FOOD BRAIN was named by Shinki Chen - a charismatic Japanese guitarist - and is known as a novel rock project by Polydor Japan (according to rumor the project was originally to be named Brain Food - but Shinki made a mistake). Ikuzo Orita, a director of Polydor, had pictured some projects of Japanese progressive rock in his mind. To realize one of them, he persuaded Shinki to be the front man, and gathered some renowned Japanese musicians - Hiro Tsunoda (drums & percussion), Hiro Yanagida (keyboard & organ), Masayoshi Kabe (bass) - around him. As this was in the early 70's and the dawn of Japanese rock, a topic that can't be overlooked is the DRUG culture...The group with these four talented men - some serious session musicians and others junkie travelers - might be lacking in unity but they had no problem in dropping a breaking-Japanese-pop-dream bomb. Their only one piece Bansan was the sunrise of Japanese psychedelic rock and paved way for the younger generation. Sadly their remarkable flexibility and technique couldn't prevent the project from breaking up after the short blooming period, in spite of Ikuzo's dream. Line-up / Musicians Hiro Tsunoda/drums,percussion Hiro Yanagida/keyboard,organ Masayoshi Kabe/bass Shinki Che guitar Michihiro Kimura/clarinet Discography Bansan (Social Gathering) 1970
1.That Will Do 2.Naked Mountain 3.Waltz For M.P.B. 4.Live Juice Vending Machine 5.The Conflict Of The Hippo And The Pig 6.Clock 7.One-Sided Love 8.The Hole In A Sausage 9.Dedicated To Bach
A Spanish Progressive band with a few albums out. BLOQUE blend synth and Spanish vocals with electric and acoustic guitar (lots of electric) in a wide variety of styles (some people dislike this). They were strongly influenced by the jazz, flamenco, and hard rock (a cross between THIN LIZZY and BLACK SABBATH). "Hombre Tierra Y Alma" is strongly of the 70's italian scene with a strong folk- influenced feel in a way similar to BANCO or PFM. "El Hijo del Alba" is also excellent. Their best is "Musica Para La Libertad" which includes the incredible instrumental tracks.Spanish music elements. But in comparison with Triana, his music is far from,Spanish flamenco rock. Of course, La Noche Que Precede A La Batalla is entirely different from jazz rock or fusion. The album marks a number of positive upgrades in the sound of Bloque. Firstly, the Allman Brothers vibes are extremely reduced, if not absent, with the band heading for a more personal style. Second, the music sounds more compact, the songwriting more efficient and the instrumentation more balanced, even if the guitars remain the leading instruments. Third, while Bloque retain much of their Classic Rock variety, ''Hombre, tierra y alma'' sounds much more progressive and definitely more inspired than their debut.So, all these factors helped the Spanish combo come up with a fully convincing style, somewhere in the middle of Hard and Progressive Rock, where Juan Carlos Guitierrez'es flexible keyboard themes start to play a basic role in the music and the raw sound of Bloque is now often covered by a dash of symphonic grandieur.Additionally there are some great, lyrical moments in here and the dual guitar leads belong among the highlights of the album.Certain melodies here and there are absolutely great and memorable, the music contains lots of impressive twists and turns and the performances are pretty solid.The flipside of the original vinyl apparently contains the brightest material of the album, full of MEZQUITA-like intense synthesizers, dramatic instrumental guitar runs and some excellent electric solos, while there are even some dark-sounding choirs and ROBERT FRIPP-like guitar manifest, cleverly adapted in the hard sound of the band. Line-up / Musicians Juan Carlos Guitiérrez/keyboards,vocals Luis M. Pastor/sound,vocals Juanjo Respuela/guitars,vocals Sixto F. Ruiz/guitars,bass Tivo M. Salmón/effects Carlos Terán/percussion,vocal Discography(Album) Hombre, Tierra y Alma 1979
1.Humanidad indefensa 2.Ya no hay nada en la calle 3.El llanto del poeta 4.En infierno esta aqui? 5.Una posibilidad 6.En infierno esta aqui? 7.Meditacion parte I 8.Descubrir el sentido terrible de la vida 9.Meditacion parte II 10.El verdadero silencio parte I 11.La muerte renacida 12.El verdadero silencio parte II 13.Por fin he vuelto a ti
