arting the curtain behind the big 3 or so progressive ensembles to come out of Italy in the 1970s, one of course discovers a myriad of other agglomerations of varying longevity. But minimal research unveils solo performers who achieved considerable popular recognition in their day, at least in their homeland if not throughout Europe. At the risk of unfairly applying a broad brush, these artists would be in the crossover prog of RPI, even if most of their fans can't spell prog. I certainly don't profess to know more than a few, with FRANCO BATTIATO first coming to mind; admittedly his earlier work was more avant garde before he tasted mass success in the 80s. Following close behind is ANGELO BRANDUARDI, who is blessed with a better singing voice and comes across as Italy's answer to CHRISTY MOORE (a contemporary), with a folky, generally gentle and string heavy quality that grows and grows in my estimation. Top notch melodies that are both simple and challenging may have something to do with this.