COMPANYIA ELÈCTRICA DHARMA

Despite its very good sound ''Diumenge'' went rather unnoticed by the authors at the time because the style of Companyia Electrica Dharma was considered unoriginal.Slowly the group deeped into the music of Catalan composer Joaquim Serra and started adding different influences in their music.Relative success would follow after the win at Trobada de l'Ona Mediterrania held in Barcelona next to names like Toti Soler, Orquestra Mirasol or Jordi Sabates.Several other gigs would encountered and another album was recorded at the Gema 2 Studio in January 76', entitled ''L'Oucomballa'' and released again on Zeleste.

This one marks a new era for the Catalan group, leaving behind the tight Fusion of the debut for a more Jazz/Folk-oriented debut, where the Ethnic vibes meet the loose performances of Jazz Music.The WEATHER REPORT source of inspiration is however more than evident in the longer tracks, presenting an improvised Jazz Rock with extended individual performances on guitars and electric piano, while the saxes sound ethereal.The sound is very smooth and laid-back with light interplays and mellow improvised jams, while the level of technique is quite excellent though not acoustically conveincing.Some of the shorter tracks sound more interesting, somewhere between the solid Fusion of their debut and the new approach of the band with the obvious Mediterennean flavor around, especially when the acoustic guitars take over.''Ball Llunatic-Toc'' is propably the best of them with a fiery and dramatic Jazz/Fusion with fantastic sax and energetic grooves and ''Mater Maritima'' contains some really interesting guitar solos.The rest of the material is a bit confusing with the group trying to keep a balance between their early and more recent stylings, but failing to offer trully imaginative and personal arrangements.

''L'Oucomballa'' is a pretty nice album for anyone who wants to gets mystified into an amalgam of Jazz Rock and Folk.But it actually fails to impress next to Companyia Electrica Dharma's stunning debut...2.5 stars.

L'Ou Com Balla (The Dancing Egg) is an old catalan tradition by which on the day of Corpus Christi an emptied egg is placed on the water jet of the fountain in monastery cloisters and the egg stays "dancing on the water" without falling down. Nowadays it can be seen mainly in the cloister of the cathedral in Barcelona city, you can Google images "l'ou com balla" to see it. It has no special meaning, it was meant to be a sign of festivity and to attract people to the monasteries on that sacred day for christians.

This was the 2nd album from La Dharma and the one which started to shape their sound. La Dhama's debut Diumenge was an excellent Fusion record but not too personal apart from the dominant soprano sax. As from this sophomore album the band started crafting what would become their unique trademark style integrating more catalan traditional influences in their music, a process which would mature as from their 3rd album Tramuntana.

Following the way of albums such as Queen II, vinyl side A has the title Balls De Nit (Night Dances) while side B has the title Tocs De Festa (Festive Sounds) although in this case the musical style is not noticeably different between the 2 sides.

The music is still excellent Fusion dominated by the melodies and solos of the soprano sax, with plenty of Rhodes as well. The guitar does not take much leading role which is good because Esteve Fortuny was stronger as a rhythm guitar player than as a lead soloist. The melodies have often that special feel of coming from traditional mediterranean music rather than from the standard scales found in classic Jazz-Rock / Fusion, which gives this music a very distinctive and interesting sound, often with a festive mood.

The strongest features of this album are on one hand how dynamical it is, the songs visit multitude of tempos and intensities and nothing feels like dragging, and on the other hand the great drumming by Pep Fortuny.

I will not make a song by song review but just a couple of comments on some of the ones which are most different from the album average sound.

The opener Adeu, Estrella Del Dia is a short lullaby with a sweet melancholic mood. Mitjanit is a very good song on acoustic guitar and soprano saxo melody which also explores several dynamics even if it's just over 2 minutes long.

Ball LlunaTic-Toc would become one of the band's classics thanks to its catchy melody hook. The closer Titu-Tiru-Ritu is a very short rendition of a catalan traditional tune which in the next album Tramuntana would be revisited in a much more electrified and fast arrangement, becoming also a classic of the band despite of it's short length.

All the other tracks follow a similar style of dynamic blend of standard Fusion with tradional catalan floklore music, and they are all great. Really recommended for those who like Fusion but want something different and personal.

Companyia Electrica Dharma (aka La Dharma) were, together with Iceberg and Orquestra Mirasol, one of the pioneers of the 2nd wave of catalan progressive music, the wave dominated by Jazz-Rock/Fusion. Formed around the core of the Fortuny siblings from Barcelona city, when they released this debut in 1975 they immediately became a benchmark for their talent and musicianship.

La Dharma would soon differentiate themselves from other bands by coining a very personal fusion of Jazz-Rock with traditional catalan music, very joyful and evocative of the summer festivities celebrations in a catalan village.