AVE ROCK is a classic example of Art Rock in the form of a progressive band that demonstrates a variety of genre sounds without any one of them being dominant. The guitar on “Dejenme Seguir” is definitely blues-inspired, and would not have been out-of-place on any number of early 70’s ‘heavy rock’ bands like Wishbone Ash, Babe Ruth, maybe even Deep Purple. The vocals are Spanish, and not particularly strong, and also very much an early 70’s sound. Great guitar driven heavy prog psych drenched in tons of Hammond organ. Songs are very well developed with some nice mood variations and dynamic arrangements. Although there are some vocals they play a minor role as the album is mostly instrumental. The entire album is pretty trippy and spacey really with tons of great guitar, bass, drum and Hammond interplay. Line-up / Musicians Luis Borda/guitar,vocals Oscar Glavic/bass,vocals Osvaldo Calo/keyboards Federico Sainz/guitar,vocals Daddy Antogna/percussion Discography(Album) Ave Rock 1974
1.Dejenme Seguir 2.Viva Belgica 3.Gritos 4.Ausencia 5.El Absurdo Y La Melodia
FLIED EGG / STRAWBERRY PATH was a series of Japanese progressive rock projects in early seventies carried out by two key players Shigeru NARUMO (guitars, keyboards) and Hiro TSUNODA (drums). In the late sixties, Shigeru has already been famous and charismatic on Japanese underground rock scene. Woodstock Festival could notify him of a need to hold Japanese rock festivals and let him give some reasonable concerts (called '10 yen concert') in Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall with great players ... Shinki Chen (ex-Food Brain, Speed Glue and Shinki), George Yanagi (ex-Power House), Hiro Yanagida (ex-Apryl Fool, Food Brain), or Hiro Tsunoda (ex-Sadao Watanabe Quartet, Food Brain). This experience might be the basis of a project named STRAWBERRY PATH.STRAWBERRY PATH shot only one album - 'When The Raven Has Come To The Earth' (1971). In this work, Shigeru could play multi-instruments at the same time (a keyboard by his left hand, a guitar by his right hand, a bass pedal by his feet!). Influenced of Jimi Hendrix or lots of British progressive artists, he tried to shoot the psychedelic and progressive style with Hiro's jazzy and freaky drumming. At an opening performance of the Pink Floyd Japan tour, Shigeru and Hiro persuaded Masayoshi TAKANAKA (bass) to join them...after a month, these three talented players changed their outfit name from STRAWBERRY PATH to FLIED EGG.FLIED EGG produced two album - 'Dr. Siegel's Fried Egg Shooting Machine' (1972) and 'Good Bye Flied Egg' (1972). (Anyway, Dr. Siegel is of course Shigeru NARUMO himself.) They turned up the colours and influences of British rock. Masayoshi, an only 17 year-old bassist, could evolve and dignify the works with his heavy and steady bass plays. The novel project could impress strongly Japanese rock fans and broke up in 1973. Line-up / Musicians Shigeru Narumo/guitar,organ,piano,harpsicord,vocals,sound effects Hiro Tsunoda/drums,percussion,vocals,vocal,harmony,toy instruments,jokes,noise Masayoshi Takanaka/bass,guitar,vocals,harmony, Discography(Album) Good Bye Flied Egg 1972
1.Leave Me Woman 2.Rolling Down The Broadway 3.Rock Me Baby 4.Five More Pennies 5.Before You Descend 6.Out To The Sea 7.Goodbye My Friends 8.521 Seconds Schizophrenic Symphony
Daniel Vega singer and song writer. Probably his only work is La Noche Que Precede A La Batalla which was released in 1976. At that time there were a number of outstanding progressive masterpieces produced by the Spanish label 'Movie Play' between 1975 to 1978. and this recording is in fact one of them. Daniel Vega is hard to classify to a typical genre. Sometimes progressive music happens to create such situation. His music is not easily classified to symphonic rock and in comparison with Yes or The Enid, Daniel Vega would be too far from typical symphonic rock. However it is also different from RIO which we usually consider by using comparisons with