EXTREMOS (AS JAIME ROSAS TRIO)

Jaime ROSAS TRIO is a current chilean band, composed by three musicians of the Progressive rock band ENTRANCE. Mostly instrumental, the music displayed in "Extremos" (2004) is made of short, dense and explosives pieces. One can also hear a final epic track, lasting about a quarter of an hour ! This is the occasion to reveal the impressive talents of a real keyboards virtuoso, helped by excellent musicians. Even if that music is taylor-made for the EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER and GERARD fan, there is so much than instrumental pyrotechnics here ! The power-trio also likes neo-classic piano parts and symphonic majestic moments, with a real adventurous spirit. Here is a masterpiece both diverse and eclectic, always well-played and produced. One year later, our man strikes back with the exellent Brilliant stuff !

This CD is not by the Jaime Rosas Cuarteto but Jaime Rosas Trio as I noticed while reading the front cover. These musicians from Chile, almost the end of the world, has delivered an exciting and varied CD.

1. Breve Pieza Rockera VI (3:37) WOW, what a first track: a super-dynamic rhythm-section and flashy synthesizer runs, this trio immediately showscases their talents and bombastic keyboard-driven progrock sound that has echoes from Japanese band GERARD.

2. Breve Pieza Rockera VII (3:20) This piece is based upon a harder-edged electric guitar with fiery and howling runs, supported by a powerful rhythm-section and to my surprise no keyboards. In the end my attention slips a bit away.

3. Sonido Vital Uno (3:33) A solo exhibition from Jaime Rosas on the piano featuring virtuosic classical play, often very sparkling.

4. Breve Pieza Rockera VIII (2:42) This track has a very bombastic climate. The rhythm-section sounds dynamic, the synthesizer work is excellent with hints from KEITH EMERSON, including fat and spectacular sounds. Then a slow rhythm with powerful drums and gradually it becomes more and more propulsive, evoking the splendid and exciting interplay from RUSH.

5. Breve Pieza Rockera IX (3:10) Here first a mid-tempo with powerful drums and harder-edged electric guitar and then a slow rhythm featuring wonderful, very sensitive electric guitar work. Halfway the atmosphere turns into progmetal with a super-dynamic rhythm-section and fiery electric guitar runs.

6. Sonido Vital Dos (6:03) This song contains beautiful classical orchestrations and the sparkling classical pianoplay reminds me of RICK WAKEMAN.

7. Breve Pieza Rockera X (2:23) A bombastic climate with flashy synthesizer flights and a propulsive rhythm-section, very exciting.

8. Tiempos de Paz (2:45) The emphasis in this piece is on the classical piano work, from tender to sparkling, supported by soaring keyboards.

9. Viajero Astral (15:14) The final composition delivers average Spanish vocals (I had expected more emotion) and lots of shifting moods and rhythms, from mellow and a slow rhythm to mid - or up-tempo and bombastic. The keyboards (organ, piano, synthesizer) sound often sensational, I enjoyed the sensitive electric guitar solo and the rhythm-section is very propulsive. After a one minute silence this composition ends with a very bombastic climate delivering sensational synthesizer flights and a propulsive rhythm-section, EXCITING in the vein of GERARD's TOSHIO EGAWA!

Jaime Rosas' second effort was conceived, designed and recorded as a power trio format: by that time, Rosas had already left the ranks of Entrance, so now he was feeling like newborn and armed with a new sense of purpose, something you can really tell by listening to the display of energy and musical creativity in the album's repertoire. Compared to his amazing debut album, "Extremos" goes to much more rockier places on a more recurrent basis. Rosas feels quite comfortable carrying his Emerson-meets- Wakeman influenced style and technical skills to a powerful rock environment, in this way building a crossroad between the artistic ambitions of classic prog and the structural complexity of hard rock with a prog metal twist. The five 'Breves Piezas Rockeras' ('Brief Rockers') are faithful indicators of this renewed enthusiasm. Truth is (and I admit that I'm starting to mention it too late) that the labors of drummer Alex von Chrismar and bassist/guitarist Rodrigo Godoy prove crucial in order to help Rosas to concretize his rocking self in a most splendorous manner. There are even two 'Brief Rockers' in which Godoy assumes the leading role by switching to electric guitar, while Rosas assumes the 'bass guitar position' on a keyboard. But it is not all about gutsy, powerful rock in a progressive language. There is also room for academy-oriented music, which makes a solid appearance in 'Sonido Vital Uno', 'Sonido Vital Dos' and 'Tiempos de Paz'. All three of them are captivating tapestry pieces built on elegant piano melodies and chord progressions: the second of the aforementioned pieces is the most solemn, providing an air of contemplative spirituality, while the latter brings a moderate aura of pomposity, never getting to far on it lest the eerie ambience does not get broken. 'Viajero Astral' is the only number jointly written by the three musicians: it is also the only sung track, as well as the longest one, since it lasts 15 minutes. This is your typical symphonic prog suite - it comprises varying successive motifs, bombastic arrangements, technical prowess. It is, indeed, the most ambitious number of the album. IMHO, the assemblage of all sections doesn't manage to accomplish a totally integrated unity, but all in all, the song's overall picture is really impressive as it is, full of colours and textures in the old-fashioned prog way. In conclusion, "Extremos" is an excellent musical work that states Jaime Rosas as a golden promise fulfilled in the current Latin American progressive scene.

A bit of a mixed bag, I am afraid.

