The Japanese have always had a soft spot for Italian artists. Since the 1970s, progressive rock bands have also become a favorite, often invited to play in the Land of the Rising Sun. The latest to join the ranks is a Venetian band, The Super Severance EvolutionThey recently performed successfully at two well-known Tokyo venues, along with other local bands. All are from the Volcano Record & Production label. For the occasion, they performed songs from their album “Break the chains”The group, an ideal continuation of the "metalheads" Severance, is composed of Jack Palmieri (guitar), Stefano Dallas (vocals), Filippo Paglini (bass) and Max Iannantuono (drums).
One of the main protagonists of this rebirth is him, Massimo “Super” Iannantuono, born in Venice in 1962 and living in Martellago. As a boy, he studied trumpet at the conservatory, although he later decided to become a drummer, starting to play with his father in a small orchestra at the age of ten. As he grew up, he gained experience in the 1970s in various Venetian groups, such as High Tide (young people from the conservatory circle).
He also played in the metal band from Vicenza TIA (a vinyl released in 1985). But his luck was, thanks to the Venetian guitarist Stefano Zabeo, become a drummer of the Blues Society, the band founded in 1976 by the historic and unfortunate Venetian bluesman (and his great friend) Guido Toffoletti, with the aim of spreading the blues in Italy.
He also appeared on a couple of albums with the group Severance. Eleven years after Toffoletti's tragic death in 1999, Max Iannantuono has ideally inherited Guido's artistic legacy, creating a recording project featuring several famous guests and performing several concerts.
In 1984 Max also played with guitarist Alvin LeeMore (founder of Ten Years After) on the last date of his tour in Italy, and with several other top-level artists, such as the English guitarist Alexis Korner and the American Stef Burns (Alice Cooper, Vasco Rossi).
Max, what do you remember about that period of your musical career?
With Guido I was a guest on the Rai programme Renzo Arbore "Quelli della notte". On that occasion, a friendship and mutual respect was created with the duo Antonio & Marcello, who also produced emerging groups. We brought them some Severance songs, and in 1990 the album "Street cries”. Now we have a new work, in prog style, with the name of the group changed to Super Severance Evolution, entitled “Break the chains”, with the participation of a symphony orchestra. Toffoletti himself was also a friend of Patty Pravo and for this reason she was involved as a guest in two concerts in honor of Guido and in the album dedicated to him.
Who was Guido Toffoletti for you?
For me Guido was basically a friend, but it was also very important for my artistic career, because it gave me the opportunity to play the blues in a traditional way. It was the early 1980s; I was young, exuberant, and with a fundamentally rock musical background. Guido, little by little, helped me understand the right language for playing the blues as he understood it. To avoid my exuberance, he initially had me use only the bass drum and cymbals.
Guido had an open personality and was well-liked by everyone. He loved to play pranks of all kinds, but he was also a bit shy and reserved. In short, you could define him as... “a good boy.” I remember he often came to my house, too, and he was very fond of my mother. Thanks to him, I met a lot of musicians, from Patty Pravo to many Italian and foreign blues musicians, and I still keep in touch with several of them today.
How did the Toffoletti album project come about?
Basically my soul is rock and when I made the tribute album for him, I realized that there were many contaminations, starting from the drum parts, but also for the choice of songs and guests, like for Patty Pravo herself, and that's also why the album is named Max Rock Blues Society. Those who brought their musical contribution are all friends of Guido.
We also included Toffoletti's voice in a song and there is also the presence of James Burton (Elvis Presley's guitarist). There are also many other well-known artists, such as Danilo Sacco (Nomads), Aldo Tagliapietra (Le Orme), GLen White, Mario Fasciano (Rick Wakeman), Dougie Meakin and Dave Sumner (The Motowns, The Primitives) and Stefano Zabeo. One of the concerts also featured the Vanadium frontman, Pino Scotto (metal, but with blues influences). The icing on the cake is the use of an original guitar by Toffoletti and a short track with his vocals.
Finally, we asked Max Iannantuono for a comment on his recent experience in Japan…
We are thrilled, because we've played abroad before, but never so far from home. We performed songs from the album Break the chains, produced by Effegi of Stefano Tessaro, released last January. It features eleven tracks, some previously unreleased and some rearrangements, from the album Urla di strada, released in 1990.
