Perigeo were founded in Rome in 1971: five professional musicians, all of them already largely active in the jazz and rock circuits of those years, who gathered in the studio to wisely blend together the two aforementioned music genres: this is probably the first example of jazz-rock music in Italy, admittedly influenced by Miles Davis and that legendary “Bitches Brew” that just two years earlier had shocked the jazz scene worldwide.
Purists among the music critics were then unhappy about such an ‘unpure’ mix but, thanks also to an incessant live activity, Perigeo managed to increase their popularity day by day, and they are today considered among the most important Italian Progressive Rock representatives.
“La Valle dei Templi”, the group’s fourth LP, is widely regarded as one of their best albums: the perfect balance between harmony and dissonance, catchiness and complexity of the musical phrasing. Whether La Vellei Dei Templi (Temple valley) is a concept album (not likely) or a thematic album (not sure of that album), there is a sense of unity between the tracks in this album, that wasn't in previous album; and this feel is reinforced with the ancient ruins photo shots on the album's covers. Overall, the clever inventiveness shown in the guitar/sax/keyboard solos, avoiding gratuitous pyrotechnics in order to keep a focus on the essential composed ideas; meanwhile, the rhythm section works with solid effectiveness and fluid precision - a dense ambience created by somber synth layers, dramatic sax lines, and floating guitar leads, all of them assembled upon a languid tempo heavily carried on by the drummer and the bassist - a mesmerizing combination of exotism and dark mystery.