An album is a collection of something. Either photos or music. Some of the photos has very different images. From people to pictures of buildings and landscapes. Somehow, I associate Extremos with an album of many pictures. The reason for this association is that the album is very varied......... and somewhat disjointed.

The cuarteto is a trio on this album. Which gives Jaime Rosa extra space to really show what he can. And there is no doubt that he is one of the best tangent players in the progressive rock scene today. He is firmly in the Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman mould. Unfortunate, he is also transgressing into Yngwie Malmsteen territory on this album too. And that is not a compliment, btw.

What I mean with that is that there is too many solos on this album and not enough music. Jaime Rosas is not alone in this solos overkill too. The guitarist Rodrigo Godoy too is guilty here.

Music wise, the album is the usual Jaime Rosas Cuarteto's blend of Dream Theater and ELP. Which is excellent music....... as long as the spirit of Yngwie Malmsteen is not getting dragged into it. And that's my main gripe here. Extremos is Jaime Rosas weakest album by a country mile. The best song here is Viajero Astral. But there is no real bad song here. Just a bit too many solos where more focus on the melodies would had been a better solution.

If you want to really experience one of the best tangent player on this planet and his excellent band, check out the Jaime Rosas Cuarteto live album.

3 stars

Now the second!

Remember the brief rock pieces that he created in his debut album? Well, he continued with them for his second album, which is actually the first with the trio line-up. Now Jaime Rosas, Rodrigo Godoy and Alex von Chrismar represent the Jaime Rosas Trio, with the album entitled "Extremos". Here we will find nine songs. Five of them have the titled of "Breve Pieza Rockera" continuing with the previous album's numeration; two tracks are named "Sonido Vital (1 and 2)" while the last tracks have different names, which I'll tell you later. All together make a total time of 42 minutes.

So "Breve Pieza Rockera VI and VII" start the album. I liked he started with them because it is like the continuation of his debut, so we keep track on it. This couple of pieces is short but vertiginous, just as the previously released, the difference here is that they are performed by two other members, rather than Rosas himself, and we can notice it with the introduction of a guitar, in the second one. This two songs lead to "Sonido Vital 1" (Vital Sound One) whose piano sound is fast an addictive at first; later it makes a short stop and the intensity decreases a little bit. This is a Jaime Rosas solo track.

Immediately after, the brief rock pieces return with its eighth and ninth faces. Here the other musicians return, of course, as well as the symphonic oriented prog. Here is the first time we can listen to the drummer showing off a little bit, while keyboards and bass work in the same scale. In "B.P.R. 9" a heavier tune appears thanks to the guitar riff and the almost always fast drumming. I said almost because it briefly slows down after two minutes, though it later returns to its rocker essence. So it is turn of the next track, and "Sonido Vital 2" begins. This is a longer and more elaborate track which starts slowly, but little by little is progressing. Here, as you can imagine, the song is performed only by Rosas.

The last "Breve Pieza Rockera (X)" starts with that energetic and bombastic sound that characterizes this collection. Later a song entitled "Tiempos de Paz" appears with a nice combination of keyboards, creating a soft classical-new age-progressive song (you can laugh at my description). And it leads to the only long track of this album, which happens to be the last one. It is entitled "Viajero Astral" and lasts 15 minutes, in which you will have a feast of keyboards, mixed with some spacey atmospheres and rockier moments. This is the only track here with vocals (in Spanish), which adds dynamism to the music; this is also the only song composed by the three members of JRT, and I dare say, the most ambitious track of the whole album.

"Extremos" is a good album, with a predominant use of short tracks, contrasted with the last long one, however, I believe the trio did not push at their best, or I don't know, the album did not click with me as I expected, after listening to the great debut album. That is why my grade here is lower, three stars.

Enjoy it!

As Entrance were officially put on ice in 2004, Jaime Rosas had the chance to team up with his former bandmates Rodrigo Godoy (bass, guitar, vocals) and Alex von Chrismar (drums) in order to record his second personal album, this time under the name of Jaime Rosas Trio.Godoy also provided his production knowledge for the album, which was recorded at the Magnasonica Studio.As Mylodon Records was also the house of Entrance, the Chilean label took Jaime Rosas' new effort ''Extremos'' under its sponsorship and this work eventually came out in 2004.

''Extremos'' is basically following the same matrix as ''Virgo'', although the presence of Godoy offers some more pronounced guitar parts in the place of symphonic-oriented keyboard themes.More than half of the tracks are dedicated to the sequel of ''Breva Pieza Rockera'', presented in the first album, although this time the different movements are sparse placed throughout the release.Rosas still remains the leading figure, offering lots of EMERSON-ian piano and keyboard pyrotechnics, focusing on a balanced effort between Classical touches and pompous deliveries, however his new effort lacks the instant melodies of his first one, presenting a more technical album full of sharp synth fanfares, which are surrounded by Godoy's angular guitar plays.A couple of more romantic sounding pieces with elegant piano interludes and atmospheric textures in general breeze some fresh air throughout, while his most ambitious composition is definitely the closing 15-min. ''Viajero Astral'', the only track featuring some vocals, split between Symphonic and Heavy Rock, with incredible organ fanfares, more ambiental soundscapes and eventually a few good melodies.Virtuosity is not absent either with Rosas torturing his keyboards once more in the vein of KEITH EMERSON.

Somewhat less solid than his debut, still this Jaime Rosas' album has plenty of great moments to be labeled as recommended.Essential for fans of keyboard-based Progressive Rock albums.