Artist

CELESTE

Ciro Perrino (drums, percussion, flute, keyboards, vocals)
Leonardo Lagorio (keyboards, flute, sax)
Mariano Schiavolini (guitar, violin)
Giorgio Battaglia (bass)

Along with Museo Rosenbach, Celeste were born from the ashes of the legendary Il Sistema, a band from Sanremo whose only posthumous released recordings don't give a real idea of what they were. 
Formed by drummer Ciro Perrino and sax player Leonardo Lagorio (who had played with Museo Rosenbach in their early days) this four piece went in a totally different direction from their beginnings, playing a mostly acoustic, dreamy and delicate prog. A studio group, they had a very limited live experience.
Their first album, Principe di un giorno was released by the small Grog label only in 1976, but the tracks had been composed in 1973 and recorded in 1974. It contains seven tracks, with pastoral lyrics and a style not far from the softer side of early King Crimson.

A second album, recorded in 1977, was released in 1991 by Mellow with the obvious title of Celeste II. Closer to jazz-rock and very far from their debut album, this suffers from poor quality and unfinished recordings.
Another album, born as a soundtrack and called I suoni in una sfera was also released in 1992, more similar to their first work and including two songs also on Principe di un giorno.

After the band split Ciro Perrino played with St.Tropez (that also included Celeste bass player Battaglia), Compagnia Digitale and SNC and released a solo album (Solare in 1980), before founding with Mauro Moroni the praiseworthy Mellow label, so important during the years for the world diffusion of the italian prog.

Very rare in its original Grog pressing, Principe di un giorno is more common in its japanese (Seven Seas/King K22P184) and korean (Si-Wan SRML 2003) issues, both having the same plain white gatefold cover as the original, though later single-cover japanese issues exist.
The original album sold around 4000 copies, but the number of copies pressed is unknown.

Second album, recorded in 1977, was released in a limited vinyl pressing by M.M./Mellow, many of these copies were signed on the insert by Ciro Perrino. Its CD reissue had the title Second plus, as it included over 20 minutes of bonus tracks.

No counterfeits or other foreign issues exist.

Principe di un giorno has had a 2003 CD reissue by the japanese label Arcangelo (ARC-7021) with a mini-LP cover. This is also part of an 8-CD box set dedicated to Grog (that includes in fact only three Grog releases along with five albums originally on Magma).

Principe di un giorno - front cover

LP label

Celeste II - LP and insert

Second plus CD