Corte dei Miracoli

1973-74
Graziano Zippo (vocals)
Alessio Feltri (keyboards)
Michele Carlone (keyboards)
Gabriele Siri (bass)
Flavio Scogna (drums, percussion)

With a distinctive line-up of two keyboard players and no guitars, Corte dei Miracoli from Savona released just an album on the small Grog label, with the help of New Trolls' guitarist Vittorio De Scalzi (also involved in the label).

They had been formed around 1973 by past members of Tramps, like keyboardist Alessio Feltri, that had previously played with Il Giro Strano, a band that's strictly connected with Corte dei Miracoli.
Original second keyboardist Michele Carlone left the group just before the recordings for their debut album, and was replaced by the experienced jazz pianist Riccardo Zegna.

The album is obviously a symphonic oriented prog album, where the keyboards interplay dominates but vocal parts are the weakest point, sometimes a bit too distant from the musical background. A good album but not among the best in the genre.

The group kept playing until the summer of 1976, its last line-up also including guitarist Valerio Piccioli.
After the band's demise, a new edition of Il Giro Strano was formed by Feltri, Siri and Piccioli, but the group was not successful.

A posthumous album, Dimensione onirica, recorded in 1973-74 by the first line up of the band, has been released by Mellow on CD, and is good.

LP
Corte dei Miracoli	Grog (GRL 04)	1976	gatefold cover
CD
Dimensione onirica	Mellow (MMP 104)	1992	recorded in 1973-74
Live at Lux	Mellow (MMP 138)	1993	live recordings from 1976
Corte dei Miracoli	Vinyl Magic (VM 040)	1994	reissue of 1976 album
PARTECIPAZIONE A RACCOLTE DI ARTISTI VARI
Progressive voyage (with Plinto, Lontano da qui, Xaito, Il silenzio di cristallo)	Mellow (MMP 164)	1993	CD compilation also including Quella Vecchia Locanda, Il Giro Strano, Dietro Noi Deserto, Zauber and others

One of only five albums released by the small Grog label, Corte dei Miracoli is probably the easiest to find, but never cheap!
It comes with a gatefold cover, and has also been reissued with identical design in Japan (King K22P326 - later with single cover) and Korea (Si-Wan SRML 2004).

Corte dei Miracoli has had a 2003 CD reissue by the Japanese label Arcangelo (ARC-7022) 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).


Corte dei Miracoli - gatefold cover

LP label

Dimensione onirica - CD	Live at Lux - CD

Corte dei Miracoli's self-titled album has a distinct symphonic prog sound being very melodic and contrasting in writing style with fellow Italians Balletto di Bronzo, Biglietto per l'Inferno or Campo di Marte. Corte dominates the album with intelligent and very classy style of playing helped enormously by the 16 track recording quality.
Only 5 songs, which contain both beautiful melodies and fiery interludes. Skillwise all musicians are top level and all instruments are exploited perfectly. Corte dei Miracoli has also a little of jazzy edge due to the repetition of a theme throughout a song using different instruments.
I Due Amanti based on Victor Hugo's "Notre-Dame de Paris", vividly narrates this literary masterpiece by changing tempos and becoming emotional in the right moments (and also repeating the theme in different manners). The vocals are very pleasing and bring the song to a climax in the last 4 lines. Verso il Sole is the other fiery number, rarely heard from a 70's band such energy that could easily rival any Metal band.
Corte dei Miracoli is an impressive album, extremely different from other melodic Italians like Locanda delle Fate or Celeste. A very pleasing journey to ear with all minor scales and original compositions. You will hardly miss the electric guitar with hammond and moog sounds that fill the complex songs written by Corte dei Miracoli.
Juan Carlos Lopez