Вижу Землю / LOOKING AT THE EARTH

Going through the tons of albums I have from Turkmenistan (ha!), I think i've found a favorite! The GUNESH ENSEMBLE (sometimes found only as Гунеш (GUNESH) was a highly eclectic and energetic group led by drummer Rishard Shafi. They were masters of jazz-fusion mixed with all things Central Asian folk including haunting chants and exotic instruments. Of course they even had a Vietnamese singer! After their first album of mostly folk material they really stepped it up and created something truly unique and unbelievable.

Вижу Землю (Looking At Earth) in an unearthly amalgation of musical majesticness. The album begins with a whispering wind and some temple bells before Russian dialogue ushers in some seriously deranged funkiness and energetic percussion and horns with some strange electronic 'talking.' The jazz-fusion doesn't waste any time getting warmed up. You know you're in for a very wild ride with this one. The album continues to surprise with abrupt changes but quite capable of sustaining a beautiful melody in the form of song or chant. The interplay of 10 plus instruments may be going on at any given moment. Absent are any influences from Western bands. All sounds original and isolated like it was all created in a remote area that still hasn't made contact with the Western world. However parts do remind me of Italian avant-proggers Area and the last cut sounds like a traditional Vietnamese song meets the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

If you like eclectic world fusion then you will love this. Must hear to believe.This album had only one vinyl release in 1981 and is probably impossible to find but fear not. Rishad Shafi released the first two albums on CD titled "Rishad Shafi Presents Gunesh."

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Posted Monday, November 25, 2013 | Review this album | Report (Review #1081381)

I only know two prog rock bands from Turkmenistan. Gunesh Ensemble and Firyuza. Both have released each one amazing album. Just as it happened on other countries, in the cited region progressive rock only started to develop on the passage from the 1970 to the 80's. But I can't tell you if there ... (read more)

Report this review (#2873529) | Posted by arymenezes | Friday, January 6, 2023 | Review Permanlink

Search hard and you will be rewarded! This album is actually on Spotify currently, but written in Cyrillic (Гунеш - Вижу Землю). Not ideal for those of us with a UK keyboard but it is there! I've listened to thi ... (read more)

Report this review (#2439853) | Posted by bartymj | Friday, August 21, 2020 | Review Permanlink

Leaded by one the finest prog drummer ever (Rishad Shafi) Gunesh Ensemble is maybe the greatest band from ex-URSS. They are exactly from Turkmenistan and in a nutshell they are a central asian sounding progressive horn rock/fusion group or maybe better a little orchestra. But Gunesh are better t ... (read more)

Report this review (#301478) | Posted by bungle77 | Friday, October 1, 2010 | Review Permanlink

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