IMÁN CALIFATO INDEPENDIENTE

The Spanish progrock quartet Imán Califato Independiente has its origins at a convention, given by the meditation guru Maja-raj-ji, in the mid Seventies. Like genuine hippies, the musicians lived together in one house in El Puerto De Sta. Maria and eventually they founded Iman and in '78 they made this debut album, entitled Iman Califato Independiente, two years later followed by the LP entitled Camino Del Aguila. Iman also appeared on the Spanish compilation albums Rock Andalus ('94) and Duende" ('97, a 2-CD).

1. Tarantos del Califato Independiente (20:46) : The title points at a strong rhythm in the flamenco music. First a wonderful string- ensemble sound in a sultry atmosphere with twanging guitars and electric guitar play with a strong Morish undertone. Then lots of shifting moods with great guitar-synthesizer interplay (evoking Iceberg) and exciting soli on guitar and synthesizer, a piece with lots of percussion. The final part delivers a slow rhythm with a beautiful and very sensitive electric guitar solo, accompanied by a lush string-ensemble sound, goose bumps!

2. Darshan (8:30) : Again those wonderful strings, followed by great interplay between guitar and synthesizer with the support of a very adventurous rhythm-section. Next a howling guitar solo and an accellaration with fat, pitchbend driven synthesizer flights and a duel between guitar and synthesizer in a captivating atmosphere that blends Prog Andaluz and jazzrock.

3. Cerro Alegre (7:33) : The intro delviers fragile piano work and sensitive twanging classical guitar, then a swinging rhythm with sparkling piano and flamenco rhythm guitar. Halfway a fiery guitar joins, supported by a powerful bass and subdued harpsichord runs. Next a part with bluesy Fender Rhodes electric piano that gradually changes into an exciting interlude with a guitar solo that sounds like the Andalusian Carlos Santana (Caravanserai-era) and culminates in a swinging rhythm, Prog Andaluz meets jazzrock, what a dynamic and cpativating musical experience!

4. Cancion de la Oruga (5:32) : This is a beautiful piece that starts with dreamy twanging classical guitar, soaring keyboards and warm vocals, then a mid-tempo featuring fat synthesizer runs with a Morish undertone and propulsive percussion.

This is a very exciting fusion of Prog Andaluz and jazzrock, highly recommended!

www.progwalhalla.com

The Spanish progrock quartet Imán Califato Independiente has its origins at a convention, given by the meditation guru Maja-raj-ji, in the mid Seventies. Like genuine hippies, the musicians lived together in one house in El Puerto De Sta. Maria and eventually they founded Iman and in '78 they made a debut album, entitled Iman Califato Independiente, two years later followed by this second album entitled Camino Del Aguila. Iman also appeared on the Spanish compilation albums Rock Andalus ('94) and Duende" ('97, a 2- CD).

1. La marcha de los enanitos (10:30) : This album opens with a mid-tempo rhythm delivering strong interplay with a Morish undertone between electric guitar and synthesizer and propulsive percussion. Then an exciting build-up from a sultry climate to a gradually more dynamic atmosphere with mindblowing work on a fat sounding synthesizer and fiery guitar with howling runs, supported by a lush string-ensemble sound, very compelling, what a dynamic blend of Prog Andaluz and jazzrock!

2. Maluquinha (6:29) : In a swinging rhythm again we can enjoy the Andalusian Carlos Santana, accompanied by exciting percussion and a fluent synthesizer solo.

3. Camino del aguila (14:00) : The titletrack sounds very alternating with an awesome rhythm-section, great interplay between guitar and synthesizer (like Iceberg) and lots of interesting musical ideas, from a howling, Morish inspired guitar solo and a catchy rhythm with strong interplay between all musicians to guitar work in the vein of Steve Howe on Relayer (Yes) and a flashy synthesizer solo.

4. Niños (3:05) : A wonderful dreamy, quite melancholical piece, first with spacey keyboards, twanging Spanish guitar and warm vocals, then sensitive classical guitar runs, slow synthesizer flights and a lush string-enesemble sound, this is the mellow side of Iman and I love it too!

Iman delivers a very exciting fusion of Prog Andaluz and jazzrock, highly recommended!

www.progwalhalla.com

Well, in the last september we finally could hear the news "Iman were back", I couldn´t believe it, but it was true. So, after have known their albums, I could hear them alive. They are great, sure, it´s true. When I saw Manolo Rodriguez playing the guitar intro for "Darshan"...wow...in Spain we say we´ve got hen skin, he he he. If you like the most quiet parts of Dream Theater, you have to listen to those four horsemen of real prog. Perhaps I would recommend Tarantos better than "Camino del águila" but both are great albums. And now you know they are back. And you can see them alive (in a festival with Guadalquivir and Cai) in Cádiz - south of Spain- this summer of 2007.

