RECUERDOS DE MI TIERRA

For the casual lover of progressive rock, it may seem strange that nations like England, France, Italy and Germany were so prolific in how many bands they produced during the freewheeling 70s while others like Greece, Portugal and Spain seemed to be woefully absent from prog party. It has to be remembered that many of these nations were under the control of authoritarian regimes who restricted artistic expressions with an iron fist. No nation fitted this more than the Francisco Franco dominated Spain who ruled with impunity from 1936 to 1975. Once this tyrant finally died in 1975, suddenly Spain was free to engage in an entire world that had passed them by including the golden years of prog that had only recently peaked and still lingering on well into the latter half of the 1970s (but declining quickly).

Many bands soon got in on the act including the lineup of José Rafael García (guitar), Randy López (bass), Rosca López (keyboards) and Rafael Zorrilla (drums) who had traversed the Franco years from 1971 to slightly beyond in 1978 as the band Expresión delivering a mix of psychedelic and hard bluesy rock but in 1978 the members suddenly shifted gears and changed their name to MEZQUITA (means "Mosque" in Spanish) and transmogrified itself into one of the most accomplished progressive acts of the entire Spanish prog scene that erupted in the latter half of the 1970s. While the band existed from 1978-83, MEZQUITA only released two albums, the first of which RECUERDOS DE MI TIERRA ("Memories Of My Homeland") is considered a Spanish prog classic.

The band emerged from the Andalucían city of Córdoba which historically was a crossroads of cultures as well as an Islamic stronghold after the Umayyads conquered it in 711 and would remain so until the Castillian-Leonese king in the year 1231 recaptured it and brought it back under the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire. Despite all the battles and booty plundered throughout its history, the city and region has left an indelible mark on the Spanish culture existing in the region where Arabic, Moorish and Spanish influences forged a musical truce which would become the global musical phenomenon flamenco which in the 1970s was utilized to create a new style of progressive rock called Rock Andaluz of which bands like Triana, Veneno, Cai, Imán Califato Independiente and MEZQUITA would develop to put Spain on the map with its own unique style of progressive music.

The band's debut RECUERDOS DE MI TIERRA was released in the summer of 1979 and displayed the region's rich cultural heritage fortified with flamenco, Arabic and Moorish influences that had made Andalucía's traditional music so exhilarating. The band crafted an amazing display of adapting these sounds to the world of crazy complex prog rock and in the process unleashed one of the most defining and daring displays of virtuosity in all of the Spanish prog scene of the era. While a good five years late to the original prog party, MEZQUITA wasted no time and went for the prog jugular with RECUERDOS DE MI TIERRA with dazzling time signature rich guitar workouts, ELP inspired keyboard freneticism and crazy twisted compositional meandering all kept in check by the traditional melodic underpinnings that merged the present with the past.

The blistering title track immediately sets the stage with Arabic music scales luring the listener in like a desert mirage before jumping into a high tempo, time signature fueled frenzy with lightning fast precision and impeccable instrumental interplay and competent vocal deliveries in the Spanish language. The album while offering a few moments of placidity for the sake of catching one's breath hardly lets up in its 36 minutes playing with six tracks blurring the distinctions between flamenco rock, jazz and the most demanding strains of progressive rock in the vein of Gentle Giant, Yezda Urfa or the Mahavishnu Orchestra. With a galloping rhythm section stampeding full force like a herd of spooked cattle over the plains, the soloing delivers a lightning bolt approach whizzing around the rhythmic processions. The musical richness was fortified with guest musicians providing a string section along with several violins and a cello often sounding a big liker a spaghetti western.

The Spanish prog scene was utterly unique standing proud and distinct from its European counterparts and although thwarted by political totalitarianism was allowed to erupt into a frenzy of creative expression for the short time that prog was still in fashion however the best years had been missed and most of these bands including MEZQUITA only squeezed out a sole album or two as their creme de la creme before financial pressures forced them either to give it up completely or to adopt the model of dropping the complexities altogether and delivering a more mainstream mix of rock or new wave. Unfortunately MEZQUITA did exactly that and while not abandoning its signature sound altogether, watered it down enough to be of no interest as heard on the 1981 sophomore album "Califas Del Rock." While leaving only this sole example of Rock Anadaluz at its most proficient and wildly unhinged, RECUERDOS DE MI TIERRA has become a cornerstone of the entire Spanish 70s scene and a reminder that had this nation been allowed to participate in the golden years of prog that it would've more than produced some of the top acts of the entire prog 70s.