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Aurora Clara for Jazz Rock/Fusion

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AFlowerKingCrimson View Drop Down
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    Posted: August 09 2023 at 13:45
Aurora Clara is a prog fusion (or maybe just fusion) band from Madrid, Spain. They have two releases listed on their bandcamp page but it seems they actually have a new one out now as well that isn't listed there yet. This is old school fusion done in a modern way. There seems to be a big Mahavishnu Orchestra influence at play here too; they even have a song titled For John (John Mclaughlin) as well as having Jerry Goodman as a guest. They have other influences in their music also though. https://shorturl.at/birFU

There's plenty of youtube videos of them too to check out.




Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 09 2023 at 13:54
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 09 2023 at 13:47
Biography and listening links still necessary (ok, I've just clicked on that shortened link and it's their bandcamp). 

Edited by Cristi - August 09 2023 at 13:48
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 09 2023 at 13:48
Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Biography and listening links still necessary...


You can listen on the bandcamp page that's posted and there's also a biography on there too. I followed the rules by not plagarizing what was on the bandcamp page. I'm not sure how long you want it to be but like I said there's more inforemation on the bandcamp page (which itself doesn't seem to go into a whole lot of detail about their history). 


Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 09 2023 at 13:50
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 09 2023 at 13:49
Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Biography and listening links still necessary...


You can listen on the bandcamp page that's posted and there's also a biography on there too. 

We can't and don't copy-paste bios rom other places. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 09 2023 at 13:52
Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Biography and listening links still necessary...


You can listen on the bandcamp page that's posted and there's also a biography on there too. 

We can't and don't copy-paste bios rom other places. 

Nobody's asking you to. Plus that's what I tried to avoid so I wasn't plagiarizing. I'm college educated so I know all about plagiarization. Wink

Anyway, what I wrote about this band really isn't any less than what I wrote for other band suggestions (and it might even be more than some of them including some that have been approved). 


Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - August 09 2023 at 14:38
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote yam yam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 03 2024 at 22:31
Okay, this suggestion seems to have stalled, so here's a first draft of a biography for the band.

This is compiled from various on line sources, as are all my biographies - since I am no writer in any shape or form - but all text has been sufficiently altered and edited to enable it to emerge from the Duplichecker plagiarism detection engine considered to be 100% original. There is also absolutely zero AI generated content in this biography, so I hope it will be acceptable as a basis for an evaluation to be initiated.

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Aurora Clara is a multi-national progressive rock/jazz fusion band with flamenco and world music influences which was created in 2018. The band is based in Madrid, Spain, with its leader being Finnish guitarist Raúl Mannola, who now resides in Madrid. The initial line-up was completed by Juan Carlos Aracíl on flute, Marco Anderson on drums and percussion, Stanislav Borisov on keyboards and Nelson Rebolledo on bass, and they played their first concert at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música "Arturo Soria" in Madrid, Spain, on December 10th 2018. Nelson Rebolledo was replaced on bass in the late spring of 2019 by Nill Oliveira, with Hércules Da Silva filling in on bass for some live performances in the early summer of that year.

Raúl Mannola is a versatile and experienced guitarist who can play a variety of styles, including traditional and experimental flamenco, jazz-rock electric guitar and jazz fusion/world music acoustic guitar. He is believed to be the first person to play flamenco on a 12-string guitar. Although he was born in Brazil and raised in Finland, Raúl now lives in Madrid, where he has devoted himself to the art of flamenco for the last 25 years.

Juan Carlos Aracíl is a flutist from Alicante, Spain. He is a specialist in flamenco and flamenco jazz, with a particular talent for improvisation. He has an exceptionally well-developed sense of rhythm, this being the result of many years of work with the dancer Juan Ramírez. 

Marco Anderson is a drummer and multi-instrumentalist born in Yorkshire, England, and currently based in Bristol. He has had a professional career spanning more than 40 years, playing almost every musical style imaginable, from progressive and psychedelic rock, to indo jazz, flamenco jazz, mainstream and free jazz, hard rock and more.

Nill Oliveira is a bassist from Sao Paulo, Brazil. An eclectic, professional musician specializing primarily in Brazilian music, but also in rock, funk and blues. He known for his powerful and elegant groove, having a technique which he is able to maintain even at extreme tempos.

Stanislav Borisov is a pianist/keyboardist and composer born in Sofia, Bulgaria who took up piano at the age of six. He is a graduate of the Codarts University in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where he studied piano jazz, and he is an accomplished connoisseur of modern jazz, rock, traditional Greek music, ethnic, and also classical music. Although he was initially exposed to classical music in his younger days, he was subsequently heavily influenced by Bulgarian folk music during his studies at the Philip Kutev National School of Folk Arts, Kotev, Bulgaria. He later became interested in jazz music and improvisation while living in Greece in the late nineties.

