LUCID DREAMING AND THE SPECTRE OF NIKOLA TESLA 

(Published by Aereostella)

This new album by Jerry Cutillo, released under his usual acronym OAK (Oscillations Alkemy Kreativity), continues along the thematic paths already traced in the previous trilogy (Viandanze – Giordano Bruno – Nine Witches Under a Walnut Tree). It spans from the tangible side of human life (the one documented by history) to another, more invisible and esoteric dimension. In the previous works, the composer focused his musical investigations on those condemned to die in flames; on this latest album, he gives voice to those who ended up at the stake of indifference—two faces of the same wickedness generated by Power against all transversal thought.

Although Nikola Tesla is considered the genius who discovered the 21st century (just think of the modern devices we use to communicate), he suffered from the looting of his inventions and their subsequent materialization for commercial or military use, without his knowledge.

On this record, the OAK lineup confirms Jonathan Noyce on bass and David Jackson on saxophones, this time joined by his daughter Dorie. Miss Jackson duets with Jerry Cutillo on the opening track “Everything Is Light,” while Alex Elena appears on drums and production.

The singer Dikajee points her stardust toward another dimension in “The Comet and the Dreamer,” and her vocalizations provide the prelude to an artistic union with Cutillo’s voice.

The album closes with another guest, Laura Piazzai, who rides a symphony suspended between contemporaneity and transcendence, in a work crossed by intense feelings and astonishing musical formulas.

Side A

1) EVERYTHING IS LIGHT  7:00 

2) OSCILLATION  ALKEMY  KREATIVITY  13:25

a) Hypnotic spiral

b) Oscillation  Alkemy  Kreativity

c) New York City

d) AC vs DC

e) Black Night Satellite

f) Dancing a Slow Kolo with the Electric Shadows

g) Oscillation  Alkemy  Kreativity (reprise)

Side B

1) LEARN TO RUN IN YOUR DREAMS   6:02

2) THE COMET AND THE DREAMER  7:07

3) WHITE WINGS  4:40

4) THE SILVER CORD  3:50

ALL SONGS WRITTEN BY JERRY CUTILLO

All instruments & vocals by Jerry Cutillo except:

Bass: Jonathan Noyce 

Saxes and tin whistle: David Jackson (tracks 1- 3)

Drums: Alex Elena (tracks 1 - 2 - 3 - 6)

Voice: Dorie Jackson (track 1)

Voice: Olja Karpova (track 4)

Voice: Lura Piazzai (track 6) 

Produced & Mixed by Doctor Extaticus

Master engineer: Alex Cavallo

Assistant engineer: Andrea Cutillo

Artwork and Graphic Layout: Daniele Lanzini

Pics: Mario Tagliaferri and Isabel Cutillo 

Info: Jerryoakull@virgilio.it  -   info@aereostella.it 

Jerry Cutillo FB page and YouTube channel  - Tel: +39 3334524502

                                              Listen to the tracks on soundcloud

                                                               Preface to the songs

LUCID DREAMING AND THE SPECTRE OF NIKOLA TESLA is the new album by Jerry Cutillo, the composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist behind the acronym O.A.K. (Oscillation  Alkemy  Kreativity).

After the realisation of the Prog Trilogy, including VIANDANZE (2016), GIORDANO BRUNO (considered by the French magazine Koid9 best prog album of 2018), and NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE (2020), Jerry Cutillo gave birth to anew concept album. This time, it’s Nikola Tesla, the subject of his musical investigations.

A new challenge for Mr. O.A.K. leaned towards the mysterious world of the genius who invented the 21st century.

SIDE ONE

1) EVERYTHING IS LIGHT

One of Nikola Tesla’s primary adages was: Everything is Light. And, as a ray of sunshine caresses the flower, the energy of Light influences the motor of all things. Petals, scent. And nectar enchant the bee, bonded at its source of life in absolute transcendence.

