LEB I SOL 2

Perhaps I shouldn't do this as the album is hard to find anymore and bringing attention to it could be considered as teasing. Then again, ignoring this excellent work would only assist in letting this often fantastic band fall into further obscurity. The good news is that much of their material had been released in compilation format and likely to be still in circulation. A warning. You mat want to peruse the track list as some of their later works are just plain horrible.

Some bands start out on the weaker, Pop-ish side, but do get better as they mature. Leb I Sol did the opposite. Bursting to the scene with absolutely professional musicianship and flawless compositions on their early albums. Only to drop it altogether and turn into a totally forgettable Pop act following some changes in their line-up before band leader and exceptional guitarist Vlatko Stefanovsku has come to his senses again in recent years.

I can't recall the circumstances, but many decades ago this album has found me in an LP format and became an instant hit. I was heavily into Jazz-Rock by then, the likes of Mahavishnu, Soft Machine, Brand X, Return To Forever, etc. At this stage this band was in the same league with such giants, I kid you not. Established in Macedonia which was then still a state in the former Yugoslavia, one would not have expected such quality material performed, let alone recorded in that part of the world then. But it did happen.

The material here is pure, instrumental Jazz-Rock consisting of shorter compositions that blend together quite nicely. There are no extended pieces, no stretching out, but somehow such is not missed, either. The most interesting feature here is that one could pay full attention to every note, or just let the album run in the background on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Far from elevator music, it's soft, yet intense and wholesome at the same time working it's magic from beginning to the end.

My only reservation is that it's a very short album, but perhaps it's not the artists' fault. Highly recommended, well worth the effort of tracking it down.