On their debut album 'Transformation' (2019), Aurora Clara play jazz rock in the spirit of the 70s, inspired mainly by the Mahavishnu Orchestra, though anyone who appreciates other progressive jazz rock/fusion bands of that era, such as Return to Forever and Weather Report, will also find plenty to enjoy here. However, the music differs from the aforementioned artists inasmuch as it also includes the flute as one of the lead instruments, and it is really a blend of styles, ranging from jazz/fusion, through progressive rock, to flamenco, funk and even some blues. The opening track features Jerry Goodman of Mahavishnu Orchestra on violin, which helps seal the musical connection to that band.

The second album from this ensemble is called 'Clear Dawn' (2022), Jerry Goodman once again contributes guest violin on the opening track, and we are treated to acoustic 12-string guitar mixed with flute, violin, and an electric funk/jazz rhythm section, which blend to create a unique and enthralling soundscape. There were some line-up changes from the first album, with Denis Bilanin taking over on keyboards from Stanislav Borisov, Jorge Barrero replacing Nill Oliveira on electric bass, and Boris Momtchilov contributing drums to a couple of tracks.

Denis Bilanin is a keyboard player hailing from Romania who is a groove keyboard player with a very 80's feel to his music, but who can also be very atmospheric. He plays a variety of styles including funk, afrobeat, r&b, world music and mainstream.

Bass player Jorge Barrero is a Colombian professional musician who now lives in Madrid, and who has explored a number of different Latin and African-American styles over the years, including Andean music, Colombian folklore, rock, funk and jazz, among others. He is a virtuoso player who encompasses all the modern techniques, and he works mainly as as a session musician, whilst also continuing to teach and study various forms of contemporary music.

Boris Momtchilov is a drummer who was born in Bulgaria and began playing in a variety of rock bands in Spain, where he has lived and worked for four decades, gradually evolving towards progressive and alternative rock whilst maintaining his influences from Balkan folklore and also pursuing fusions with several other styles of music.

For the third album 'Dreams' (2023), after the previous two critically acclaimed powerhouse jazz-rock records the band still include plenty of their trademark fiery interplay between flute and electric guitar, as well as some virtuosic improvisations on keyboards, flute and guitar and a drum solo in 5/4 time signature, but the overall atmosphere is now somewhat more restrained, with some noticeable percussion and acoustic guitar in each of the seven tracks. In early 2022 Raúl Mannola spent two months in Brazil, and the musical influences of that country are evident on several tracks. In São Paulo he was impressed by some graffiti art, and the local artist responsible for them eventually supplied the cover artwork. The album also pays homage to Shakti, the supergroup which John Mclaughlin put together 50 years ago.

For this album Nill Oliveira returned on electric bass, with Marc Halbheer taking over on drums. There were also three guest musicians on percussion, tabla and tenor sax.

Marc Halbheer is a Swiss drummer, composer, producer and educator who tours and records all over the world. He has worked with the Vienna Art Orchestra, Pepe Habichuela and Juan Carmona among others, and is is one of the most important jazz educators in Switzerland, being professor of drums at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in that country. He has inspired and trained generations of young musicians with his work.

While their third album 'Dreams' saw the band exploring more acoustic based compositions, their fourth album, called simply 'IV', moves back towards a much more rock-based sound, and it is essentially a mix of flamenco acoustic and electric styles. Each of the six tracks has its own distinctive atmosphere, all different from each other, yet working extremely cohesively together. Including the two guest musicians, the performers on this album represent six different nationalities, which might go some way to explaining the diverse nature of the compositions.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Choice of four band photos. The first photo is with the original bassist Nelson Rebolledo (extreme left) and the other three photos are with his replacement Nill Oliveira (2nd from left in photo 2 and extreme left in photos 3 & 4), who played bass on the first, third and fourth albums:









All album information:

'Transformation' (2019):

1. Aktur (Feat. Jerry Goodman) (7:36) 
2. Song To John (9:00) 
3. Dancing In The Forest (8:19) 
4. Agosto (6:42) 
5. Astrocytus (9:37) 
6. Narayana Blues (8:33) 
7. At The End Of The Day (5:43)

Bonus Track:
8. Aktur (Feat. Vic Guadiana) (6:42)

Total Time 62:12

- Raúl Mannola / electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Juan Carlos Aracíl / flute, alto flute
- Stanislav Borisov / keyboards, piano
- Marco Anderson / drums & percussion
- Nill Oliveira / electric bass

With:
- Jerry Goodman / violin (1)
- Santiago Reyther Duvergel / congas & percussion (2,3,5)
- José Manuel Ruiz Motos (aka Bandolero) / cajon (1)
- Victor Guadiana / violin (8)

Recorded, mixed and mastered at FJR Studios, Granada, Spain by Fernando Romero.