Henry Cow or Etron Fou Leloubran. In this case then, Vega's music is not RIO at all. Vega's creative arrangements in play are strongly progressive. This spirit interprets to RIO and in addition, he uses some Spanish music elements. But in comparison with Triana, his music is far from Spanish flamenco rock. Of course, La Noche Que Precede A La Batalla is entirely different from jazz rock or fusion. Line-up / Musicians Daniel Vega/vocals,guitar Luis Mendo/guitar Juan Carlos Medrano/guitar Miguel Sanz "Judas'/piano Pedro Pérez/flute,saxophone Manuel Aguilar/bass Rafael Pérez/drums,percussion Discography La noche que precede a la batalla 1976
1.La noche que precede a la batalla 2.Jinete 3.Alma gemela 4.Hacia la eternidad 5.Compañeros 6.Tierra minera 7.Esperando al sol 8.Cantábrico 9.Madre Asturias 10.Ciudad luminosa 11.El sol cruza todas las fronteras
Terry Riley was born on June 6 1935 in Colfax California. He attended various California universities and finally earned a masters in composition from UC Berkeley. One of the earliest electronic composers, Riley was one of the initial participants in the renowned San Francisco Tape Music Center. He also studied classical Indian music under Pandit Pran Nath and became professor of Indian music studies at Mills College in 1971. During the 1960s, Riley performed all-night solo concerts by playing a harmonium and saxophone through tape loop echo devices. When he needed a break he would play back the tape loops by themselves. His composition 'In C', composed in 1964, is often given credit for pioneering the musical style that became known as minimalism.Although Riley started his musical career in the company of fellow future minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and Pauline Oliveras, over the years his musical career often veered towards a more rock or jazz like setting in which he was more an improvising performer than composer. His 1969 electronic composition, 'A Rainbow in Curved Air', had a massive effect on the then still developing world of progressive psychedelic and avant-garde rock music. While most early electronic music centered around bizarre sound constructions and totally serialized twelve tone music, Riley's Rainbow on the other hand was beautifully tonal in Indian influenced mixolydian keys and featured a rock like pulsing rhythm that caught on with the young avant-psychedelic crowd that was also digging Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, Amon Duul and Can. Soon the sound of pulsing electronic synthesizers and organs became a standard part of many young adventurous performers culminating in the German experimental collective known as Tangerine Dream.While performing as an improvising soloist, Terry struck a chord with many young rock performers including the Velvet Underground's John Cale. Cale and Riley would later record together creating a rock/Indian/fusion masterpiece called 'Church of Anthrax'. All through the late 60s and early 70s Riley's influence is present in progressive rock: from Soft Machine's obvious tributes on their third album, to The Who's 'Who's Next' album with its arpeggiated Arp figures and a song called 'Baba O' Reilly' that is a tribute to Terry and Indian guru Baba Maher. Early progressive rockers Curved Air paid tribute by adopting Riley's signature composition as their band name. Line-up / Musicians Terry Riley/Organ,Electronics,Saxophone Discography(Album) A Rainbow In Curved Air 1969
1.A Rainbow In Curved Air 2.Poppy Nogood And The Phantom Band
Alameda were part of the 70's Andalusian Rock movement in Spain.They came from Sevilla and were led by Marinelli brothers, keyboardists Rafael and Manuel, along with guitarist/singer Jose Roca (Jose and Rafael played formerly with Tartessos), bassist Manuel Rosa and drummer Luis Moreno.With a demo out in 1978 they searched for a contract, eventually signing with CBS and releasing their self-titled debut in 1979 (under the Epic Records name).Their sound was no more or less than romantic Andalusian Rock with Latin Jazz/Fusion influences, based on pleasant vocal harmonies and the dual keyboard work of Marinelli brothers.The tracks