CONCERTO FOR PIANO AND ELECTRIC ENSEMBLE

Spain's own KOTEBEL have released seven studio albums since 1999 with those first three generally being regarded as sub-par but since then this band has brought the "wow" factor. Classically driven music for the most part they have changed the flavour on each of the last four studio records. The first of those with the soprano female vocals and flute just didn't click with me, more of a taste thing but then they dropped both on "Ouroboros" which I call their "Rock" album. This is followed by the album I'm reviewing today which while being a band effort all the way, is piano driven.

Their latest from 2017 "Cosmology" is my favourite and their most consistent in my opinion but it doesn't hit the highs of this one. It's those UNIVER ZERO-like piano sections which don't pop up a lot that excite me. Great musicians though one and all and I love the upfront bass. Grand piano leads the way but the other keyboardist brings mostly atmosphere to the table. The opener and the final two tracks are my top three and while I have no complaints per se the way they stretch things out at times for prolonged time periods doesn't always work for me.

But this is a very solid 4 star record that most feel is their best or second best.