2) OSCILLATION  ALKEMY  KREATIVITY

a) Hypnotic spiral

Nikola Tesla was born in a Serbian village on a silent night with flashes of lightning of rare brightness. He showed a vivid imagination more real than life itself during his growth. Moments of ecstasy and profound introspections alternated to recurrent sensorial disturbances. Echoes in his brain, sparkles of light, and spiral visions opened the young Tesla to parallel dimensions.

b) Oscillation  Alkemy  Kreativity

Tesla contracted cholera, risking death. But the promise he made to drive out the dark forces and save his life was to devote himself to increasing human knowledge and improving the quality of life throughout planet Earth.

c)  New York City

In 1884 Tesla arrived in New York and found a city devoted by the earthquake. The reality of ghettos and gangsters also initially debunked his dreams but he reacted and soon captured the vibe of that ever-expanding city that presented endless opportunities.

d)  AC vs DC

He started to work for the electricity magnate Thomas Edison with whom he formed a partnership which will soon prove to be disappointing. Experiments made in the Thomas Edison’s Manhattan headquarters laboratories, after exhausting work shifts, led him to discover alternating current. This extraordinary result put him in conflict with Edison, promulgator of direct current.

e)  Black night Satellite

Tesla received funding to conduct experiments oriented towards the space. In his laboratory, equipped with a series of ultra-sensitive antennas, he picked up unidentified signals from the cosmos.

f)  Dancing a Slow Kolo with the Electric Shadows

Unfortunately, no one believed his revelations. All his projects began to look like the fantasies of a holy madman. Seized by unbearable frustration, Tesla wandered for days along the city’s streets until, one night, he arrived in Central Park. There, under the rain, he danced with the electric shadows.

g). Oscillation  Alkemy  Kreativity (reprise)

A carousel of voices swirls in Tesla’s mind. But this time, the voices seemed to cross in seductive, symphonic geometries that heralded the birth of a new world.

SIDE TWO

1) LEARN TO RUN IN YOUR DREAMS

The anti-raid sirens sound again. They seem to draw a bridge between the last years of Tesla’s life, those in which the Serbian scientist witnessed the outbreak of World War II, and the current conflict in Ukraine. This is a song for all the children who are victims of the aftermath of war and I wonder to what extent such disasters can hurt their imaginations. Unfortunately, no one seems to have the formula to silence weapons because we suffer from human imperfection. Just think about the sensation we experience when trying to run in our dreams; we feel held back by an opposing force. The faster we move, the more we slow down till we get stuck. Thus, a solution comes to mind: Learn to activate kinetic energy in our subconscious! We would thus win against the stranglehold that limits our dream functions. The result would be to free our essence from all the accumulated mental traps that made us threatening and take a leap forward to improve our human relationships. 

War has no winners but only victims.

2) THE COMET AND THE DREAMER

There are many unanswered questions in the soul of the hunter of golden silences. Fear breeds violence and false truths and produces creatures hunted by their shadow. One sound of peace and freedom can join many others. Dust of vibrant colours will create a long trail of particles harmonically united.

Knowledge comes from space.

3) WHITE WINGS

In room 3328 of the New Yorker Hotel, an old man looks out the window waiting for his winged friend. A white pigeon soon appears in the morning soot and comes into contact with the man. The scene frequently repeats, making a solid bond between the two. An energy bridge like in the Tesla Coil Generator. The inventive mind of the scientist meets the elegance and the free spirit of the flying creature.

4) THE SILVER CORD

The particles of light are like written notes playing the eternal cycle of the starry skies. The heartbeat of human beings is part of the symphony of the Earth too. The supreme law of harmony is in the Universe and in man, and once created, it will last forever even in the absence of the human species. 

Tesla understands that the day of his death is not far. He also senses that before that extreme step, two conflicting thoughts will cross his mind: Tesla will regret not being able to go back to his life to avoid mistakes and take advantage of missed opportunities and at the same time, he will want to live his whole life again, exactly as it was.

A prog opera written by Jerry Cutillo

                                                                             LYRICS

SIDE ONE

1) Everything is Light  (7:00)

Are you ready for greatness? (said the Flower to the Bee)

or is it just the aroma and color that you need?

I’m living on your beauty and the light you give,

you are my breath, my goblet filled with supreme energy.

Black is Light - Life is Death

No man lives - No man dies

Joy and peace - Stellar skies

All your dreams in your eyes.

I waste my life with stones, suffering

it’s time to overcome the pain and free my dream.

Your petals tell the secret of what has lived before day one.

I’m just a shadow near your heart turning to the sun.

Lightning skies, here comes the rain,

dust and seeds to feed the earth.

Capture voices from the space

along with a light particle…wave.

You’re going to increase your light if you know shadow first.

Nothing was ever reached with no hiding your grace.

You’re full of life and I wonder if I will ever be.

You’re dancing to the wind and making sure

that I’m forever free.

