The Prog/Art Rock band Quanah Parker has a long history that started in 1981 and therefore makes it one of the pioneering bands of so-called “Neo-Prog”.
Its original line-up mostly played original pieces written by its founder / keyboardist Riccardo Scivales and was highly esteemed in the Venetian area, but in 1985 Quanah Parker had to disband because of compulsory military service.
Anyway, this era is documented by many good quality recordings (one appears as a bonus track on the CD Quanah!).
1981-1985
from left to right
Roberto Noč (guitars/vocals)
Riccardo Scivales (keyboards/composition)
Giuliano Bianco (drums)
Roberto Veronese (bass)
In late 2005, the renewed interest in Progressive/Art Rock and the many requests by old fans led Riccardo Scivales to reform Quanah Parker along with Giovanni Pirrotta (guitars), Andrea Cuzzolin (voice / rhythm guitar), Giorgio Salvadego (bass), and Paolo Ongaro (drums).
Over the years, this line-up has undergone some little changes including the bassists Francesco Calabrň, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Alberto Palů, Mariano Duca and Elisabetta Montino on vocals.
The current line-up including Meghi Moschino (lead vocals since 2020) and Alessandro Simeoni (on bass 2017).
Since 2008, also contributes to the band its trusty alternate drummer Massimiliano Conti.
Quanah Parker has released the CDs: Quanah! (2012), Suite degli Animali Fantastici (2015), Nel Castello delle Fate (2024),
and the DVD's Demovideo (2007) and A Big Francesco - Live at Festival Rock Progressive 2016-2018.
All these items gained very favourable reviews, and also got considerable airplay in Italy, USA, and Canada.
Besides old and new compositions by Scivales, the band also performs various covers of great classics by Yes, Jethro Tull, Rick Wakeman, Genesis and Beatles.
In concert, it often uses visuals back-drops that provide a charming scenery to the music.
As a remarkable (and perhaps unique) fact in the history of Italian prog, the solo piano scores of many pieces written or arranged by Scivales for the Quanah Parker band have been published in the prestigious U.S. magazines Piano Today, Keyboard Classics and Sheet Music Magazine (all of them, unfortunately, out of business now), along with his introductory articles illustrating various stylistic and compositional features of progressive rock.
Founder/keyboardist Riccardo Scivales also authored two dozens music books and about one hundred original piano compositions / arrangements / transcriptions printed in the USA and UK and performed worldwide.
He taught at the Universitŕ di Venezia, also giving a course on the prog band Yes there.
He collaborated and performed with Tony Pagliuca (historical keyboardist of the famous Italian prog band Le Orme).
A very special thanks to those who have collaborated with Quanah Parker, and to friends Fabio Bello and Alessandro Pizzin for have advocated our coming back.
A heartfelt thanks also to:
David Boso, Alberto Palů, Enrico Bergamo, Diego Celegon, Marco Boem, Veronica Dal Cortivo, Barbara Baldissin, Alessandro 'Selly' Sellero, Alberto Dalla Francesca, Pierpaolo Lamanna, Luigi Cattaneo, Marco Causin, Andrea Stevanato
and to all our fans!
