RIZOMA

One of the advantages of focusing on positive and upbeat reviews is that many hitherto unknown artists take the plunge to send me a request to review their latest offering in the hope that they will get some tangible exposure, though my platforms are modest to say the least. And as per the norm of the progressive universe, there are always names that ring a bell (sometimes even a gong), as is the case for this fantastic and original combo from Mexico. Enter Luis Nasser, a smiling, very sympathetic and knowledgeable chap who happens to often guest on Pete Pardo's Sea of Tranquility web site, who also happens to be a wicked bass player with Sonus Umbra. Well, as a shameless bass fetishist par excellence, it took me a nano-second to bask in utter low-end glee when the first, clear as crystal and up-front bass notes came through my speakers, staying there all the way to the end. Oh my! Thrills galore. Luz de Riada are an experimental and original seasoned crew of talented musicians. Besides Nasser, Ramses Luna (of Cabezas de Cera fame) officiates on sax, flute, synth and vocals, Sergio Aldema on the drum kit and the pristine production is further elevated by sound master/engineer Edgar Arrellin. Many guests appear in cameo roles, to further heighten the highly cinematographic arrangements.

When any recording launches a cool bass riff, my spider senses awaken from any nonchalant inertia and immediately switch to gratification mode. "Auromboros" certainly sets the stage with some crafty sounds, turn on a peso twists and turns, odd noises, and scintillating creativity, that stretches the boundaries of prog convention. The ability to shift gears is seemingly fearless, courtesy of Pat Mastellotto (King Crimson) on the drums, leading to an exemplary opening salvo.

With "Entropia" there is a strong classic Gong feel (less the bubbly synths and the glissando guitar swells), where Luis channels his inner Mike Howlett /Hansford Rowe and I can easily envision him grinning mischievously as he is carving another feathered serpent furrow for the amigos to play in. Ramses has Didier Malherbe as a muse to an uncanny level, tossing in some Gilly/Daevid vocalizations and Sergio surely infused some Pierre Moerlen into his athletic playing. This is cosmic jazz with razor sharp playing and delirious imagery, as if the Mexican pyramid on Gong's "You" cover channeled together the Mayan culture with the Pot Head Pixies! Pure bliss and a killer track. The tricky "Raices" presents a thick and rubbery bass line that erects the sonic real estate to towering heights, a jazzy build-up that stuns the listener into submission, as the crew pile on the playful execution. Tim McCaskey shines on both acoustic and electric guitars, as the arrangement evolves into a thrilling workout that maintains the synergy. But that bass ?OMG!

Yup, the 4 stringed monster seizes the onset on "Atipica" with a clearly defined melody, a deliberate methodical build-up that demonstrates the rhythmic partnership with the incredible syncopation doled out by Sergio. Graceful transition into a parallel groove with a brief synthesizer flurry, and a spectral Spanish spoken word narration from Maria Lucia Dal Farra, straight out of a stage opera, with the hushed tones, quivering squeaks, and dense drama. Terrific piece of music.

How about some percussive boom-boom tchack to light the fuse under "Matanza de Chivos"? No problem, caballeros! The slaughter of goats is perhaps an altogether odd title, but the sonic butchery here is worthy of a world class surgeon, a body of work with sliced rhythmic sinews, various instruments cutting thick slabs of dense aural muscle, and a hard to the bone tempo that puts up quite the challenge. The segue is flawless with "Todos por La Banqueta", as the feast is now roasting juicily, perhaps the head used as a Jamaican soup made once famous by the Stones, infused with a wide variety of spices indigenous to the Mexican food culture. The pulsating chanting is hypnotic, the drums and percussion heavily in tow, the mood festive and carnivalesque. Enoc Jimenez delivers undulating guitars as Armando Palomas inserts some free-styling voice manoeuvres. With a title like "La Bestia" that needs no translation, the poor listener is slammed by a beastly set of ominous riffs, discombobulated sax blurting, tortured Jimenez axe outbursts and a merciless drum onslaught. The mood veers towards the insane, the synthesizers gone ballistic, impossible stops and possible starts galore, shifting winds and the kitchen sink to boot. The finale simmers like a fusion stew, tight like a tiger.

For all the farmers out there, "La Danza del Tlacololero" refers to the cultivation of the fields (as vegetables and fruits must also be discussed so as to be inclusive to all) and the dance is highly appropriately evoked. Imagine a huge stage where corn cobs waltz with red tomatoes, under the watchful eye of jalapeños, poblanos, chipotle and habaneros, each providing different levels of 'caliente'. Only the agave plants mind their own business, happy to remain at the bar with el Patron! An extraordinary track once again, with hypnotic colourations, bouncy bass, booming beats, and beguiling atmosphere.