But in this debut album this sound had not yet evolved and we are treated with top notch classic JR/F in the style of Mahavishnu, RtF, Brand X and the likes, although one key element was already present being the trademark soprano sax evoquing the catalan tradional wind instrument tenora , which would remain a very distinct feature of their sound for their long career.

The album starts with the fast-paced Fesomies Urbanes (Urban Physiognomies), displaying right away their high musicianship, a track with plenty of electric piano adorned with great soprano sax and synth solos. It becomes immediately clear that Pep Fortuny's drumming is one of the highlights, amazing combination of rythmic playing with constant intrincate fills.

Lila calms things down, a beautiful soft piece based on spanish guitar with sax melodies full of sensitivity, which has a short reprise in Lalila, but before that we have the 10 min Capitan Trueno (a popular character from 1970's Spanish comics) with its groovy rythmic section and fantastic Rhodes, sax and guitar melodies and solos. Only one thing may be slightly criticised, Esteve Fortuny was (besides a good composer) a good guitarist playing rythm or mid-speed solos but when he attempted to solo at very high speed he couldn't compete with the greats like McLaughlin or Di Meola, which is not a shame (he would tragically die of a brain bleeding on stage in 1986, RIP).

Euforia is another great fast-paced fusion track with Rhodes, sax and guitar.

L'Harmoniosa Simfonia d'Un Cos (The Harmonious Symphony Of A Body) is split in 2 parts, the first dreamy with a very sensitive sax and the second more mid-tempo, great stuff.

El Bailaor Cosmic (The Cosmic Flamenco Dancer) has a soft piano intro and develops into a gorgeous mid-tempo theme with Rhodes and guitar solos, the rythm section again magnificient. The album closes with the short but highly energetic and syncopated Tema Dels Carrers Radioactius (Theme Of The Radioactive Streets).

A great Fusion album without any weak points, I can't give it less than 5 stars even if it's not yet very personal. As from their second album L'Oucomballa they retained their quality but they coupled it with their to-be trademark sound blending the Jazz-Rock/Fusion with catalan folk and popular music, which made them very unique and interesting.

3,5 stars. Companyia Electrica Dharma (or "la Dharma" as we catalans call it for short) was, together with Iceberg, one of the leading bands in the catalan fusion-prog scene of the 2nd half of the 70's, but while Iceberg disbanded around 1980 (or rather, some could argue, morphed into Pegasus), CED has continued releasing music more or less regularly, up to this album which at the time of writing (May 2011) is their last. They are highly respected among the spanish fusion scene.

While Iceberg followed a more standard jazz-rock-prog-fusion approach, CED developed a very unique style by incorporating traditional catalan folk elements in their music, and a very personal sound mostly due to a very peculiar soprano sax which takes some getting used to, many people find it weird, but it must be noted that this sound was conceived in order to emulate the "tenora", a traditional catalan wind instrument.

This album is a very specific project, an homage to two of their main influences, Joaquim Serra for the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2007, and Miles Davis. Serra was one of the main composers of traditional catalan folk music in the mid 20th century, with his music for "cobla" (more or less the catalan equivalent of the english brass band) and "sardana" (a folk dance in which a group of people dance in a circle holding each other's hands). This is a very old-fashioned music which I guess would not appeal at all to most prog-rockers, based on rather simple and innocent melodies backed by some decently musical arrangements. Miles Davis does not need any introduction.

The album concept is simple yet challenging: for each track take a tune from Serra and one from Davies and try to fuse them, adding some own input (which generally renders the end result more electric and energetic than any of the two original sources). The Miles Davis tracks used are "Bitches Brew", "It's About That Time", "Black Satin", "Lonely Fire" and "So What", the Serra tracks I will not mention since probably nobody will know them anyway. The result is surprisingly accomplished given how different both music styles are, in some tracks both source tunes are really merged, in some others it's more like they alternate.

As instrumentation, besides drums, bass, keyboards, rhodes, electric guitar and the trademark Dharma soprano sax, we have trumpet (obviously in a Miles Davis inspired album), fiscorn (a traditional catalan baritone brass instrument), flabiol (another catalan instrument cousin of the recorder) and djembe percussion. The great musicianship contributes to a very good end product.

The exception to the Serra & Davies tunes concept is track No. 3 "D'una manera silenciosa", their version of "In a silent way" by Joe Zawinul, and while the last track "Cadeau" is credited as original by CED it can be considered as a reprise to track No. 4.

All in all a very good and highly interesting and original album, but while it can not be strictly considered as a covers album, it is not a fully original music album either, and partly because of this I round 3,5 stars down to 3. Highly recommendable but unless you are a big Miles Davis fan or a catalan who knows CED already, I would not recommend this as a starter, you better discover this amazing band by any of their wonderful albums from the late 70's / early 80's.