Dorie Jackson: Vocals

Jerry Cutillo: Vocals, keyboards, flute, guitars

David Jackson: Saxes

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

Alex Elena: Drums

2) OSCILLATION  ALKEMY  KREATIVITY  (13:25)

a) Hypnotic Spiral

Jerry Cutillo: Flute, keyboards, flute, guitar

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

Alex Elena: Drums

b) Oscillation  Alkemy  Kreativity

Again this scary white shimmer, the eyes fail to see and my fever keeps on rising.

I feel the cold breath of death that leads to my collapse.

Could it be a new rebirth?

Now I gather my strength to be adamant against

the fate that wants me blind. 

I’ll get over the pain. A crown of thorns will save me

From the devil’s name.

Jerry Cutillo: Vocals, keyboards

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

Alex Elena: Drums

c) New York City

Walking up and down the street, broken crockery, deaths from fear.

The earth has moved again.

“Watch your actions - shouts a man - 

Your forgotten Providence will prevent USA from being blessed”.

I will light the Brooklyn bridge

Gateway to our liberty

Banking panic on Wall Street.

Jerry Cutillo: Vocals, keyboards, guitar

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

Alex Elena: Drums

d) AC vs DC

Nobody is gonna bury all my dreams and push me 

under the wheels of shameful moral remedies.

My solitude opens my ears

and I will be free and I won’t give up if no one believes in me.

Is too much knowledge weighing on me?

But I can feel a bright new world now a reality.

Magnetic raves and virtual lights.

Blue flames cry in mid-air, falling crystallized.

Jerry Cutillo: Vocals, keyboards

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

Alex Elena: Drums

e) Black Night Satellite

Jerry Cutillo: Keyboards

f) Dancing a Slow Kolo with the Electric Shadows

Again this scary white shimmer, the eyes fail to see and my fever keeps on rising.

I feel the cold breath of death that leads to my collapse.

Could it be a new rebirth?

Now I gather my strength to be adamant against

the fate that wants me blind. 

I’ll get over the pain. A crown of thorns will save me

From the devil’s name.

Jerry Cutillo: Vocals, keyboards, guitars, timpani

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

g) Oscillation  Alkemy  Kreativity (reprise)

Jerry Cutillo: Keyboards

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

Alex Elena: Drums

Alan Baillargeon, Sue Llewellyn, Berenice Cocciolillo, Bob Prigmore, gerlinde Roth, Natala Marchi: Spoken

SIDE TWO

1) Learn to run in your dreams  (6:02)

On the tables of the stars, you write your name.

With no sound is your cry just before the day.

Shine the color of the enchantment for your ray’s ignition.

Is your thrill a sign of knowledge in this life’s illusion?

Will you fly to foreign lands, just above the moon?

Smiles and words, but your eyes are by now beyond the roof.

A dynamo in the sky tonight with no rush to land.

You rotate magnetic fields. You reverse Creation with the End.

You’re the eternal moonlight ray along the cosmic path away.

With no sound is your cry just before the day.

Midnight storm a child of light.

A silent thunder breaks through the night.

Are you an angel wandering too far?

A wireless beam shot from a star?

Jerry Cutillo: Vocals, keyboards, guitar

David Jackson: Saxes and tin whistle

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

Alex Elena: Drums

2) The Comet and the Dreamer  (7:07)

Shining white wheel of flash and ashes.

Pouring seeds breathing ages, still.

Light will follow my path to reach the sun.

There’s no edge between us and other worlds,

lots of fear, in men’s hope, damn lost.

Up and down in despair of false truths, we go.

And this vision will lead us out, of our darkness.

I’ll take a spell on your wings of wonder.

I’ll be your shelter through cosmic storms.

Mine is the hand that awakens forgotten dreams.

Formless matter - furrows the skyline.

Symphonies free to mend time out of the black night.

Bright dust hunters are waving their last goodbye.

On my way, what I see now, is love or hate?

I face my demons, I drift them away.

There’s no cage for free spirits but ecstasy to feel.

Paint your shadow with color of electricity.

Does your fire burn but don’t wear out. Nothing change if you fear your change.

Olja Karpova (Dikajee): Vocals

Jerry Cutillo: Vocals, keyboards, flute, guitars, lx drums

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

3) White Wings  (4:40)

We are two coils bridged by flashing lines.

Do we unite or stay part?

The wi-Tricity screams in resonance

And coronal arches are drawn by radiance.

I see you flying with elegance,

Hovering the feathers raving your dance.

I see you plunge into the rain and from the skyline, re-emerge.

