Artist
AGORA'
1974-1975
Roberto Bacchiocchi (keyboards, vocals)
Ovidio Urbani (sax)
Renato Gasparini (guitar, vocals)
Paolo Colafrancesco (bass, vocals)
Mauro Mencaroni (drums, vocals)
1976-78
Colafrancesco quits, replaced by:
Lucio Cesari (bass, percussion)
Nino Russo (sax, percussion)
One of the few professional bands from the Marche, on the Adriatic side of central Italy, Agorà were formed in 1974 near Ancona, and played a jazz-rock very influenced by the likes of Weather Report or the italian group Perigeo, with a very limited use of progressive sounds. Some of the band members had previously been in a rock band called Oz Master Magnus Ltd.
Despite not being so popular they were contacted to
play the famous Montreux international jazz festival in Switzerland that gave
them a
deal with Atlantic.
Their first LP was a live album, recorded during that festival. Mostly
instrumental and just 30 minutes long, the LP has its moments, with just four
long cuts (one of which is curiously split between the two sides of the LP),
that often resemble some english jazzy-prog bands of the early 70's.
The second album, in 1976, is much more jazz-rock
oriented than the first.
The band also played in the 1976 Parco Lambro festival
and is featured on the live album released at the time with Cavalcata solare,
from their second album and also released on single.
Band decided to split in 1978. For a short time
that year Pepe Maina played percussion with them, he's
also featured in a concert filmed at Montreux but never officially released.
Ovidio Urbani is still now an appreciated player in the jazz field.
(the trolley icon
lets you order the CD from BTF website)
LP | |||
Live in Montreux | Atlantic (T 50171) | 1975 | single cover with foldout shaped tree - inner |
Agorà 2 | Atlantic (T 50324) | 1976 | gatefold cover |
CD |
|||
Live in Montreux | BTF/VM2000 (VMCD 086)![]() |
2003 | reissue of 1975 album - mini gatefold cover |
Agorà 2 | BTF/VM2000 (VMCD 087)![]() |
2003 | reissue of 1976 album - mini gatefold cover |
SINGLES (with picture sleeve) |
|||
Cavalcata solare I Cavalcata solare II |
Atlantic (T 10941) | 1976 | both tracks from Agorà 2 |
VARIOUS ARTISTS COMPILATIONS |
|||
Parco Lambro (with Cavalcata solare) |
Laboratorio (LB/LP 201) | 1976 | live recordings from the 1976 Parco Lambro festival - also features Sensations' Fix, Ricky Gianco, Area, Canzoniere del Lazio, Toni Esposito, Paolo Castaldi, Eugenio Finardi. |
Stampa Alternativa (RP 02) | 2005 | CD reissue of the above with different mini LP cover - only sold with the book Area/Musica e rivoluzione by Gianpaolo Chiaricò |
Both Agorà albums have never been reissued on vinyl in Italy, neither counterfeited. They have recently been reissued by BTF/Vinyl Magic in their deluxe "Italian Progressive Rock" series with nice mini-gatefold covers and illustrated booklets.
Live in Montreux has a nice gimmix cover with a tree on
a street, the tree can be raised and has a small stand on the back.
The back cover has a beautiful band picture made by a very popular music photographer
and cover designer, Caesar Monti.
A japanese edition of the first album exists on Atlantic (P-10399A) label, with
standard cover, 4-page insert and the usual obi.
Agorà 2 is housed in a more simple gatefold cover.
|
|
Live in Montreux - front cover and label |
|
![]() |
![]() |
Live in Montreux - back cover |
Live in Montreux - foldable tree |
![]() |
|
Agorà 2 - front cover |
Note:
Pictures are hosted on a different server than the rest of this website;
for this reason they can be very slow at times or not visible at all,
but you can try to reload the page later.