THE DREAMS CONCERTO

In 2002 Raimundo Rodulfo released his second album in an even more ambitious manner than his debut.''The dreams concerto'' features no less than 15 musicians on acoustic and modern, electric instruments, while Rodulfo plays all kind of guitars plus mandolin, bass and percussions.The album was yet another self-released production by the Venezuelean musician and composer.

''The dreams concerto'' is split in three very long movements, each serving a specific scope regarding the needs of Rodulfo and company.The first one, which is also the closest to Classic Progressive Rock, clocks at 28 minutes and comes in a Symphonic Rock vein with very delicate musicianship and lovely female vocals.Comparisons with PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI and Argentinians M.I.A. are unquestionable.A long suite, that often passes through forms of Classical and Folk Music, and offers a romantic Progressive Rock with rich orchestrations.Beautiful guitar work by Rodulfo to go along with melancholic string sections and pastoral flute lines, while there are also quite a few breaks into acoustic themes with a rural aura.The second movenent is about 17 minutes long and presents Rodulfo's more experimental and artistic style, not because of the complexity of the music, but mainly because Rodulfo tries to combine mathematical models into music forms.The music here is somewhere between Symphonic Rock and Fusion with some vibes from Swedish act ISILDURS BANE, where virtuosic and complicated ideas meet jazzier elements through the use of saxes and more technical bass and drum parts.KING CRIMSON is another good reference point.This piece is all instrumental, musically very intricate but not entirely convincing.The third and last movement, which is also the longest one (about 33 minutes long) shows Rodulfo's impressive musical background and deep music knowledge, but on the other hand it tends to be close to an academic performance.This is a mellow suite conducted for Chamber orchestra and classical guitar with strong Folk and Jazz elements along with Classical-influenced string lines, that offer a superb musicianship at moments.Its second part eventually introduces again the electric instruments and present a somewhat Neo-Classical Rock with impressive orchestrations and a convincing combination of string instruments with rock elements around.Rodulfo's playing remains deeply virtuosic yet always sensitive, with a soft guitar touch and long, melodic solos.

Very talented musician.His works are not everybody's cup of tea.As a result ''The dreams concerto'' is yet another R.Rodulfo album, which requires plenty of your time to be fully appreciated.But the result is trully satisfying.Warmly recommended.