are characterized by Flamenco-flavored pleasant melodies, led by the pianos and the flamenco guitars of Rosa, partially mixed with the strong moog synthesizers and supported by a tight rhythm section.There is a very calm and positive atmosphere throughout the album, lacking the intensity of TRIANA, though their sound is fairly comparable.As the album unfolds the tracks obtain an evident Fusion edge with good interplays, strong synth work and an uptempo rhythm section, filled with some nice solos.The instrumental parts are decent, well- executed and performed, but the compositions lack a real depth to say the least. Line-up / Musicians José Roca/guitar,vocals Rafael Marinelli/keyboards Manuel Marinelli/keyboards Manuel Rosa/bass Luis Moreno/drums Discography(Album) Alameda 1979
1.Aires de Alameda 2.La Pila del Patio 3.Ojos de Triste Llanto 4.Hacia El Alba 5.Amanecer En El Puerto 6.A la vera Del "Jueves" 7.Matices
ALAS was one of the most exquisite progressive bands in Argentina. The effective way in which they infused airs of Creole Argentinean folklore into their main prog sound - influenced by the massive energy of ELP (30 %) and the exuberant magic of WEATHER REPORT and RETURN TO FOREVER (70 %) - made ALAS a world of their own.Keyboardist/wind player/vocalist/main writer Gustavo Moretto had been a prominent figure in his country's musical scene. With the idea of forging a new musical direction leaning towards art-rock, he founded the band in 1975 in allegiance with bassist Alex Zucker and drummer/percussionist Carlos Riganti. Their recording debut took place later that same year, with a single comprising the tracks 'Aire' and 'Rincón, Mi Viejo Rincón'. It wasn't until 1976 that they released their eponymous debut album, which gained critical acclaim instantly. Even though the band felt happy with the album's artistic results, Zucker had plans of his own (mostly regarding the enhancement of his academic formation), so he left the ALAS before the band set plans for their following release. Young virtuoso Pedro Aznar replaced Zucker (long before his PAT METHENY days), and with this altered line-up the band started the recording process for "Pinta tu Aldea" in the latter half of 1977. The artistic goal was now focused on the increase of tango colours and a decrease of the ELP influence, as well as in becoming an exclusively instrumental ensemble. Halfway of this recording process, Riganti quit the band: him not being replaced, the two tracks of side 2 were left without a proper rhythm section! A few days after the second album had been completed, in January '78, the band split up for good. Line-up / Musicians Gustavo Moretto/keyboards,synthesizers,flute,trumpet,vocals Alex Zucker/bass,guitar Carlos Riganti/drums,percussion Discography(Album) Alas 1976
1.Buenos Aires Solo es Piedra 2.La Muerte Contó el Dinero 3.Aire 4.Rincon, Mi Viejo Rincon
One of the first Swedish bands to fuse jazz and rock (and occasionally African and Latin-American music as well) was Egba (photo: Pawel Lucki), led by trumpeter Ulf Adåker (b. 1945) and saxophonist Ulf Andersson (b. 1940), two musicians with roots in the jazz of the 1960s. Several other musicians of that era also expanded their vocabulary to include the electronic sounds of the day, collaborating with younger musicians whose background was mainly in rock. One of the latter is pianist and keyboard-player Harald Svensson (b. 1954), who has also been involved in other groups, most notably Entra. Tenor saxophonist Ove Johansson (b. 1936) and keyboard-player Susanna Lindeborg (b. 1952) in the group Mwendo Dawa have combined acoustic instruments with electronic sounds since the 1970s, and there are several other groups which work with fusion types of jazz. Nice flute, electric and acoustic piano, and jazz-tone guitar runs all within the confines of tightly arranged compositions. Some African moves foreshadows what Archimedes Badkar would do on “Tre”. Long track on the backside contains a funk rave-up with fiery solos from sax, guitar and electric piano. Line-up / Musicians Ulf Adaker/trumpet Ulf Andersson/saxophone Jan Tolf/guitar Claes Wang/drums,percussion Harald Svensson/piano Stefan Brolund/bass Ahmadu Jarr/percussion Discography(Album) Egba 1974
