Toto Torquati - Toto Torquati- Rarities 1973 (1973)

Antonio "Toto" Torquati is a unique figure on the Italian scene. Blind from birth, he possessed a phenomenal musical gift. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he enjoyed a distinguished career as a session keyboardist, playing in the jazz scene (with Gato Barbieri and Earl Hines) and then on the pop scene with Claudio Baglioni, Lucio Dalla, and Mina.

His 1972 debut solo album was a light, pop-oriented collection of Moog organ covers, but his 1973 release became his most progressive manifesto.

In 1973, the original RCA LP went completely unnoticed by the general public—the pressing was small, and the album instantly became a philophonic rarity. This material only gained a renaissance and status as a cult classic of Italian progressive rock in the late 1990s and 2000s, thanks to CD and vinyl reissues from the iconic archival label Akarma and Japanese remasters in Paper Sleeve format (mini-vinyl).

If you listen to it under the digital cover "Rarities 1973," you're listening to one of the most beautiful, melodic, and elegant examples of how the Italian academic school and jazz background came together under the banner of 1970s progressive rock.