After the beautiful debut album "Diumenge", Companyia Elèctrica Dharma headed for a more solidified exploration of their fusion-oriented interests and augmented drastically the presence of Catalonian folk elements into their musical ideas and arrangements: one of the most noticeable factors was the utilization of the soprano sax as an emulator of the Catalonian pipe. This tendency led CED to deliver a series of 3 studio albums (from the second to the fourth) that eventually were and continue to be regarded as fundamental for the installation of a Catalonian trend of progressive rock. IMHO, "Tramuntana" is the most accomplished one of these 3 albums. It bears an enhanced colorfulness in comparison to the previous album "L'oucomballa', which is made obvious by the presence of more instruments (flute, xylophone, trumpet) besides the usual array of guitar, bass, keyboard, soprano sax and drums/percussion. The opener is a speedy rocking version of a traditional tune called 'Tiru-tiru-ritu'; actually, this very tune was also used as the closing track to the previous album, but in that case the band used a "marching band"-style arrangement, while on this one this is pure rock-fusion on a frenzy, celebratory speed. This brief intro provides enough stamina as to prepare the listener for the more elaborated and dense moods explored in 'Focs de Sant Joan'. It develops a cohesive transition from soft to extroverted passages, with the former being folk-centered and the latter jazz-tinged. Esteve Fortuny's soaring guitar lines are just lovely, finding a proper accomplice in the playful moods drawn in by Joan Fortuny's soprano sax. Almost 5 ½ minutes of beautiful music, and then comes 'Moixeranga del Diable' to bring a 10+ minute long delivery of sonic mysticism. Its initial section is languid, eerie and slightly somber: the addition of trumpet helps to reinforce the overall grayish atmosphere, which lasts 6 minutes. A more playful motif settles in consequently, with the dueling sax and guitar harmonizing the melodic aspect while the drum kit, bass and electric piano fulfill the track's rhythmic scheme and cadence. A highlight, indeed! 'La Mediterrània sens Mor'' finalizes the album's first half with melancholic moods provided by the acoustic guitar's concise phrases, xylophone tender drops, subtle organ layers and a subtler chorale. An expression of serene beauty on a chiaroscuro background. The namesake track starts the album's second half: it lasts 10 ¾ minutes and it's mostly based on a jamming exercise that the CED guys master so cleverly. As usual, the soprano and the guitar alternate their lead roles while the keyboard delivers additional colors and the rhythm section creates a structure permeable to the tempo and mood variations that take place along the road. The calmer interlude is really lovely. Another highlight! 'Les Bruixes del Maresme' starts with a rfined crescendo of several winds - flute, tenor saxes, trumpet - before the main jam settles in. it should have been longer than its 3 ½ minute span, but well, that's how it is... The closer 'Festejada' reiterates the playful mood that has already been present in the most extroverted passages of the preceding repertoire, featuring an exciting drum solo and ending with a homage to Catalonian popular dances: this is a properly exquisite ending to an exquisite album. I just love it and grade it as a very important item for any good prog rock collection.

"Diumenge", the debut album by the pioneers of Catalonian rock-fusion Companyia Eléctrica Dharma, was at the time a great impulse for the development of the avant-garde rock and jazz scenarios; nowadays, it can be truly appreciated as an unforgettable gem of Catalonian jazz-prog that served the band's purpose to boost their own musical voice by exorcising their jazz-dominated influences (akin to Weather Report and early RtF, and also coincidental with Perigeo). First and last, "Diumenge" is a lovely jazz-prog album, and so CED reveal that they have plenty of good ideas to offer to whoever may stop and listen to them. 'Fesomies urbanes' opens up the album with a free-form intro and then deliveres a warm, joyful main body. The overall mood is soaring and thereral, but the colorfulness is petnetly there to be noticed immediately. 'Lila' is a whole different thing: a soft piece led by the acoustic guitar and filled with electric piano washes and soprano sax lines, it delicately brings an array of successively free-jazz, bossanova and Flamenco textures. So beautiful... probably many listeners have taken the time to listen to this piece twice in a row before getting at the next track, and quite rightly so. Again, this album must go on and so we come to 'Capitán Trueno', which actually happens to be a constant CED staple. With its 10+ minute span, it brings back the fusion ambience and works on it with amazing intensity. Esteve Fortuny's guitar solo is one of his best moments ever; additionally, there are no words for me to express the solid power that the rhythm duo provides to the whole sonic scheme. The fact that the sax solo is the last one helps the track to contain itself in its own vibrant colorfulness rght up to the end, which in turn makes sense with the reprise of 'Lila' entitled 'Lalila'. 'Eufória' has a very convenient title: it is an euphoric piece, full of enthusiastic moods and optimistic sensations that will surely affect the listener's mind in a good way. Next are the two parts of 'L'armoniosa simfonia d'un cos': part 1 is mysterious and reflective, part 2 is stated on a funky mid-tempo that partially echoes the cosmic mood of part 1. It's like part 1 portrayed the foggy shades of late afternoon and part 2 focused on the stable blackness of the night - I wouldn't have minded if the fade-out of part 2 had come in later on, but in general, 'L'armoniosa simfonia d'un cos' generates a particular climax for the whole album's framework. 'El "Bailaor" cósmic' starts with an agile grand piano intro, then an introspective electric piano interlude follows, and by the 1 1/2 minute mark the main body is set to express a constrained mode of energetic extrovertiveness. Ultimately, the closer 'Tema dels carrers radioactius' dellivers a fuller extroverted aura, humorous indeed: it is a proper closure for such a colorful album. This CED debut is highly recommended to all prog rock collectors sensitive to the jazzier side of experimental rock.

