CONFUSIÓN

When I was a young boy, my father taught me that it was important to meet other cultures. So we often went to musea about native Indians and he used to play LP's with music from Greece, Russia, Roumania, Spain and often Latin-America, especially the Andean flute sound like Los Paraguayos, Los Incas and Los Calchakis. When I got in touch with progrock I was very pleased with Los Jaivas, the wonderful blend of ethnic and symphonic prog. Last week I was advised to buy Peruvian band Supay, I am very grateful (thanks Hans) because their blend of Andean folk and Western prog/rock is amazing! Supay is a new band that consists of six members, four are playing the 'quena' (an often used Andean flute) and two of those also play the 'zampona', a double panpipe from the Incas. Most of you will know these instruments from the Andean street musicians playing in Europe.

The CD is from 2004 but re-released in 2006 by the French label Musea and the Chilean label Mylodon Records. It contains seven pleasant and melodic compositions that sound like a progressive blend of Andean folk and rock music. In general the songs deliver fluent rhythms with an adventurous rhythm-section with the focus on the flutes and electric guitar. This results in a great tension between the cheerful 'quena' sound, the melancholic 'zampona' sound and the fiery and harder-edged guitarwork, in my opinion inspired by Hendrix and Blackmore. The guitarplayer makes impression with his frequent soli, often biting and howling and the duels with the flutes are great like on the first track when he uses wah-wah while the flute sounds like a nightingale! The keyboard player sounds a bit subdued: in Avanzado he delivers a bit jazzy organ solo, in La Nueva he plays a fine duet with a flute and in most of the other songs he accompanies on organ in a very tasteful way. That is also the strong point of Supay: the band sounds like a band despite the frequent soli and instrumental adventures.

If you like a musical encounter between two different worlds, this is an excellent CD!