QUATEBRIGA

Incorporating elements from FRANK ZAPPA and of course BEGNAGRAD as well as influences from Horn Rock, Jazz and Balkan Music, Quatebriga played a very complex style of disharmonic musicianship almost entirely built around wind instruments and a schizophenic rhythm section.However the dull ZAPPA-esque opener is a bit of a fail with these humurous cheesy voices over somekind of Funk music,really a huge dissapointment.The next few tracks are decent,showcasing Quatebriga's unstructured free forms of Horn Rock and RIO with extremely complex bass lines and endless sax/trumpets dissonances in an improvisational mood.However the three tracks of the LP's flipside are again on the wrong side.The hypnotic sax/bass-driven ''To Be Or Not To Be Stoned That Is Not The Question'' still seeks out for a reason of existence in this whole RIO mess,while the 9-min. follower ''African Girl Is Comming Home'' is even worse,entirely built on sound effects and percussion until the middle,saved a bit by the wind-instrumental attack towards the end.''Uvertur'' delivers back the hypnotic atmosphere of the flipside's opener,some good work on the sax department and the dynamic closing will save this one from being as bad as ''To Be Or Not To Be Stoned That Is Not The Question''.

Filled with the highest point of dissonance but also spending plenty of its running time on pointless music, Quatebriga's debut is a huge dissapointment regarding the band's overall talent.Recommended only to hardcore RIO fans.

The album "Post Mortem Dump" was recorded in 1995 during the band's brief reunion but was released two years later. Core trio of Milko Lazar (keyboards, woodwinds), Ales Rendla (drums, percussion) and Nino de Gleria (bass) was enforced by another woodwind player Matjaz Albreht (flute, saxophone). Thus, without Igor Leonardi's electric guitar kicks, QUATEBRIGA floated evermore into a jazz fusion territory populated with beautiful ambient sounds and melodic syncopated grooves.

Balkan-Orient mystique meets Latin samba-smooth jazz meets funky rhythm meets Mittel-European folk-dance extravaganza; all these bring along some of the finest solo parts of relatively, even for jazz, atypical musical instruments. Distinguished and warm sounds of bass clarinet, melodica, "zurla" (traditional Balkans' wind instrument with high pitch sound), flute and soprano saxophone are what makes this CD so unique. Ambience keyboards glue them together in a compact arrangement while effective percussion and more than often leading bass punches (sometimes reminiscent of Jaco Pastorius as in "Kaskaderska") provide a firm stand for this precious sound sculpture. "Mirna Bosna" and "Impro" remind me of certain Orient-inspired works by German jazz-rockers EMBRYO or KRAAN, while "Otvoritvena" invokes some hard-edged keyboard riffs of Klaus Doldinger's PASSPORT.

Basically, there is no weak moment on this CD; only the last two tracks slightly loose their way and I had attention problem during their play. But overall, this is an excellent album and a must for jazz-rock/fusion fans if not for those inclined more toward avant-jazz oddities.

PERSONAL RATING: 4,5/5

P.A. RATING: 5/5

The band line-up is the same as that on the debut LP "Revolution in the Zoo" (opening announcement runs in a reversed vocal sounding almost as eerie as Dwarf character from David Lynch's "Twin Peaks"), so in a way we can witness here some of the early stage of the development of their style. It is clear that they already pursued a progression from an unorthodox RIO-Avant experimentation in song structures (inherited from the time of BEGNAGRAD) toward jazz and fusion ambient leanings. "To Be Or Not To Be", "African Girl Is Coming Home" and "I Remember Quatebriga" would also, in slightly different version, appear on the studio debut album, with the latter re-named as "I Remember Begnagrad" and included in the closing "Uvertur". Amazing lengthy composition "Ta rjav", perhaps one their best 3 compositions ever recorded and which was to be later included in the second album "The Choice of the New Generation", is presented here in even three versions! Of these perhaps the live 12-minutes rendition is the best. Not many rock bands (and QUATEBRIGA is still closer to a rock than to a jazz group) contain "melodica" instrument and this immediately associates me to the contemporary TUXEDOMOON, from "Holy Wars" onwards. Of course, not only this ? a prominent bass parts and diverse reeds and horns also invoke this avant-garde San Franciscan group of freaks who found refuge in Europe.

