RECUERDOS DE MI TIERRA

Mezquita were part of the Andalusian rock wave which arose in Spain during the late 1970s. Testing the limits of official restrictions on artistic expression in the late days of the Franco regime, the Andalusian rock groups would seize the opportunity arising from the end of the Francoist era and the restoration of democratic freedoms to really take their art forwards.

Mezquita's debut album finds them drinking deeply of their new freedoms. The band had chugged along under the Franco years as the psych-influenced unit Expresi'n, but the renaming here fits their new sound - for Mezquita is Spanish for "Mosque", and the album celebrates the rich heritage of cultural mingling between different religious faiths which was a strong feature of much Spanish history (and an aspect that the hardline Catholic Franco regime was disinclined to honour).

As you might expect, then, there's a certain note of Arabic music influencing proceedings here, particularly that of North Africa, as well as a blend of progressive rock (I smell hints of Relayer-era Yes, especially in the keyboard work), flamenco, and jazz fusion. (The blending of traditional Spanish music and jazz-rock puts me in mind at points of early Return to Forever.) It's a real melting pot of musical influences to reflect the melting pot of Spanish history, which is presumably precisely the band's intention, and the end result is an excellent blend.