Biography
Established as a five-piece in Milan during 1973, Aktuala took their name from the Esperanto term for “actually” and united the husband-and-wife team of Walter and Laura Maioli with Daniele Cavallanti, Antonio Cerantola, and Lino Vaccina. The group quickly gained recognition as early trailblazers of contemporary world music, channeling progressive-rock energy through Arabian, African, and Indian motifs while constructing instrumental passages around trance-like repetition. At the same time Cavallanti performed in the self-titled quartet of Rome-based pianist Patrizia Scascitelli.
Their 1973 self-titled debut brought the band its first European attention. The following year the lineup expanded with the addition of flutist Otto Corrado, guitarist Attilio Zanchi, harpist Marjon Klok, and percussionist Trilok Gurtu, each contributing mastery of a distinct ethnic instrument. Issued in 1974, the second album La Terra is still viewed as the ensemble’s crowning achievement, though an even more ambitious undertaking lay ahead.
Throughout 1975 the musicians traveled widely, assembling material for a third album across a range of distant locales that would shape individual tracks. Fabrizio Cassanoi’s sitar and Rocchi’s keyboards supplied additional sonic layers, and the resulting record, Tappeto Volante, appeared in 1976. Although it earned strong praise and exerted an uncredited influence on subsequent European artists, Tappeto Volante proved to be Aktuala’s last release; the band disbanded later that year. Cavallanti later resurfaced with Nexus, while Walter Maioli is acknowledged as one of Italy’s leading authorities on prehistoric music-making.
Their 1973 self-titled debut brought the band its first European attention. The following year the lineup expanded with the addition of flutist Otto Corrado, guitarist Attilio Zanchi, harpist Marjon Klok, and percussionist Trilok Gurtu, each contributing mastery of a distinct ethnic instrument. Issued in 1974, the second album La Terra is still viewed as the ensemble’s crowning achievement, though an even more ambitious undertaking lay ahead.
Throughout 1975 the musicians traveled widely, assembling material for a third album across a range of distant locales that would shape individual tracks. Fabrizio Cassanoi’s sitar and Rocchi’s keyboards supplied additional sonic layers, and the resulting record, Tappeto Volante, appeared in 1976. Although it earned strong praise and exerted an uncredited influence on subsequent European artists, Tappeto Volante proved to be Aktuala’s last release; the band disbanded later that year. Cavallanti later resurfaced with Nexus, while Walter Maioli is acknowledged as one of Italy’s leading authorities on prehistoric music-making.
Albums