That said, three times listening to the same composition, no matter how good it is, might be a bit too much. Especially if these bookend a live extended version of a quite boring percussive jam "African Girl...", which is not much better in its studio album version either. In addition, unprepared listeners will probably have difficulty to swallow some more eccentric parts like "Zene na biciklima" (Eng. "Women Riding Bicycles" with Buldozerian-style recitals) or "Sparnzi mit Strom", so this collection is definitely not for novices. I would certainly recommend you to go first for two studio albums mentioned here before you dig the dirt off their archival recordings.

PERSONAL RATING: 3,75/5

P.A. RATING: 3/5

If BEGNAGRAD were one of rare examples of a genuine RIO band outside the Western Europe, QUATEBRIGA continued in somewhat jazzier direction. Not abandoning entirely the experimentation with odd folksy rhythms and time signatures, they pursued more avant-jazz expression fused with post-punk and alternative rock attitudes. The opening title track, which even saw some limited popularity on college radio stations across Yugoslavia, is prime example of this approach and its funky beat, crazy horns and silly lyrics ("elephants and monkeys pissing everywhere...") made them precursors of what DISCIPLINA KIČME of Belgrade was about to do in the coming years.

Odd time signature, amazing bass lines, marimba-like percussion and strong horns made "Prvckotove najljubse melodije" (Eng. "Prvckot's Most Beautiful Melodies") one of the strongest moments of the album. Cacophony in the RIO manner coupled with some Crimsonesque guitar chords jumps on and off amazingly well. Short but furious "Na juris- Odpisani" (Eng. "Attack of the Written Off") presents a mad mix of brass instruments and guitar noise that is brief enough before you start raising your eyebrows. Perhaps the best track on the album (at least, for me the most enjoyable one) - "To Be Or Not To Be Stoned That Is Not The Question" - starts in slow tempo pushed by bass and guitar flageolets. Saxophone joins in a spacey atmosphere reminding me of certain psychedelic fusion acts from the past.

The remainder of the album does not work so well though. There is too much improvising to the point that certain passages are hard to listen to. Especially boring is the longest track, "African Girl Is Coming Home", whose heavy-load of "ethnic" percussion and the "sounds of savannah" does not seem to go anywhere. All in all however, this is quite good and interesting LP of "avant-rock meets avant-jazz" music and I will surely recommend it if you enjoy exploring these kinds of musical styles.

PERSONAL RATING: 3,75/5

P.A. RATING: 4/5

This is their second album, issued in 1987 in former Yugoslavia. The vinyl pressing was of limited circulation and it was hard to find outside of the band's native Slovenia. Absence of accordion and clarinet is evident on the first listen since these were signature instruments of BEGNAGRAD style. QUATEBRIGA, although retains many avant-gardistic and RIO-ish approach to arrangements and instrumental expression, draws more elements from jazz and Lazar's classical training. Bass and percussions are simply wonderful and de Gleria presents considerable skills in numerous odd time bass playing. Saxophone sounds quite jazzy in a classical way while certain drum machines and synths bring a sort of cold/technical sensation. It is not overtly spoiling the music, although some synthesized "brass" moments are not very effective. Percussions and what sounds like synth-marimba are excellent so that sometimes THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION or Pierre Moerlin's GONG appear as influence, like in "Ta rjav". Perhaps the best moment on the album is "Stiskaseparada", a 6,5 minutes of funny odd time bass lines followed by baritone or tenor saxophone in a typical free jazz style. The opening title track has strong synth rhythm and features some strange voices and coughing up sounds.

If you tried BEGNAGRAD but found it too difficult to digest at first attempt, you may want to try with QUATEBRIGA, which is slightly more accessible, closer to jazz and even fusion than to RIO/Avant. But this does not mean "The Choice Of The New Generation" is less provocative.