Well this was a surprise after their amazing debut, and not in a good way. The electric piano is pretty much non-existent and the sax sounds very different. It's so annoying almost like a gazoo, anyway it ruins much of this for me.That MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA flavour is completely gone.

"Titu-Tiru-Ritu (Marxa)" is the short intro track. Drums to open as guitar and bass join in then sax (yikes). It blends into "Focs De Sant Joan" as the sax continues. It's much better 1 1/2 minutes in when the guitar and drums lead. A Spanish flavour follows. Some organ and more sax later. "Moixeranga Del Diable" has that sax again after a minute.The guitar is laid back with intricate drumming after 2 minutes. The sax is back as contrasts continue. "La Mediterrania Se'ns Mor..." opens with wind chimes followed by acoustic guitar. Vocal melodies 3 1/2 minutes in as spoken Spanish words join in.

"Tramuntana" opens with the wind blowing as drums, horns then guitar take over. Guitar and horns trade off. This is catchy. A calm after 3 minutes. That sax is back. It picks up 6 minutes in. Some organ follows. Guitar 9 1/2 minutes in.It blends into "Les Bruixes Del Maresme". The wind is blowing as flute joins in. It kicks in at 2 minutes. Much better. It settles late and blends into "Festejada (De Timbals)". It opens with that annoying sax but it kicks in quickly.

A real disappointment for me after being blown away by their debut. I'm curious about the second album if it's more like this one or the debut.

Man I was not expecting this debut from these Spaniards to be this good. I was reminded of MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA alot, although there is no violin. Lots of electric piano and the drummer is simply killer on this disc. Throw in sax, trumpet, guitar and chunky bass and mix it into a Jazz / Fusion style and that's what we get.

"Fesomies Urbanes" opens with cymbals, horns and atmosphere before it kicks in with some impressive and intricate drum work. Electric piano and horns sound amazing. "Lila" is a mellow piece with acoustic guitar and smooth horns. "Capitan Truend" has such an incredible sounding rhyhm section as horns, electric piano and guitar help out. This is just a pleasure. Love the guitar. Lalila" is just over a minute of acoustic guitar as horns come in late.

"Euphoria" sounds so good. Chunky bass, drums, electric piano and horns are all so impressive. It settles with guitar 1 1/2 minutes in.The drumming is once again amazing. "L'harmoniosa Simfonia D'un Cos. Part 1" is atmospheric with horns and electric piano slowly playing. "L'harmoniosa Simfonia D'un Cos. Part 2" has this beat with guitar, horns and electric piano. Gorgeous. "El "Bailaor" Cosmic" features piano early then it picks up 1 1/2 minutes in. Nice bass and drum work as piano continues. The guitar starts to light it up. "Tema Dels Carrers Radioactius" opens with drums as guitar,electric piano and horns join in. Some fire here. It ends with the sound of a large truck going by.

I just can't give this less than 5 stars.The atmosphere and lights out instrumental work has left me stunned. This is right up there with fellow Spaniards ICEBERG's best but better.

In the seventies there were two main progressive tendencies in Spain: the andalusian (flamenco prog) and the catalan (more fusion oriented, sometimes called "rock laieta"). Among the andalusian, Triana were the most popular, but there were a lot of other interesting bands like Granada, Iman, Cai, Azahar, Mezquita? Among the catalan, Companyia Electrica Dharma and Iceberg were the leaders. "La Dharma" (as we, catalan fans, call the band in a familiar way) are (still in 2010) the ones that better melt tradicional catalan folk with prog rock and jazz (King Crimson and Miles Davis are mentioned among their main influences). The album "Tramuntana" is maybe the essential release of the seventies, while "Catalluna" is the one from the eighties. Very difficult for me to describe the kind of music you can find here, maybe because I've listened to this kind of music and to this record since I was a child. Five short and two long tracks. Completely instrumental, except for the narration on "La Mediterrania sen's mor" ("Mediterranean Sea is dying"). Good drum work, being electric guitar and sax the solist instruments, but the sax sounds very different to the usual fusion sax of american bands. Very original and interesting. No other bands made similar music to "La Dharma".