Artist

SAINT JUST
JENNY SORRENTI

SAINT JUST
1973
Jane Sorrenti (vocals)
Antonio Verde (guitar, bass, vocals)
Robert Fix (sax)

1974
Fix replaced by:
Tito Rinesi (guitar, vocals)
Andrea Faccenda (guitar, keyboards)
Fulvio Maras (drums, percussion)

Sister of well known artist Alan Sorrenti, Jenny (or Jane, as she was called in her early releases) was born in Naples from welsh mother, and formed there the acid folk trio Saint Just. With this band she released two albums before embarking in a solo career that only produced two more albums in the 70's.

Saint Just began as a trio mainly using acoustic instruments and mixing together folk, psychedelia and classical influences. The very good results are demonstrated in their first album, released in 1973 on Harvest. The soft prog atmospheres are dreamy and enchanting, like in the opening Quando nel mondo distrutto incominciò la vita, and Alan Sorrenti also sang on a track, but the group failed to render the delicate sound on stage.

The second album is more in a rock direction, with sax player Robert Fix being replaced by two electric guitarists and a stable drummer. The result is less acoustic and more rhythm based, always on a very good level. 

The band split after La casa del lago, with Jane starting a solo career under the name of Jenny Sorrenti.
Jenny's style as a solo artist is far from her previous band's, being much closer to the song format. Both albums being mainly built on Jenny's delicate voice, Suspiro is the best of the two, with help from experienced musicians like Peter Kaukonen (brother of Jorma, Jefferson Airplane's guitarist), drummer Francesco Froggio Francica (from Raccomandata con Ricevuta di Ritorno and Procession), guitarist Pino Daniele (later a well known solo artist), violinist Lucio Fabbri (PFM) and long cohort Toni Verde from the Saint Just days.

After many subsequent collaborations with other artists, Jenny Sorrenti has returned with a new CD, Medieval zone, in 2001, trying to mix the mediterranean folk tradition with her celtic roots, and again in 2004 with Com'è grande enfermidade.

In 2011 Jenny Sorrenti used the old Saint Just moniker again for an album issued in limited pressing, entitled Prog explosion. A good record that mixes the sound of her solo albums with more typical progressive atmospheres.

The first two albums of Saint Just are rare and hard to find. Both on Harvest, the first one had a heavy textured gatefold cover, the second one a single cover with inner.
Both were reissued on vinyl by Akarma in 2006 (the first exists on standard black vinyl and in a white vinyl limited pressing of 250 copies signed by Jenny Sorrenti), and only Saint Just was reissued again by AMS in 2010.
These albums have been issued in Japan on vinyl (Edison European Rock nos. ERS28029 and ERS28026) and CD (King/Crime 292E 2064 and 292E 2027), and on CD in Korea (Si-Wan SRMC-6014 and SRMC-6017).
The only single by Saint Just includes two cuts from the first album, but it's interesting to notice that it says on the back cover "l'unico ed autentico progressive italiano" (the only real Italian progressive), maybe the first time that the word "progressive" is used in Italy instead of "pop" during the 70's!

The 2011 album, Prog explosion, was issued in limited pressing of 750 copies on black vinyl, 200 on orange vinyl and 44 (with an autographed insert) on brown/black marbled vinyl, only sold through the site of the Raro magazine.

Jenny Sorrenti's solo albums are not particularly rare, but Suspiro has recently reached high values due to the interest by many foreign collectors in her production.
This album on Harvest came with a delicate silver coloured single sleeve and lyric inner, the second one on RCA had a laminated gatefold cover.
The 2004 album, Com'è grande enfermidade, issued by the small Naples label Polosud, has been reissued on vinyl in a limited pressing in 2006, and the first 250 copies are signed from Jenny and drummer/percussionist Marcello Vento (ex-Alberomotore e Canzoniere del Lazio).
No counterfeits exist.

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Saint Just Again Prog Exhibition 2011 - Rome 21-Oct-2011

Saint Just Again & Alan Sorrenti Prog Exhibition 2011 - Rome 21-Oct-2011

Find information and discography on Jenny Sorrenti's own website at http://www.jennysorrenti.it

Thanks to Valerio D'Angelo and Riccardo Maccari for some information and pictures in this page