1.Grona Moln 2.Mogubgub 3.The Black And The White 4.Lisa Sover 5.Gbinti 6.Cirrus 7.Capsilon
This early 70's psychedelic Japanese quartet were more or less the precursors of The FAR EAST FAMILY BAND, guitarist/vocalist Fumio Miyashita being the only link between the two. Miyashita would later join other musicians on FEFB which included among their ranks Masanori Takahashi, better known as "Kitaro". Under the name FAR OUT, they released one album in 1973.Although « Nihonjin » is definitely a spacey album, the keyboards are only prominent on the opening notes and the synths are used sparingly throughout, for the occasional sound effect. The psychedelic atmosphere comes mostly from the guitars, electric sitar and drums, resulting in a sound somewhat reminiscent of PINK FLOYD's "A Saucerful of Secrets". The original LP, replete with weird sound effects, consisted of two epic tracks clocking in at 18 and 20 minutes respectively. The 7 bonus tracks of the CD edition are actually taken from The FAR EAST FAMILY BAND's first album "The Cave Down to the Earth" and feature some Japanese vocals that turn out in English on "The Cave" album. Line-up / Musicians Fumio Miyashita/vocal,guitar,harmonica,moog Eiichi Sayu/guitar,organ, chorus Kei Ishikawa/vocal,bass,sitar Manami Arai/drums Discography Nihonjin 1973
1.Too Many People 2.Nihonjin 3.Birds Flying To The Cave 4.Saying To The Land 5.Moving, Looking, Trying, Jumping 6.Wa Wa 7.The Cave Down To The Earth 8.Four Minds 9.Transmigration
Gualberto (Garcia Perez) has developed a unique manner to play a mix between flamenco and fusion rock music. He created flamenco sitar which consists to perform flamenco basic scales on sitar. He first introduced his musical "fusion" approach in his first band Smash in the early seventies. Two albums of progressive rock will be published under this name. During these recent years he appeared in Woodstock festival and also met Frank Zappa. In 1975 he started his career in solo, recording his first album personal album "A La Vida Al Dolor" ("To the life and the pain") a monumental progressive psych album. It features an important use of electric rock guitar next to acoustic parts delivered by flamenco guitar, sitar and violin. In 1976 he released his second official album called"Vericuetos", one of the major contributions for the development of Spanish rock music. After these two classic albums, Gualberto worked for numerous projects with others musicians, notably with Ricardo Mino for a serie of albums more in the genre of traditional flamenco music composed with an evident use of sitar and Hindu's accents ("Puento Magico" in 1983, "Sin commentario" at the beginning of the 90's). He recently released an album "Resistances" (1998) with the great flamenco guitar interpreter Ricardo Mino. Line-up / Musicians Gualberto/guitar,Sitar Antonio Diaz/guitar Tod Purcell/guitar Arthur Wolh/violin Willie Rodriguez de Trujillo/drums Carlos Carcamo/flute Enrique Morente/voice Discography(Album) A La Vida, Al Dolor 1975
1.Cancion de la primavera 2.Cancion del agua 3.Cancion de las nieves 4.Cancion del arco iris 5.Cancion de las gaviotas 6.Terraplen 7.Prisioneros 8.Tarantos (para Jimi Hendrix) 9.Dialogo interior
Bubu are an outstanding representative of Argentinian Progressive Rock. Anabelas consists of three long epic compositions, and features mostly instrumental music that sounds like a cross of early King Crimson, Magma and Anglagard. Bubu was quite a large band and actually with a wide range of talent and instrumentation. Along with the traditional rock set-up (guitar, bass, and drums), the band featured a violinist, flutist, saxophonist, and pianist. Each composition is filled with intense interaction between the musicians, dozens of melodic surprises, and unexpected tempo changes. Their music is complex, energetic, and diabolical in a King Crimson-ish sort of way. Very surprising is that there is no noodling and very little soling to be found here and although does offer a pretty trippy and wild musical experience, never gets too out of control or becoming un-accessible for the listener. Without a question this is an awesome recording and a necessity in anyone’s progressive rock collection. Absolutely brilliant progressive rock. Line-up / Musicians Sergio Polizzi/violin Cecilia Tenconi/flute Win Fortsman/sax Petty Guelache/vocals Eduardo Rogatti/guitar Eduardo "Fleke" Folino/bass Eduardo "Polo" Corbella/drums,percussion Daniel Andreoli/composition,arrangement Discography Anabelas 1978
