IBIS

Ibis were no other than the continuation of Swedish Heavy/Jazz/Prog rockers Vildkaktus after their last effort ''Natten''.Actually the main core consisting of keyboardist Gosta Nilsson, guitarist Olle Nilsson and bassist Tommy Johnson was the same as on Vildkaktus with the addition of drummer Petur Island 'stlund.The self-titled debut came out in 1974 on EFG.

Under the Ibis name the band seems to focus more on the jazzy side of Progressive Rock with a bit more loose arrangements without forgetting about the heavy explosions met in the Vildaktus albums.Each side of the LP includes two strong and long jazzy arrangements over 10 minutes each, where the new approach of the band is more evident.''Remrus Selegra'' and '' 'ster och v'ster'' have strong Canterbury influences, especially on Gosta Nilsson's electric piano and keyboard work, with nice and powerful grooves, long slightly improvised solos and fuzz heavy psychedelic guitar performance throughout, not far from the sound of NATIONAL HEALTH or HATFIELD AND THE NORTH.The rhytym section is very solid as well and the album worths some spins for these two tracks alone.The shorter cuts are more varied, starting from fiery Latin-influenced Fusion and exploring also the Heavy/Psych sound of Vildaktus along with some Lounge Jazz moments, decent tracks but far from the quality of the longer compositions.

The reasons the band turned to a more jazzy style are still unknown to me, one thing is for sure, Ibis could do it well even with this specific style, offering a rich Jazz-Rock sound with distinct Canterbury and psychedelic influences and this album should interest any listener fond of any of the above music descriptions.Recommended.

Absolutely the highest caliber "rarities" I've encountered through the prog rock archives. A collection of powerful, textured jazz-rock compositions. As another reviewer already indicated, they have a strong jazz-fusion sound, comparable moreso to the Mahavishnu Orchestra and early Weather Report than to Canterbury groups. "Öster och väster", for instance, has a very similar odd-time blues riff to Mahavishnu's "Dance of the Maya," as well as sharing a notable Eastern flavor (with the use of Eastern modes n such). Actually, Ibis has the most "Mahavishnu" sound I know of, while maintaining their own unique flavor (and I really dig it). Other tracks have a lighter jazz feel (comparable to "Focus II" off of Focus' Moving Waves). "Blixtens Gamla Buss" is my favorite track, with an 11/8 groove and a harmonically interesting interlude with odd tuplet groupings a la Zappa. Should be of interest to anyone into jazz-fusion, especially the Mahavishnu Orchestra or early-mid-70's Zappa.

Lovely to see this band in progarchives, specially due to its rarity nowadays.

Of their 2 albums ( to my knowledge) this is the one that may interest most to those looking into discovering some jazz/rock albums with closer ties to progressive rock.

How many great albums still to be discovered from the 70's? a lot, it seems to me that the doors to the vaults were opened with the arrival of the internet and that it never stops producing some great albums.

Other reviewers did proper comparison to bands that could be used as reference, for me, it's just my confirmation.

Look for it, surely it's streaming somewhere out there.