LAS HADAS NO VUELAN MÁS - 1. VAGAS NUBES

Usually Colombia is associated with drug wars and extreme violence, you should almost forget that people still make music, even progressive rock! Jaen Kief is a formation from the infamous Colombian city Medellin, in 2003 they released this CD. The seven compositions (some are divided in several parts) sound very tasteful and varied, this is already emphasized in the different atmosphere between the first two tracks: Prologo contains twanging acoustic guitars and warm vocals while Obertura is loaded with a bombastic sound featuring howling electric guitar and propulsive drum beats. On the other songs the music alternates between folk, classical and symphonic rock, especially the electric guitar soli (with echoes from Hackett and Gilmour) are wonderful and very compelling. But the keyboards are also worth to be mentioned, from sparkling piano to soaring strings and a sumptuous church organ sound. A strong point in Jaen Kief their prog is the integration of a variety of instruments like flute traverse (evoking Jethro Tull), saxophone, acoustic guitar and assorted percussion, embellished with inspired Spanish male and female vocals (at some moments a bit theatrical). This makes listening to Jaen Kief to a pleasant musical journey. I hope to hear more from this delicate Colombian band, it is 3 years ago that this CD was released ... do they still exist? I hope so!

This Colombian group from Medellin started originally in late-90's as a gathering of musicians to perform an over an hour piece of work, written between 1990 and 1998.The 8-piece line-up was in search of a quite original name, eventually they came up with the term ''Jaen Kief''.In 2006 their work, now reduced to 45 minutes, was released under the title ''Las Hadas No Vuelan Mas - I. Vagas Nubes'' by the specialists of Musea Records.

A nice mix of South-American Folk Rock with strong and sharp Symphonic Rock was finally what Jaen Kief had to offer and no doubt the band did it very well.The album is divided into short acoustic interludes and highly atmospheric, symphonic and bombastic instrumentals, enlightened by the lovely female vocals of Sol Beatriz Jaramillo and the decent voice of Juan Gonzalo Tamayo.The first ones produce excellent and warm soundscapes with the acoustic guitars and melodic flutes as the leading instruments.The later fall into the Symphonic Rock category as performed by TREM DO FUTURO, TEMPUS FUGIT,NEXUS and ATEMPO.Melodic, well-crafted and fairly demanding, rich Progressive Rock with fine orchestrations, featuring edgy synthesizers, atmospheric organs and delicate guitars.The combination of the two styles works succesful for the most of the album's length, having a good balance between spacey, grandiose moods and more adventurous climates.

Although some of the aforementioned bands have performed the style in a more succesful way, Jaen Kief's debut remains a work of significant interest.Atmospheric and well-performed Progressive Rock with strong symphonic and Folk vibes, certainly warmly recommended.