1.El Cortejo de un Dia Amarillo 2.El Viaje de Anabelas 3.Suenos de Maniqui
AZAHAR are a Spanish / Uruguayan / Egyptian quintet who play an exotic mixture of keyboards and electric/acoustic guitars reminiscent of MEZQUITA and TRIANA. You could call it Flamenco rock with some Middle Eastern flavour. The vocals are all in Spanish, as are the liner notes.Their first album, "Elixir" (1977), is a concept album about sorcery and magic dominated by a distinctive Flamenco guitar style over layers of keyboards (synth, mellotron, Fender Rhodes piano and grand piano). It features no drums, only bass rhythm, but still manages to be playful and varied, with a few interesting twists and turns and some intensive electric guitar passages. Their second album, simply called "Azahar" (1979), is a little more energetic, more funky perhaps, as it now features a drummer as guest musician. But it is also less subtle, less elegant than the first and the Spanish vocals can be kind of rough on the edges. Line-up / Musicians Ricardo Dick Zappala/vocals,keyboards Manolo Manrique/keyboards Antonio Valls/guitar Willy Trujillo/drums,percussion With: Julio Blasco/bass Enrique Carmona/bass Isabel y Esperanza/vocals Discography(Album) Azahar 1979
1.Expreso a Ketama 2.La naranja y el limon 3.Noche de primavera 4.Zahira 5.Bulerías de lujo 6.El mago acidote 7.Aire y fuego 8.Expreso de Ketama
In spite of their Rolling Stones influence, Toncho Pilatos interpreted original instrumentation. Polydor issued their first album, with a double cover, within its 'Power Rock' series, something of a first for a Mexican band. The Toncho Pilatos album was so successful that it was even released in Germany.The tolerance and support supplied by Polydor was almost unique at that time, and both Bob Dylan and Beck commented on the influence of Toncho Pilatos' debut release. Critics were divided over the recorded work, but most agreed concert performances brought the best out of the Guadalajaran based band. Their national television debut took place on 3 May 1974, on the television program Hour Zero, with production from Luis de Llano, through Channel 4 of the DF. The violins of the Mariachi New Tecalitlán also enhanced the presentation. In time, Toncho Pilatos incorporated the violinist Richard Nassau, originating from Chicago, United States, into the group.Nevertheless, and in spite of the achieved success, it was not until 1980 that Toncho Pilatos returned to record their second studio album, Segunda Vez. To a large extent, this delay was because Mexican rock music had entered a low period, due to the repression and intolerance that arose after the Festival of Avándaro. At the end of the 1980s, Toncho Pilatos had disappeared from the scene. After several changes of membership, the group appeared in Los Angeles, under the name of Toncho Indian Braves. In 1991, they recorded their third and final studio album, Soy un Mexicano.Alfonso Toncho Guerrero died on 4 July 1992, at the age of 42 years, just a few months after the release of the album, and only weeks after the band's last television appearance. The legacy of Toncho Pilatos, with their Mexicanista sound and Spanish lyrics sowed the seeds for Mexican rock music. Line-up / Musicians Miguel Robledo "El Pastel"/bass Raúl Briseño "El Güero"/drums Alberto López "Beto"/piano,organ José Guadalupe Gómez Parra /drums Alberto Nájera "Beto"/guitar Fernando Galindo "El Gordo"/bass Alfonso Guerrero Sánchez "Toncho"/vocals,harmonica,flute,violin,guitar Discography(Album) Toncho Pilatos 1971
1.Wait 2.Kukulkán 3.Drunk Again 4.Blind Man 5.Let her Be 6.Tommy Lyz 7.The Last Dance 8.Sweet Monserrat