Take my resonant blue stringiest with you away

And color your white cloak of electric flames.

Beams of light cross my spine and from my nails,

Streams of fire, thousands of blades.

Jerry Cutillo: Vocals, flute, keyboards, guitars, lx drum

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

4) The Silver Cord  (3:50)

Laura Piazzai: Vocals

Jerry Cutillo: Keyboards, guitars

Jonathan Noyce: Bass

Alex Elena: Drums

Pat Rowbottom: Spoken

                                                                        VIDEO

   From the album "Nine witches under a walnut tree" 2020

 From the album "Giordano Bruno" 2018

From the album "Viandanze" 2016

                                                                          REVIEWS

MAT2020 italian prog magazine on "NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE" 2020

"...Un album magnifico, originale, carico di significati, frutto di studio e di applicazione costante, un contenitore che, come sempre accade quando è Jerry Cutillo l’autore, propone il tema del viaggio - reale, spirituale -, della miscela di etnie e culture, di religioni e conflitti collegati… come sempre uno sguardo al passato per intravedere il futuro. La colonna sonora di un film tutto da scrivere". (Athos Enrile)

PROGFIL canadian magazine on "NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE" 2020

"...Un album plein d’atmosphères évocatrices de ces personnages devenus, par la magie de notre alchimiste des sons, neuf potions magiques qui sont une claire démonstration de son talent pour composer des chansons. Alors, selon vous, est-ce la magie de M. CUTILLO ou celles des neuf sorcières que l’on retrouve sur ce  Nine witches under a walnut tree " ? (Serge Marcoux)

CLASSIC ROCK italian journal on "NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE" 2020

"...Jerry Cutillo, come di consueto, ha coinvolto eccellenti artisti internazionali, all'insegna di un rock progressivo incantevole ed avvolgente che affonda le radici nei fantastici anni '70". (Fabio Rossi)

ORIZZONTI PROG italian magazine on "NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE" 2020

"...musicalmente Cutillo riesce nell’impresa di fondere sapientemente l’elemento folk con quello progressive rock, impreziosendo il lavoro con sortite nel Canterbury sound e qualche pennellata sinfonica, e apponendo al tutto una sorta di “filigrana” cupa e cinematografica alla Goblin, un tassello oscuro e arcano che ne eleva ancor più il pregio. Melodie intriganti, forza ed eleganza esecutiva, ricercatezza nei suoni, tutto tenendo sempre alta la tensione anche attraverso la narrazione delle storie delle protagoniste con testi ricercati, particolari, interpretati magnificamente ed espressi in diverse lingue da Jerry e dagli ospiti. E ancora una volta, Jerry Cutillo, con i suoi OAK, ha fatto centro". (Donato Ruggero)

PROG ARCHIVES  on "NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE"  2020                                                                                                

"...O.A.K. delivers interesting and varied music, to me it sounds like an eclectic approach, blending 24-carat symphonic rock, folk, experimental and rock, with lots of own musical ideas, a genuine musical journey, with a lush instrumentation". (Erik neuteboom)

ROCK CASTLE FRANKEN german journal  on "NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE" 2020   

"...Das Album nimmt uns mit auf eine magische Reise vom Mittelalter bis in unsere Tage und darüber hinaus. Mystik und Folklore verschmelzen zu einer originellen und intensiven Musiksprache. Ein feines Album im Bereich Prog Rock, das viele Details und Feinheiten erhalten hat. Auch diesmal natürlich eine absolute Empfehlung".                                                                                             

ROCK PROGRESSIF ITALIEN  french magazine  on "NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE" 2020

"Un évident savoir-faire pour composer, jouer et arranger des pièces qui ont toutes autant de classe et de finesse que d'intérêt musical. Au final, du très bon travail proposé par Jerry Cutillo qui n'a visiblement pas l'intention de s'arrêter en si bon chemin même si NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE clôt une trilogie entamée en 2016 avec VIANDANZE et poursuivie avec GIORDANO BRUNO".  (Louis De Ny)

REVENEWS italian prog magazine  on "NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE" 2020

"Magia, suggestioni lunari, racconti esoterici ed episodi fantastici... NINE WITCHES UNDER A WALNUT TREE, ancora una volta un incanto che lascerà un segno indelebile nei cuori e nelle menti di tanti.          (Tonino Merolli)

