MAR DE ROBLES

Great debut from this south american prog act that blends Jazz-Rock fusion and latin Folk with a slight Avat-garde edge and a clear King Crimsom influence. Their sound, althogh it has some chaotic moments, is fresh, fluent and accesible. The music has many ingredients that make it very enjoyable, highlighting the use of sax, flute, Chapman stick and assorted percussions.

The sax player Julio 'Lucho' Tobar is also the lead vocalist of the band and maybe the only flaw on the disc (his singing, not his sax performance which is very good). Nevertheless his voice is not quite annoying but is far from being a good singer. Fortunately the musicianship and the great composition of the melodies are beyond that little weakness, having in mind also that many of the songs are instrumental.

To make a review of each track would be a bit difficult for me due to the complexity of them, but at least i can give you an overview of the (IMO) best songs:

"Involucion", very Crimsonian tune with a strong sax in the beginning followed by lots of flute, jazzy guitar and a great bass line. "Tantic", one of my favourites of the album, excellent composition with flute and guitar alternating several times and good percussions and very lilt. "Milodon" starts with a wild guitar solo and a very latin rhythm with many changes and a 'Rushesque' solo at the end. "El Flecha" another rhythmic instrumental track with great bass and a good combination of flute, guitar and sax. All songs are very good and the album is an excellent first effort that can attrack fans of the jazz-fusion and prog-folk genres and followers of bands like King Crimson, Santana, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Cabezas de Cera or even VDGG.

4 stars.

Viva el Prog!

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