Back to the shimmering suavity of "Nunoa", a breezier number with delicate bass phrasings, glittering flute and synthesizer work from Ramses and intricate percussive meditations. Luis takes over the spotlight and shifts the arrangement into a more cosmic realm, recalling perhaps the 'Isle of Everywhere' feel, as the relentless bass pounding muscles ahead with endless restraint, nevertheless. The reflective flute takes this deep into the night, as the sun sets on the mesa.

"1915" (General Obregon defeats Pancho Villa at the Battle of Celaya), features the incredible Mattias Olsson on the drums, in complete harmony with Luis' bellicose bass guitar, and a vast variety of spirals from the sax. The clash between the two musical warring sides parallels the storyline I guess, but it puts an end to all the hostilities with the peace of victory and defeat, holding hands in accepting reality. This was an absolute joyride from the very first note to the last and comes very highly recommended as surely one of the finest instrumental releases of 2024.

Muchas gracias, Rosy Sanchez, for reaching out to the Prog Rogue. Thank you, Luis, for being such an inspiration.

5 rootstalks. [email protected]

Mexican avant-proggers LUZ DE RIADA have been around in one form or another since 2010 and founded / led by the talented Ramsés Luna who has crafted a unique vision of progressive music that mixes elements of jazz, world music and avant-prog with psychedelia, ethereal atmospheres and bubbly zeuhl rhythms. The band has lit up the Mexican underground and has enjoyed a thorough touring schedule of their parent nation as well as appealing to a larger international audience. Having completed the adventurous three album project of "Cuentos y Fábulas" which found closure in 2016, the LUZ DE RIADA project took an extended 8-year leave of absence but was only regarding the batteries and attracting new talent to conjure up the project's fourth overall release titled RIZOMA.

While the project employed the talents of many guest musicians on the trilogy albums beyond the core members, RIZOMA is more of a return to basics and simply features the talents of four members. While Luna himself dishes out the flute and saxophone airy sound effects, he is joined by Sonus Umbra bassist Luis Nasser as well as Deuol drummer Sergio Aldama. As an extra special bonus King Crimson drummer Pat Mastelotto as well as Anglagard percussionist lend a hand on the first and last tracks making this a dynamic and versatile album that delivers as much creative spontaneity as it does groovy bass-driven processions that keep everything from spiraling into the world of unhinged experimentalism. Other guests included Enoc Jiménez on guitar and vocal contributions from María Lucía dal Farra, Armando Palomas and Floriano Martins. This is a Spanish language only affair so hopa you speaka the lingo.

Imbibed with an insatiable quest for creative exploration, Luna once again embarks on a unique musical journey that sets this project apart from pretty much any other act out there i've experienced. A somewhat lengthy affair, RIZOMA features 10 tracks that extend to the 55 1/2 minute mark but it's the kind of musical procession that keeps you enthralled in every metronomic cadence and prancing proggy display of unexpected musical insertions that keep you guessing what could possibly come next. A veritable cauldron of jazzy fusion performs unthinkable antics with crazy avant-prog time signatures, psychedelic atmospheric overlaps and a groovy procession that while not in the camp of Magma inspired zeuhl sort of exists in a parallel universe to it. A plethora of textures, timbres and diversity of instrumental interplay, the album features classic prog workouts as well as adding some home grown ethnic resources to spice it all up like a jalapeño infused burrito.

Where the creativity shines the most is in how the varying basic grooves of the instruments interact. Syncopation and contrapuntal contrast is the name of the game here as the bass playing delivers a beefy yet steady groovilicious stability that allows the party to take place over its time signature rich dominance. In addition to the obvious Mexican nods to cultural sounds, tracks like "Todos La Banqueta" incorporate some beautiful African guitar moves as well as a vocalist that offers traditional African vocal contributions as well as another vocalist who delivers a completely different unreleased track that somehow jives quite well with the various grooving of the instruments. Yeah, this is unique. Very. "La Bestia" and other tracks even flirt with what sounds like klezmer only set to avant-prog mode especially in the feisty guitar workouts.

I have been woefully unaware of this band project. While prog bands in Mexico have become more prolific in recent years, for the most part they still lurk in the shadows of their Anglo and European counterparts. That is a shame because some of the most fertile creativity stems from regions of the world that have been smitten with the world of progressive and experimental music in the last few decades. This album is ridiculously creative from beginning to end with a never-ending series of twists and turns that never cease to amaze. One example is the avant-garde classical music intro of "La Danza del Tlacololero" that gurgles around until the track breaks into a sort of danceable Mexican inspired groove accompanied by the klezmer effect of the woodwinds. All in all this is a brilliant album and a band i simply must go back and explore more as the trilogy of albums that preceded seem to be just as adventurously creative. An excellent album but i find the last two tracks a little lackluster and could've been left off.

This is great!

