Ivano Fossati

Featuring: Oscar Prudente

Tip! Poco Prima dell’Aurora is the result of the meeting of two fertile creative paths, as Ivano Fossati and Oscar Prudente join forces in a rare instance of double signature in Italian songwriter history. Released in October 1973, the work came at a time of personal and collective turmoil for Italian artists, sandwiched between the remains of the progressive era and the dawn of a more personal, folk-oriented songwriting. The record, produced under dual labels due to the artists’ contractual affiliations, stands out as an emblem of collaboration - Fossati’s arrangements and multi-instrumentality merging organically with Prudente’s melodic intuition and narrative flair. Transitional in its nature, the album does not yield entirely to the prevailing currents of progressive rock but forges its own identity with a nuanced blend of balladry, poetic storytelling, and flashes of Mediterranean timbre. Listeners are invited into a musical journey traversing various emotional states: "È l’aurora" emerges as the popular single, while tracks like "L’Africa" and "Apri le braccia" (the latter previously interpreted by Adriano Pappalardo) exemplify the duo’s ability to shift between introspection and outward narrative. The orchestrations are compact yet layered, allowing both artists moments of prominence without eclipsing the dialogic structure that underpins the work as a whole.

Throughout, the album oscillates between longing, gentle urgency, and the desire for understanding - a motif articulated explicitly in the subtitles of side B. Fossati’s contributions on guitar, vocals, and wind instruments imbue the tracks with warmth and versatility, while Prudente’s songwriting roots the sound in the Italian tradition, bridging past and future with subtle assurance. The outcome is a work less bombastic than its prog contemporaries but no less audacious in its genuine pursuit of expressive clarity. Recently reissued on transparent orange vinyl - its first reprint since 1980 - Poco Prima dell’Aurora preserves all the charm and freshness of its debut. It remains a touchstone for listeners exploring the evolution of Italian cantautori (songwriters), offering evidence of early risks and the spirited interplay that gave life to a style both familiar and quietly unconventional. The album invites new audiences to rediscover the alchemy of a partnership once ahead of its time, now recognized as a cornerstone of the Italian musical imagination.​