Sintesis were an obscure instrumental band
who released this one fine album back in 1976, and this is my first
exposure to the work, perhaps unbelievably considering its greatness.
Sintesis' music is at that exciting point between jazz rock and
progressive. In particular the guitar playing is kinetic, and provides
the jumpy leads over the irregular rhythms. At times, an edgy fuzz tone
psychedelic guitar adds an incendiary element. Soft lines of flute and
violin smooth the edges, and provide the beautiful melodic phrases. This
is an album that seems to be on the precipice of jumping off to
immortality, only to be reeled back by more traditional jazz rock
offerings, often times lead by the saxophone. In particular 'Algunas
Maneras De Expresarme' is sublime, as are the opening two tracks and the
closer. The CD on BlueArt (see more below) adds an excellent bonus
track. When looking at comparisons, one hears the early 70s Italian jazz
rockers such as La Seconda Genesi or Duello Madre. Combine this with
local stars such as Crucis, jazz rock era Arco Iris, and the equally
obscure El Trio. A super find, when it seemed all others of its ilk had
already been dug up and safely placed in museums.
Personal collection
CD: 2016 BlueArt
The new CD on BlueArt is awesome, with excellent sound (appears
to be from the masters), and full liner notes (in Spanish though), plus
the aforementioned bonus track. BlueArt specializes mainly in jazz and
Tango, so this is my first exposure to them, even though they've been
around for over 15 years. The CD has yet to be entered into Discogs, which I may end up doing myself (and just did...). To the best of our knowledge, this is
the first legitimate reissue. It appears the excellent PRW of Brazil had
intended on reissuing it nearly 20 years ago, going so far as to apply a
catalog number, but we (the collective we) cannot find evidence of it
actually being released. If anyone can prove this to the contrary, I
would be much obliged.
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