LA OFRENDA DE VYTAS BRENNER

Thanks to all the previous reviewers, you all did a great job commenting on the work of Vytas Brenner. I''m Venezuelan and a musician myself, and a fan of Vytas since my adolescence, back in the 1970s. Also, I had the honor of meeting Vytas in person, and borrowing him some of my keyboards for his last tour in Maracaibo, Venezuela, back in 1981. In retrospective, it is difficult to imagine how an act like Vytas'' was at some point so successful in a country where this kind of music was not exactly popular. However, Ofrenda managed to be the first self-sustaining rock band in Venezuela, something really incredible, when you realize that most of Vytas'' work was instrumental. I will not discuss much more about it as I have already talked about it somewhere else (I was lucky enough to write a brief article for a book on prog rock around the world back in 1999 or 2000 whose name escapes me right now), but the fact that still now, almost 20 years after he did his last recording, in a small Latin American country, gives proof of the timelessness of his work. Personally, he has been a strong influence in my music style, along with Wakeman, Emerson, Jobson, and others. I just wanted to comment a mistake I''ve seen present in all reviews, which is not the fault of the reviewers after all. It''s in regard to the song that has been mentioned as la Ofrenda de Miguel, which is actually Frailejón. That mistake was created in the CD versión of the record. That song is the one that has an intro with Venezuelan harp and cuatro, then a full strings section, not mellotron as can be seen in the original LP sleeve, and a bluesy electric guitar solo with the double basses in the background. The song listed as Frailejón, in turn is Araguaney (Venezuela''s national tree), which is essentially a duet of acoustic guitars with textures on the Arp 2600, which was the synthesizer Vytas was using at the time (he started using a Micromoog from Jayeche on, as the 2600 broke down, as well as an Electrocomp synthesizer). La Sabana on the other hand is driven by harp and piano, with a progressive introduction of the electric guitar from the mid of the song on. La Ofrenda de Miguel actually begins with arpegios on the piano and the band and the orchestra join little by little to create a symphonic atmosphere toward the end. It''s really a pity then that most people out there are enjoying the music, which is great, but with the wrong names attached to it. I''ll try to contact the record company to address this issue, unfortunately, in the highly politicized Venezuela, a correction like this may prove difficult to achieve. I also take the opportunity to invite you to visit my forum in Facebook, Foro Latino de Rock Progresivo, where videos and comments on Prog Rock around the world are posted on a regular bases. Best wishes to all, and keep up the good work.