Guadalquivir - Live Bilbao 1980 CD
SKU
5LP CD019
One of the greats of the original era of Spanish progressive rock, this is a previously unknown, very high quality archival discovery from their original and greatest period, featuring the original lineup!
Founded in 1978 by Andrés Olaegui and Luis Cobo, two veteran guitarists and long-time friends with a huge experience in the Flamenco folk and fusion scene, GUADALQUIVIR was one of the most prominent jazz-fusion bands to come out from Southern Spain. The band took its name from the largest river in that area of Spain. Its overtly Flamenco-tinged sound was delivered with class and passion, something that is mostly due to the candour of the compositions and the inventive interplaying between all musicians. Unlike other contemporary bands from that same area, such as CAI, IMÁN or MEZQUITA, GUADALQUIVIR chose to stick closer to the realms of jazz and a bit away from the influence of symphonic prog; that's why their musical offering sounds, in comparison, more obviously influenced by Di Meola-era RETURN TO FOREVER, HERBIE HANCOCK, and Pastorius-era WEATHER REPORT. In many occasions they played as opening acts for TRIANA or shared the stage with other existing Spanish prog bands of that time.
Even though the two aforementioned guitarists were in charge of writing the band's material, GUADALQUIVIR was not a guitar-dominated ensemble: the solid presence of the rhythm section and the melodic adornments delivered by flute/sax player Pedro Ontiveros turn out to be as important sonic factors as Olaegui and Cobo's alternating leads. The original line-up recorded the band's first two albums.”-ProgArchives
“New album by the legendary Andalusian symphonic rock group GUADALQUIVIR, with its unique jazz fusion with rock but with the particularity that it is live, a concert recorded in Bilbao in 1980. Until now GUADALQUIVIR has never published any live album, but 5 Lunas and GUADALQUIVIR agreed to publish it. We knew that the band had the recording of that concert in very good condition and in the sound studio we were able to improve it until we achieved the impressive sound that the album has. One of the details to highlight is that it preserves the sound and freshness of the time because the project was worth it. Furthermore, another added bonus that the album has is that it includes two songs that GUADALQUIVIR has never published until now: "El funki del Verano" and "Campos de olivo".
The designs go hand in hand with TotemGrafiArt who, using original black and white photos of the band and applying the concept that the group had for their next studio album, has developed a beautiful art giving a spectacular finish to the three-body digipack, which It's how we present it.
44 years later 5 Lunas Producciones launches this gem that any lover of Andalusian rock and progressive rock would have wanted to have in their hands. This concert in Bilbao was part of the “Camino del Concerto” tour, the name of their second album, and as you can see, the songs from this live show are included in their first two albums, except for the two new ones.
Emotional concert that reflects the fusion of jazz with progressive rock with roots and symbolizes the golden era of Guadalquivir with all its original members.”
- Label5 Lunas Producciones
- UPC8435633928414