they have a rotating line-up, with several dozen band members able to play the material and the actual personnel at a show or session depending upon who is available.

Is their music prog? Some of it certainly is. Some of it is more Sixties pop, in the vein of Burt Bacharach, as well as various Italian soundtracks. Some of it is very mixed-together or invented, and isn't easily describable.

Here are some of the musicians, though not all of them:

• Sammi Stevens – Amazing Broadway Leading-Lady Voice, Happy Dancing
• Simon Hanes – Compositions, Arrangements, Energetic Conducting, Guitar, So-So Vocals
• Tree Palmedo – Trumpet
• Jake Baldwin – Trumpet
• Kevin Newton – French Horn
• Lucy Hollier – Trombone
• Leia Slosberg – Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo
• Daniel Pencer – Clarinet
• William Anton Greene – Tenor Saxophone
• Abigale Reisman – Violin
• Ludovica Burtone – Violin
• Joanna Mattrey – Viola
• Ansel Cohen – Violoncello
• Evan Laine Allen – Pianos, Organs, Keyboards
• Alec Watson – Celesta, Keyboards
• Borey Shin – Accordion
• Jesse Daniel Eugene Heasly – Bass
• Peter Jude Moffett – Drums

Here's an Italian-style music video:



Here's a Cardiacs cover, quite well done:



And here's a whole filmed concert - including, on several tunes, Jim (Foetus) Thirlwell on scraggly old-punk vocals:

[MaikH]

I noticed them via the (excellent) Cardiacs cover last weekend, had a look at what else they have done, and pretty much fell in love. The big string section gives them a much less 'jazzy' feel than other avantgarde big bands, and their initial mission to revive the lush sounds of 60s italian music is also a bit left of center. I feel that by now, they have taken several steps on a very unique path, and can not be compared fairly or with many caveats to anything else. Together with their immense technical skills and their exuberance, this is a perfect mixture for me

In addition to the three links above, I'd recommend their translation of Thin Lizzy's Boys Are Back in Town into grand pop opera as an entry drug: