FULANO

This album is so entertaining thanks mostly to the female vocalist who is the star of this show, she's so theatrical and fun to listen to. The band plays a variety of styles including Jazz, Canterbury and Avant. They keep you on your toes that's for sure.

"Fulano" opens with an uptempo jazzy section with male vocals. She arrives vocally a minute in and absolutely shines. Keys take the spotlight for a while before the melody from the intro returns. Sax and bass are prominant. A calm before 3 1/2 minutes as it pretty much comes to a stop. Keys and higher pitched female vocals come in that really remind me of Zeuhl. This is fantastic ! A sax solo follows as she makes some vocal noises then starts to sing again. Nice. Zeuhl fans will love this. "Maquinarias" is full of intricate sounds like sax, bass, keys and drums.Clarinet after 1 1/2 minutes.This sounds so good before 3 minutes. Male vocals follow. Great track. "Tango" opens with drums as she starts to speak, she gets quite passionate before becoming theatrical. She's so good it makes me laugh. Bass and then sax join in. A catchy rhythm plays on as she puts on quite the show.

"Fruto Del Goce" is the longest track at 11 1/2 minutes. It takes it's time getting going as different sounds come and go with no melody for 4 minutes. Kind of experimental actually. Then smooth sax melodies and keys arrive.Vocals after 5 minutes. You can hear her laugh after she hits a high note 6 minutes in. Priceless. The bass becomes prominant in this song that really seems like an improv. It starts to get louder and more chaotic 9 minutes in. Then the sax starts to lead the way. Guitar 10 minutes in really rips it up as drums pound away. "Suite Recoleta" opens with drums as keys join in. Vocals follow, and as the tempo picks up her vocal pitch goes higher with piano and drums helping out. Sax 2 1/2 minutes in. She's back to her normal singing voice 4 1/2 minutes in. "El Calcetin Perseguido" features the same short melody being played over and over for a minute as different instruments show off including vocals. "1989..." is a bonus track I believe, as it is live and I assume from 1989. Brilliant i know. This is an uptempo track to start with sax playing over top. It stops dead 1 1/2 minutes in and begins again softly. It's dark as female vocals sound frightened as they build and become theatrical. So cool. Check her out before 4 minutes ! Vocal melodies after 5 minutes with piano. The tempo picks up 6 1/2 minutes in with sax leading the way. She's back a minute later. Some organ late.

This is even better than I thought it would be. It's been a tough one to find until recently. Get it while you can, you won't be disappointed.

3.5 stars...

A very famous band in Chile,FULANO were formed by a group of friends/musicians in Santiago in 1984.From the very first moment the band wanted to create something experimental and personal and the numerous rehearsals led to an eponymous album in 1987,initially released on cassete,re-realeased in 1994 on CD format.

FULANO are unquestionably a fusion band with a totally artistic point of view,blending Jazz with R.I.O.,Avant-Garde and rock.Equally split in fast tempo compositions and Avant-Garde/Jazz passages,the sound of FULANO is based on the strong interplays of the rhythm section and the wind instruments.Guitars are scarce and very distinctive,as the whole story unfolds around the HENRY COW-like heavy use of saxophones and the pleasant excurssions of the clarinet,played by Cristian Cristoso and Jaime Vasquez.These wind-based passages get even richer with the complicated bass work of Jorge Campos and the solid drumming of Guillermo Valenzuela.As for keyboards,there is a steady use of delicate electric piano as a supporting instrument,while the vocals of Arlette Jequier are fantastic,ranging from impressive wordless chords to expressive,theatrical lyrics.FULANO are not your typical Jazz-Rock ensemble.Their thetrical approach to Jazz makes them more than just interesting and anyone after some original Jazz-Rock/Fusion should definitely check them out.Strongly recommended!

Recognized as one of the most important jazz rock fusion bands that emerged from all of Latin America, FULANO existed from 1984 to 2015 and released five eclectic and virtuosic albums that have all become critically acclaimed. This band came out of Santiago, Chile when members of the traditional Chilean folk music band Santiago del Nuevo Extremo, Cristián Crisosto (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute, bass clarinet, vocals) and Jorge Campos (bass, guitar) to be exact, wanted to start a more experimental band based on jazz and prog rock. FULANO is considered one of the most innovative of the entire Chilean scene with a crafty mix of Frank Zappa inspired silliness, Captain Beefheart styled eclecticism and the jazz paradigm of Brazilian fusionist Hermeto Pascoal.

With a sound primarily based on keyboards, a horn section, heavy percussion and the rowdy vocals of Arlette Jequier, FULANO crafted a unique mix of swinging jazzy rock with heavy doses of avant-garde. The band's lyrics tackled anti-fascism and anti-military during the last years of the reign of Pinochet's dictatorship and has become one of Chile's most popular bands for its unique and uncompromising stylistic approach. The first album to emerge was this self-titled release that was released in 1987 initially as a cassette-only edition and didn't see a CD release well into the 90s. The album of seven tracks ran slightly over 44 minutes and featured the robust lineup of six musicians who delivered sounds from the bass, guitars, flute, saxophone and other winds, clarinet, drums and percussion, glockenspiel, piano and keyboards.

While tagged as avant-prog or jazz fusion in most camps, FULANO really sounded like no other. Elements of prog and jazz were given a total makeover and the band effortlessly shifted from easy-on-the-ears swinging melodic fusion ("Fulano") to more demanding atonal musical chaos ("Fruto del Goce"). The tracks ranged from short such as the less than three minute tracks "Tango" and "El Calcetín Perseguido" to the lengthy ten minute plus "Fruto del Goce" and "1989 (O Esto No Es Bueno Ni Malo Sino Muy Por El Contrario)." Likewise the music could be light and captivating sounding like something out of a top class vocal jazz club or doomy and dreadful and covered in darkness. The horn section often sounds like it has a klezmer vibe.

The jazzy motifs are bouncy and energetic sounding something like the Flora Purim beginnings of Return To Forever only with a more sultry swing as Arlette Jequier delivers her best passionately delivered vocal performances that emulate the scatting traditions of traditional jazz. The energetic zaniness reminds of the spastic zolo acts like Devo or Oingo Boingo at times. The band's complexities were a creative fusion of some of the members' primary influences with included Weather Report, Return To Forever, King Crimson, Magma, Frank Zappa, Hermeto Pascoal, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and female singers like Maggie Nicols, Ursula Dudziak, Meredith Monk and Janis Joplin. The sound of the Belgian Rock In Opposition scene are also scattered throughout making FULANO one of the most eclectic and accomplished bands to emerge from the entire South American continent.

This is really my favorite type of crazy music. It's energetic, creative, passionate, unique and flipped a middle finger to the establishment and despite forming and existing during the last years of Pinochet's brutal regime still managed to squeak out albums during some of the harshest repression since WW2. The band had two phases with this first one lasting from 1984 to 2003 until the untimely passing of keyboardist Jaime Vivanco and then a second coming later with a reformation however this debut album showcases the band in all its primeval passion and firing on all pistons and filled with a justifiable rage against the machine. This music sounds exotic, distinct, accomplished and fascinating in its complex compositional nature. A very unique band and the precursor to bands like Mediabanda, Animal en Extinción and Araukania Kuintet. Excellent stuff here!