CD Youkali Music - YOUKALI 177 (2019, Spain)

Digital album

Note: The digital album that is available on Bandcamp omits track 8 - the bonus Vic Guadiana version of the track 'Aktur' - and has a different running order for the first five tracks. Other digital versions of the album retain the same track listing as the CD.

'Clear Dawn' (2022):

1. Clear Dawn (Feat. Jerry Goodman) (4:46) 
2. The Race Has Begun (4:37) 
3. Bicycling To Funkistan (4:59) 
4. Slo Fun (10:02) 
5. The Old Ones (5:59) 
6. Blues For R.T. (7:21) 
7. I Know What You Mean (9:45) 
8. Seis Cafés (8:26) 

Total Time 55:55

- Raúl Mannola / guitars
- Juan Carlos Aracíl / flute
- Denis Bilanin / keyboards
- Jorge Barre / electric bass
- Marco Anderson / drums (1-5,8)
- Boris Momtchilov / drums (6,7)

With:
- Jerry Goodman / electric violin (1)
- Zeke Olmo / congas (4,7)

Arranged by Aurora Clara
Produced by Juan Carlos Aracíl and Raúl Mannola
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Fernando Romero at FJR Studios, Granada, Spain in September 2021
Additional guitar recorded by Willy Heredia at Ministerio del Estéreo, Madrid, Spain
Written by Raúl Mannola (except tracks 5 & 8 by Marco Anderson)

CD Youkali Music - YOUKALI 209 (2022, Spain)

Digital album

'Dreams' (2023):

1. Beyond The Tetrachords (7:32) 
2. Para Gato Y Carlos (5:45) 
3. River Of January (7:44) 
4. Dezoito De Setembro (6:20) 
5. Deep ’N Blue (4:55) 
6. I Remember Shakti (7:04) 
7. Epilog (2:04) 

Total Time 41:24

- Raúl Mannola / electric guitar, acoustic nylon and steel-string guitars
- Juan Carlos Aracíl / flute
- Denis Bilanin / keyboards, acoustic piano
- Nill Oliveira / electric bass
- Marc Halbheer / drums

With:
- Iván Mellén / percussion (1-4)
- Tino di Geraldo / tabla (6)
- Kai Olander / tenor sax (2)

Produced by Juan Carlos Aracíl and Raúl Mannola
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Fernando Romero at FJR Studios, Granada, Spain in January 2023
Additional recordings by Willy Heredia at Ministerio del Estéreo Studios, Rock Palace, Madrid
Written by Raúl Mannola
Artwork on cover and back cover by Boletabike

CD Youkali Music - YOUKALI 226 (2023, Spain)

Digital album

'IV' (2024):

1. The Last Candles (11:14) 
2. Five Sisters (5:56) 
3. Song To John (5:39) 
4. End Of January (8:58) 
5. Maktub (For Sami And Laura) (7:33) 
6. One For The Road (5:40) 

Total Time 45:00

- Raúl Mannola / electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, flamenco guitar (Ramírez Flamenco Guitars)
- Juan Carlos Aracíl / flute, percussion
- Denis Bilanin / keyboards
- Nill Oliveira / bass
- Marco Anderson / drums

With:
- Paul Austerlitz /  bass clarinet (4)
- Iván Mellén / percussion (2-4)

Recorded 8-12 January 2024
Produced by Juan Carlos Aracíl and Raúl Mannola
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Fernando Romero at FJR Studios, Granada, Spain 
Cover artwork by Boletabike

CD Youkali Music - YOUKALI 235 (2024, Spain)

Digital album

This video features excerpts of the track 'Astrocytus' from the first album 'Transformation' (released in 2019) recorded at the band's first ever concert at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música "Arturo Soria" in Madrid, Spain, on December 10, 2018:



Listening links for the first two albums can be found on Bandcamp, and the two later ones on Spotify.

For anyone who doesn't use Spotify, you can also find the two later albums on YouTube Music:


Videos (audio only) for the first three albums can also found on the band's YouTube channel.


I have asked the JR/F team if they will look into the suggestion. We now await their decision. Embarrassed


Edited by yam yam - October 04 2024 at 15:45
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Mirakaze Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 04 2024 at 06:56
Seriously thanks a lot for putting in the work!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote yam yam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 04 2024 at 07:49
^ Glad to be able to help! Smile

I included nine short paragraphs describing each of the band member's personal history, but if the biography is too long-winded, it can be easily condensed by removing these paragraphs to leave just the basic info about the band and its albums.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mirakaze Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 22 2024 at 11:22
Added at last!
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