JARA

1. Jara (3:38): A swinging rhythm with a strong duel between flamenco - and electric guitar. The music becomes very dynamic and exciting with great soli on piano. Flamenco - and electric guitar and even the Moog synthesizer. The climate sounds as a blend of flamenco and jazzrock.

2. Monterubio (6:04): Another swinging rhythm featuring splendid jazz/flamenco inspired acoustic guitar runs and sensational soli on a jazzy sounding piano and Moog synthesizer. The rhythm-section is incredible, so dynamic and adventurous.

3. Hornada (6:03): This track contains an Andalusian atmosphere, lots of great soli on piano, synthesizer and fiery electric guitar, supported by Santana-like percussion on conga. The sensational sound evokes Al DiMeola (Elegant Gypsy-era).

4. Castuera (5:12): Again splendid work from the rhythm-section, great electric guitar overdubs and powerful work on the saxophone. Vega swings and rocks!

5. Punta Umbria (7:53): Here some wonderful tremolo guitar work, soaring strings and a swinging piano solo, most of the time the rhythm is mid-tempo, again it sounds very dynamic.

6. Apacible (2:53): The final track is more mellow with sensitive acoustic guitar.

JUST ANOTHER GREAT SPANISH PROGROCK DISCOVERY!!

This record was made available for me by my prog-buddy Erik Neuteboom, who's affection for the Prog Andaluz genre is contagious. The prog andaluz garden has some nice fruits, one of them is the fusion oriented Vega. It's hard to find bands of the genre. Somehow all prog bands from Spain were placed in odd categories like prog folk, symphonic prog and other strange places.

Vega is for instance a very clear Flamenco/Fusion album with a bit of symphonic prog influences. Prog folk is not to be found anywhere near this record. I just wrote a review about the debut and only difference between this record and the debut it that Jara has a bigger focus on the Fusion side of the band. The mix had now become a 50% jazz-rock, 40% flamenco en 10% symphonic/melodic prog. This way the second album of Vega has become an attractive album for people interested in bands like Mahavishnu, Return to Forever and especially Al Di Meola.

The album is still a bit short, clocking around halve an hour. There's little development in the songs or the album as a whole, but the tracks are all high quality fusion tracks with nice melodic parts and great solo's and arangements. The bass and drums have improved on this second album and sometimes you'll end up listening to the highest quality of jazz-rock. The ego of master guitar player Thomas Vega is a big as it should be: Thomas Vega shows us why humanity was given this string instrument, but never get's to dominant in the sound- scape. This is a blessing.

Conclusion. A bit better then the debut, but still short of emotional development in song or the the albums as a whole. The good thing is this album doesn't have one unlikable moment either and the technical and melodic side of the music is top notch. People interested in the genre's mentioned should try this. Those who prefer the fusion side of the music should begin with Jara, people interested in the prog Andaluz side of the music are better of with the debut. Again a small four star rating for Vega!