It's been 8 years since Mexican project Luz de Riada released their last album, which was also the end of the 'Cuentos y Fábulas' trilogy; and now in this 2024 after different line-up changes and life challenges, Ramsés Luna, mastermind behind this project, has released an amazing album entitled 'Rizoma', which was possible thanks to his insatiable creativity and, of course, to the great assembly he has created with the awesome Luis Nasser (Sonus Umbra, Might Could) on bass, the great Sergio Aldama (Deuol) on drums, and long-time friend and collaborator Edgar Arrellin on the sound design.

Important to say that this community has further extension to some quite talented musicians as artists who are featured in the album. Tim McCaskey (Sonus Umbra) helps with his work on both acoustic and electric guitar during the whole album, being like an unofficial member of the band. Big names such as Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) or Matias Olsson (Anglagard) provide their drumming work in the first and last track of the album, respectively, and also talented guitar man Enoc Jiménez puts his grain of sand in three tracks. So it is great to see Luz de Riada is not just an ordinary group, but an entity of talented minds in constant movement and change, minds that have always something to say, not only in a specific musical way, but also in an artistic way, so here we can also have hints of poems and vocal freestyle made by María Lucía dal Farra, Armando Palomas and Floriano Martins.

The journey is divided in 10 tracks that make a total time of 55 minutes of an explosive mixture of sounds and emotions. It kicks-off with 'Auromboros', a wonderful song that opens the gates to this current Luz de Riada's realm, where we can find well-crafted compositions, top-notch performances, colorful sounds, mood and rhythm changes, prog rock, jazz fusion, folk, and more. Though we know Luna is the main composer behind this project, it is great to see Nasser was also involved in the composition, and yeah, we can notice his hands on tracks like these, where bass cannot go unnoticed.

'Entropía' was the song they chose as a single, and I think it was a great decision, because when I first listened to it I said to myself "this sounds like a great album is coming". This track starts with vocals, which Luna has used throughout his career as another instrument, they remind me of some zeuhl acts. Then the song embraces a proggy sound which took me to a crimsonian world, a place I am sure the band and we all love. There are moments where Luna's winds take over and shares a diversity of sounds, nuances, and textures, which is great.

A folkish sound made by percussion appears in 'Raíces', letting us know the band can go to different places and explore a diversity of sounds, musical genres and most importantly, cultures. Here I love McCaskey's acoustic guitar work, is so delicate and delicious, and I also love Aldama's drumming, so accurate, so free, so wonderful. 'Atípica' is the longest track of the album, and according to the credits, it was composed by Nasser, and yeah, his bass here is marvelous, he is capable of creating soft and delicate sounds that feel like big hug. Aldama's work here is outstanding once again, but I really love how all the musicians put their grain of sand in equal parts not only in this track, but during the whole album. At half the song a spoken word appears, it is Dal Farra reciting a poem named 'Canción del barco', written by Floriano Martins. Beautiful!

I love the contrasts between songs, now with 'Matanza de chivos' Aldama delights us with an explosive drumming beginning, then after some 40 seconds strings joins and then winds, so they together create an interesting conversation in a prog fusion style. Later at 2:30 the song makes a changes and adds some kind of atmospheric sounds and raw guitars. 'Todos por la banqueta' has a peculiar beginning that I related with samba de roda and capoeira, later it vanishes and morphs into a complex track where each member plays something quite different from each other, but they manage to fit in, so the track represents their creativity and their union. Here we can also appreciate Armando Palomas featuring with his voice, creating freestyle, in a great trip to our Latinamerican cultures.

'La bestia' comes with some dark atmospheres that later turn into bright fusion colors, it has some crimsonian nuances again, and a wonderful contrast within, because we can hear to explosive rock sounds, but there is a delicious and delicate atmospheric passage where we can close our eyes and imagine things, it is very visual, indeed. 'La danza del tlacololero' has a delicate start that sounds like a score for a silent film, after a minute bass and drums create a kind of afro-latin rhythm in which one cannot help but moving and shaking, it invites us to dance. Then guitars (acoustic and electric) interplay, and a new structure begins to be built up. Luna makes magic with his electronic wind devices, he can hypnotize us and take us to another galaxy.

'Ñuñoa' has a folk essence and sounds like an introspective track to me. The musicians create beautiful sounds that transmit peace, it is like a healing ritual which of course, has different phases, so its first half is like that inner work, but the second half becomes more intense, so its now the outside work. The album finishes with 'Mil Novecientos Quince' which is a hell of an epilogue, a magnificent track that shares power, intensity, and freedom. I love its bombastic start, it sounds epic and it is impossible not to get excited about it. This song is a living proof of how creative these guys are, and confirms the importance that breaking boundaries when it comes to music composition, will provide satisfying results.

Congrats to Luz de Riada for this extraordinary comeback!