My favourite song is Darshan, a seven minute composition full of emotional and virtuosism (excuse my english). But you also can enjoy the tittle track Tarantos, a masterpiece really.

Thank you Manuel, Marcos, Iñaki and Kiko (and Urbano, of course) for the music

Excellent piece. Deserves to be remembered and re-edited. Every ingredient of the Album is gorgeous. The atmospheres with keyboard and percussion, the guitar solos, and the dialogs guitar-keyboards. Also the drums and bass are excellent. Listen carefully the background guitar in Darshan with the wha-wha.

Alive it was just as good. I saw them 7 times.

Really a masterpiece.

I will place this one something indeed. Between Mezquita and Iceberg!!! Symphonic flamenco with a touch of Fusion..Not my cup of tea!!. To me this album falls short in the long run, a good album anyway.

Personally, I fell that something is missing...the final punch, sore of speak, that Iceberg had; anytime I listen to this one, for one reason or another I do not feel uplifted.

Based on this one, I would not rush into getting their first one!!!. I was even thinking on 2 stars, but the Symphonic piece "La marcha de los enanitos" saves the day!!!!

'Camino del Águila' is Imán Califato Indepenediente's second and final offering, also their most inspired one. Following in the same vein than its predecessor - Flamenco oriented symph prog, with lots of influences from Camel, 76-78 era Genesis and Return to Forever -, the instrumental ensemble works fluidly in a well-oiled manner, and the level of performance is superb and full of ravaging finesse. A new bass player entered the band, Urabno Moraes (from Uruguay), who delivers a prominent sound in his axe, not restricting it to a mere complement to Guerrero's drumming, but also letting it come to the fore sometimes in order to supply additional melodic lines as a counterpoint to the guitar and synth solos. The remaining original members keep loyal to their own stylings: Guerrero and Mantero display theri jazzy sensibilities, while guitarrist Rodriguez recycles his influences (mostly Hackett and Latimer, but also some Frippian textures too) with Flamenco colours. Tracks 1 and 3 are my personal favs, and are also the most representative of ICI's musical offer. 'La Marcha de los Enanitos' kicks off and ends with a beautiful Camelesque motif, initially led by the Mini-Moog and then paired with the lead guitar: what happens in the middle is an amazing texturial section in which Arabic ornaments on guitar and synth are properly enhanced by Moraes' tasteful bass flourishes. At times, the guitar gets somewhat Frippian, which helps to augment the mysterious aura of this portion. The eponymous track 3 lifts off from where track 1 had left, taking the progressive vibe to its most accomplished level... and it should, since its 14-minute duration makes it the longest number in the album. The Camel-meets-RtF stylings remain, and so do the Arabic-Flamenco motifs, bringing that special magic to the band's overall sound. At minute 7, a brief solo guitar interlude brings a sort of hint at Steve Howe's interlude for "Relayer"'s 'Sound Chaser' (only in this case the guitarist is someone actually born in the land of Flamenco). The final climax that arrives throughout minutes 19 to 12 is stunning, and so is the cosmic coda, heavily based on floating, mesmeric synth washes. Track 2 'Maluquinha' takes occasional trips to the realms of latin-jazz, a factor that allows Guerrero to get a bit Santana-esque, while the rhythm section makes an effective excursion into bossanova tempos: apparently, Flamenco and Afro-Brazilian are quite compatible. The album's closing is incarnated by the only sung track of the album, a delicate acoustic ballad entitled 'Niños', a brief meditation on the passage of time: the delicate synth solos shine like sparkles from the last star you see in the sky before the arrival of dawn, and the eerie ambience of this track may remind the listener of Yes at its most intimate - a beautiful song, indeed. I give this record the perfect rating (something I gladly give to Mezquita's "Recuerdos de mi Tierra" and Cai's "Noche Abierta", as well) - I certainly am convinced that this is a must in any good prog collection.

IMAN CALIFATO INDEPENDIENTE is another high-quality Spanish prog band that should round out a good Spanish-prog collection. The album consists of only 4 tracks. Side A is filled by a 20-minute epic track featuring a less complex form of symph-prog that occasionally mixes in noticeable flamenco styled scales. The music throughout the LP is mostly led by synth and guitar in a style that comes close to bands like FUSIOON, symphonic-era ICEBERG. While the synth-leads here sound a bit different from the typical Moog sound featured on most prog albums (even the ones from Spain), the sometimes cheesy "Elka-like" sound shouldn't bother most listeners. In fact, these days, I find myself prefering albums with Italian and Russian keyboards rather than the tired Moog and ARP sound. Anyway, Side B features 3 mid-length tracks of equal quality to Side A. While the music here didn't really blow me away, I find nothing to criticize. Most listeners will find the melodies likeable, the musicians top-notch, and the compositions above average. While I wouldn't rate IMAN CALIFATO INDEPENDIENTE as high as GOTIC or even FUSIOON, this band comes very close.