Slivovitz - All You Can Eat

There are bands that take Jazz and Progressive Rock to a standstill. And one of those bands is a group from Naples named Slivovitz. Mind you, I’m new to the band’s music, but they have been around since their formation fourteen years ago and having three albums in their sleeves, they really got my attention. This year, they have released their fourth album entitled All You Can Eat on the MoonJune label.

When I first heard their music, I was completely on the edge of my seat just waiting to hear what they have in store for me. And frankly, they got my ears sprinkling like hot and spicy ice cream bars like no other! It’s this combination between Frank Zappa, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Gentle Giant, and the fusion sounds between Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock. And those five concepts, blend together with a little dosage of the funky vibes as if they recorded it back in 1973.

I can hear alongside the Jazz-Rock influences, but at times the Rock-In-Opposition movement thrown in thanks to the blaring sounds of the trumpet, sax and harmonica harmonies from Ciro Riccardi, Pietro Santangelo, and Derek Di Perri. Almost as if they are the Justice League of Woodwind and Harmonica superhero instruments. Don’t forget violinist Riccardo Villari. He brings the essence of Eddie Jobson, Darryl Way, Jean-Luc Ponty, David Cross (King Crimson), and Richard Aubert (Atoll).

The dooming late-‘60s psychedelic spaghetti western with an Ennio Morricone Rock-In-Opposition taste of Hamster Theatre as guitarist Marcello Giannini comes up with these nightmarish terrors to create the minor tones that make it like a crunching terror through the rhythm and lead section. The track Persian Nights in which it opens the album off with a bang, is evidential to show where Slivovitz are going into. And the four evident's show the wonders and the talent bringing into the opening the door.

It is a perfect introduction to start the engines revving. Elsewhere, Derek’s harmonica goes into a blaring and alarming glory on Passannante. You could cut the tension as if you are walking on a dangerous tightrope and trying not to look down as the music builds that structure and not knowing when someone is going to cut the rope. But the band go into a quirky and a bit of the RIO sound thrown in with a wacky yet quirky touch of the madness.

With Barotrauma (La Zappa sui piedi), there’s a Jazzier flow. Between the beginning and the end, thrown in the midsection as I would call it, the homage to a score to Ren & Stimpy, the band know their vocabulary very well. Very much into the essence of The Inner Mounting Flame sessions, that is very evidential. When I heard Hangover, it reminded me of the French Progressive Rock group, Atoll.

You could tell Riccardo is shining like a flaming fire on his violin in the essence of Aubert’s playing. There’s the sounds of the L’Araignee-Mal and High Tide’s Sea Shanties into the mix with a symphonic jazz rock sound that will send chills and goose bumps to the bone. This here is a beautiful and ascending magical adventure in which you, the listener, will experience the sounds.

I have listened about three times to All You Can Eat. Leonardo Pavkovic is for me, the Bruce Wayne and Sherlock Holmes of finding amazing and interesting bands to be a part of the MoonJune family and my ears have sprinkled very well to Slivovitz’s music. This here, for me, is a crowning achievement that the band have accomplished. If you love Jazz, Symphonic, and Rock-In-Opposition music, then delve into the waters of Slivovitz’s music.