Quinteplus, the Argentine jazz quintet represented on this killer reissue of material dating back to 1972, had their roots in the country's New Jazz Collective, which was founded in the early '60s. Gato Barbieri, his brother Reuben, Jorge "Negro" Gonzalez, and Santiago Giaccobe were all members of the collective. The latter two, on bass and keyboards respectively, went on to form Quinteplus with saxophonist Jorge Anders, trumpeter Gustavo Bergalli, and drummer Noberto "Pocho" Lapouble. The group recorded one studio album in 1971; it was released on EMI in 1972 and makes up the first six tracks of this set. The latter four tunes here were recorded live in late 1972 with a lineup that subbed Jorge Cutello on reeds and added electric guitarist Rolando Lew. These final four tracks went unreleased until Melopea issued them in 1980. Spain's great reissue label Vampisoul -- being the imprint of all things strange, exotic, and wonderful -- assembled all ten cuts for this self-titled release on CD and vinyl. The sound of Quinteplus was deeply rooted in the late-'60s funky soul-jazz of Blue Note and Prestige. Rhodes piano is used almost exclusively here, and electric bass as much as the upright. Rhythmically, though, Quinteplus were superior to a lot of what Blue Note issued at the time. Check the rhythm section on some of these cuts -- "El Marques" comes immediately to mind -- and you'd swear it was some date assembled by Lee Morgan or Horace Silver. Latin rhythms and polyrhythms from Argentine folk music and Afro-Cuban rhumba as well as hard bop and soul abound in uptempo grooves like "Loberman, el Hombre Loco" or shimmer and dance with subtly textured melodic ideas on the folkish ballad "Zamba de Mis Pagos." Three of the latter four tunes are extended workouts; they are much more invested in laying out funky rhythms, vamps, and snaky grooves, and the horn players are both tough soloists. The larger rhythm section -- with additional coloration by wah-wah guitar and choppy snare-popping turnarounds -- is especially effective: check out the 14-minute reading of Bobbie Gentry's"Ode to Billie Joe." Truth be told, the sound on some of this leaves something to be desired, and more than likely these selections were mastered from existing vinyl copies rather than master tapes. But whatever, it's still plenty listenable and it's the only chance you're likely to have to take in these now legendary sounds. Line-up / Musicians Gustavo Bergalli/trumpet Carlos Pocho Lapouble/drums Jorge Anders/saxophone Jorge Gonzalez/bass Santiago Giacobbe/keyboards Discography Quinteplus 1971
1.Loberman, el hombre lobo 2.Los ejes de mi carreta 3.Blackman, el justiciero 4.El Marques 5.El pasito de mano 6.Zamba de mis pagos 7.La vuelta del elefantor 8.Oda a Billy Joe
Regarded by many as the first Japanese progressive rock group, the Far East Family Band featured the keyboardist and future new age composer, Kitaro. A keyboard-dominated space rock band, the Far East Family Band played extended compositions that brought comparisons to Tangerine Dream and early Pink Floyd. The group's first album was released under the band name of Far Out. After changing their name, the band released The Cave Down to Earth in 1975. Their first European release, Nipponjin -- Join Our Mental Phase Sound (1975), featured re-recorded versions of material from the previous record and the album attributed to Far Out. The group's next record, Parallel Worlds (1976), was profoundly influenced by Klaus Schulze who Kitaro met on a trip through Europe. With the first track over 30 minutes long, the album bears similarities to Krautrock legends Ash Ra Tempel. Tenkujin (1977) followed and was the band's first and only American release. By this point, the band consisted of Miyashta (vocals, synths, guitars, bamboo flute), Hirohito Fukushima (guitar, vocals, koto), and Yujin Harada (drums, percussion). It would be the band's last record. Line-up / Musicians Fumio Miyashita/guitar,keyboards,vocals Hirohito Fukushima/guitar Masanori Takahashi/keyboards Akira Ito/keyboards Akira Fukakusa/bass Shizuo Takasaki/drums Discography(Album) Parallel World 1976
1.Metempsychosis 2.Entering / Times 3.Kokoro 4.Parallel World