KOID9  french prog magazine  on "GIORDANO BRUNO"  2018

"The double LP GIORDANO BRUNO est un excellent album concept. A mon avis, c'est sans aucun doute le meilleur album de rock progressif de l'annèe".  (Cousin Hub)

MAT2020  italian prog magazine  on "GIORDANO BRUNO"  2018

"I must urge everybody to listen to Jerry Cutillo's O.A.K. music, especially the song Circe. This melody is one of the great melodies of Italian Progressive rock. It is such a great melody, we play it at the end of the show and it's just brilliant. And it's a very complex piece, a long piece, but the main theme which come at the beginning is just divine, Jerry is a great writer, a great, great Italian talent you know, must not be forgotten or overlooked we say.  Don't overlook Jerry Cutillo !"                                                                             (David Jackson VDGG interviewed by Max Prog Polis)

AREA PROG  brasilian prog magazine  on "GIORDANO BRUNO"  2018

"GIORDANO BRUNO é um trabalho altamente coeso e estruturado com uma temática profunda e bem estudada, valor musical e histórico imprescindível. A melhor lançamento de 2018 e uma verdadeira obra prima do gênero".  (Marcio Sà)

MUSIKREVIEWS.DE  german prog magazine  on "GIORDANO BRUNO"  2018

" Womit wir auch schon bei der Musik von JERRY CUTILLO wären, der ohne Übertreibung nicht nur als Multiinstrumentalist Großartiges leistet, sondern ganz speziell an der Flöte als der italienische IAN ANDERSON gelten muss. Wer glaubt, dass das Querflötenspiel des Einbein-Bläsers und JETHRO TULL-Frontmannes IAN ANDERSON einzigartig ist, der sollte unbedingt „Giordano Bruni“ von OAK hören und wird seinen Ohren nicht trauen. Cutillo klont nicht etwa Mr. Tull-Anderson, sondern er spielt in der gleichen Liga wie er und verleiht seinem sehr eigenständigen Konzept-Album mit viel Retro- und Italo-Prog-Appeal eine Flöten-Tull-Note der Extraklasse. Was Cutillo auf  GIORDANO BRUNO  leistet, ist anscheinend längst auch bei alteingesessenen und zugleich legendären Prog-Musikern angekommen, die sich einerseits als Gäste und andererseits beinahe als feste Projekt-Mitglieder auf dem Konzept-Album einbringen. Ganz oben auf der Liste steht dabei der VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR-Saxofonist DAVID JACKSON, aber es tauchen auch RICHARD SINCLAIR von CARAVAN, SONJA KRISTINA von CURVED AIR und MAARTIN ALLCOCK von JETHRO TULL und FAIRPORT CONVENTION darauf auf. Das OSCILLIAZONI ALCHEMICO KREATIVE um JERRY CUTILLO gelingt mit  GIORDANO BRUNO ein progressives Konzept-Album der Extraklasse, bei dem auch namhafte Gäste von VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, JETHRO TULL, CURVED AIR und FAIRPORT CONVENTION mitwirken und deutliche 70er-Jahre-Prog-Spuren darauf hinterlassen".  (Thoralf Koss)

CLASSIC ROCK  italian rock magazine  on "GIORDANO BRUNO"  2018

"Un concept album fondamentale e in vinile (nella confezione c’è il cd). Nulla del genere da Canterbury a Roma, avevo ascoltato prima d'ora".  (Maurizio Baiata)

MUSICARTEAM  italian prog magazine on "GIORDANO BRUNO"  2018

"GIORDANO BRUNO è il sogno musicale di una vita, quello che andava realizzato indipendentemente dalle richieste di mercato o dalla necessità di mantenersi entro una categoria precisa… un lavoro di pregio culturale - proporre la storia e i suoi parallelismi utilizzando la musica come elemento didattico - ma allo stesso tempo coinvolgente e pieno di spunti accattivanti, uno di quei contenitori che, se nati in epoca seventies, avrebbero raggiunto lo status dell’immortalità".  (Athos Enrile)

HAMELIN PROG  italian prog magazine  on "GIORDANO BRUNO"  2018

"Il doppio LP GIORDANO BRUNO è qualcosa di sorprendente, magico, un’opera di una qualità nettamente superiore alla media".  (Donato Ruggiero) 

BACKGROUND MAGAZINE NL  dutch prog magazine  on "GIORDANO BRUNO"  2018

"Strong musical ideas, varied instrumentation, alternating compositions, outstanding musicians and a fascinating concept, so highly recommended!"  (Erik Neuteboom)