Osanna are an Italian

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

band.

Origin

The group originated in the

Vomero Vomero () is a bustling hilltop district of metropolitan Naples, Italy — comprising approximately and a population of 48,000. Vomero is noted for its central square, Piazza Vanvitelli; the ancient Petraio, its earliest path up and down ...

neighborhood of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

with the union of Lino Vairetti (voice), Danilo Rustici (guitar), Massimo Guarino (drums), Lello Brandi (bass), from the first line-up of the band Città Frontale, and Elio D'Anna (flute and sax), former member of the Showmen. Osanna were among the first bands in the world to present themselves theatrically in their shows, featuring costumes and made-up faces.

Artistic output

After the debut album '' L'uomo'', they released the soundtrack for the film ''

Milano Calibro 9 ''Caliber 9'' ( it, Milano calibro 9, lit=Milan caliber 9; also released as ''The Contract'') is a 1972 Italian noir-poliziottesco film written and directed by Fernando Di Leo and starring Gastone Moschin, Mario Adorf, Barbara Bouchet, Philippe L ...

''. In 1972 they toured in Italy alongside

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

. Their following album ''

Palepoli ''Palepoli'' is a progressive rock album released in 1972 by the Italian band Osanna, widely considered amongst the best in the Italian progressive rock genre. ''Palepolis'' was the name of the pre-Greek settlement of Naples Naples (; it, ...

'' (1972) is regarded as one of the finest hours of the

Italian progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

movement, characterized by a wild composition fantasy which mixes

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

sounds with modern progressive rock elements, such as the extensive use of electric guitar and

mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. ...

. In 1974, despite strife amongst band members, they released '' Landscape of Life'', which included participation from future rock and pop producer

Corrado Rustici Corrado Rustici (born 1957) is an Italian musician, songwriter and producer. Recording career Rustici was a founder member of the Naples-based progressive rock group Cervello. The band recorded the album ''Melos'' in 1973, with Rustici on guitar ...

, brother of Danilo and former guitarist of

Cervello Cervello ("Brain") is a band from Italy. History Cervello was formed by musicians from Naples. Corrado Rustici, then 17 years old, was the younger brother of Danilo Rustici, who was the guitarist of another popular rock band from Naples of thes ...

, another artistic band hailing from Naples. The band disbanded but reformed in 1977 without D'Anna, who was replaced by keyboardist Fabrizio D'Angelo, while the bass role was taken up by Enzo Petrone. With this line-up they released ''Suddance'' in 1978, to a large extent containing lyrics in the

Neapolitan language , altname = , states = Italy , region = Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Lazio, Marche, Molise , ethnicity = ''Mezzogiorno'' Ethnic Italians , speakers = 5.7 million , date ...

. Osanna disbanded again in 1979.

Reformation

The Osanna reformed in 1999, releasing the LP ''Taka boom'' the following year, including old successes and some new songs. Their next production was ''Prog Family'', under the name of Osanna/Jackson, featuring figures of progressive rock history, such as Van der Graaf Generator's saxophonist David Jackson (as per name),

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series ''Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix sitcom ...

, Balletto di Bronzo's Gianni Leone and others. With David Jackson, the band released a single, "A zingara"/"L'uomo" in 2008. Later, with David Jackson and Gianni Leone, the band contributed eight tracks to the live boxed set ''Prog exhibition''.

Rustici's death

Danilo Rustici died in

on 26 February 2021, at the age of 72 from the effects of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Discography

*'' L'uomo'' (1971) *'' Preludio Tema Variazioni e Canzona'' (best known as ''

'', 1972) – issued in the US via Neil Kempfer-Stocker's imprint, COSMOS *''

'' (1973) *''Landscape of life'' (1974) – issued in the US via COSMOS *''Suddance,'' (1978) *''Taka boom, Afrakà'' (2001, anthology with new songs) *''Live - Uomini e Miti'' (live, 2003) *''Prog Family'' (2008, as Osanna Jackson)

References

External links

Italian prog website
* * Italian progressive rock groups Italian rock music groups Musical groups from Campania {{Italy-band-stub