Picchio dal Pozzo 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 formed in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

in 1976.

Biography

The activity of Picchio dal Pozzo has been quite erratic, with five albums published over a period of about 40 years (1976-2011). The style of the band is quite unconventional for the Italian progressive rock scene, showing influences of both Canterbury scene and jazz rock/avantgarde acts (including

Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966– ...

, Henry Cow, and

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...

).Canterbury
on Picchio dal Pozzo's official site The (essentially meaningless) name "Picchio dal Pozzo" (literally: "Woodpecker from the Well") came up when one of the band members created an artwork depicting a knight in armour, with a feather on his helm, standing by a well; "Picchio dal Pozzo" was suggested as the name of that knight. While the band never gained commercial success,Album del giorno: Picchio dal Pozzo
/ref> their works are usually praised by critics. Their debut album, the eponymous ''

Picchio dal Pozzo Picchio dal Pozzo are an Italian progressive rock band formed in Genoa in 1976. Biography The activity of Picchio dal Pozzo has been quite erratic, with five albums published over a period of about 40 years (1976-2011). The style of the band is ...

'' (1976, dedicated to

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming pa ...

) has been described as a "milestone of Italian rock music"Review of ''Picchio dal Pozzo'' (1976 album)
at ''Ondarock'' and remains their most appreciated work. Their second album ''Abbiamo tutti i suoi problemi'' moves even further into experimentation, and has been compared to Zappa, Henry Cow, The Muffins, and National Health.Abbiamo tutti i suoi problemi
/ref> After ''Abbiamo tutti i suoi problemi'' Picchio dal Pozzo disbanded. In the early 2000s, when many progressive rock bands from the 1970s were being "rediscovered" by revival-oriented labels, Picchio dal Pozzo's works were republished, along with a CD of unreleased material, published under the title ''Camere Zimmer Rooms''. The band also reunited to play live in progressive rock events. In 2004, they published their first original recording since 1980, ''Picnic @ Valdapozzo'', based on unreleased, readapted recordings featuring avantgarde/jazz singer

Demetrio Stratos Efstratios Dimitriou ( el, Ευστράτιος Δημητρίου; 22 April 1945 – 13 June 1979), known professionally as Demetrio Stratos, was a Greek lyricist, multi-instrumentalist, music researcher, and co-founder, frontman and lead singe ...

.Pic nic @ Valdapozzo
/ref> The band is still active and issued a live album in 2011.

Lineup

* Aldo De Scalzi (1976–present): keyboards, percussions, vocals * Paolo Griguolo (1976–present): guitar, vocals * Giorgio Karaghiosoff (1976): saxophone, flute, percussions, vocals * Andrea Beccari (1976–present): bass, vocals * Claudio Lugo (1977–1979): saxophone, flute * Roberto Romani (1977–present): saxophone, flute * Aldo Di Marco (1977–present): drums, percussions

Discography

* ''

Picchio dal pozzo Picchio dal Pozzo are an Italian progressive rock band formed in Genoa in 1976. Biography The activity of Picchio dal Pozzo has been quite erratic, with five albums published over a period of about 40 years (1976-2011). The style of the band is ...

'' (Grog 1976) * ''Abbiamo tutti i suoi problemi'' (L'Orchestra 1980) * ''Camere Zimmer Rooms'' (Cuneiform 2001) * ''Picnic @ Valdapozzo'' (Auditorium 2004) * ''A_Live'' (Altrock 2011)

Footnotes

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Italian progressive rock groups