Warning- nothing good comes easy!

This is especially the case when challenging music with challenging themes is presented.

In this case, TRYO (Chile)- to distinguish this TRYO from any other bands named “Tryo”- reminds me of the moment when the birthing-room nurse placed my firstborn, wrapped neatly in a tiny bundle, in my arms. It was a spiritual moment.

I’m not referring to religion. “Church”. Synagogue. Temple.

Rather, I’m thinking of something Greater Than, the Transcendent, something like collective energy, the Divine…perhaps even Love.

I burst into tears, with no conscious thought, holding my daughter- a miracle! I fell in love. But little did I know what was ahead. As any parent can tell you, there is joy, and there is suffering in parenthood.

TRYO (Chile) presents us with a spiritual work using music, lyrics, and collective energy from this veteran band (closing in on 30 years together, all three original members).

Impression number ONE: It takes time to learn to love this music.

Impression number TWO: It is well worth taking that time.

TRYO (means TRIO- in Spanish) includes Felix Carbone Kind- drums/percussion; Francisco Cortez Aguilara- bass guitar, cello; and Ismael Cortez Aguilar, guitar. Collectively, and with the help of their manager Ignacio Carvajal and the album’s artist (design), Ivan Gonzalez Smith, this trio of musicians becomes more than the sum of their individual parts.  

Impression number THREE: There is inherent spirituality in the collective energy of three skilled musicians who have something to say.

Each of the seven tracks represent one of the chakras- the energy points in the “subtle body”.

1. Viaje Cosmico (Cosmic Voyage), first chakra- the roots, the basis, survival.

The music is electric, vibrant, intricate, filled with rhythm and interplay.

2. Orbitas (Orbits), second chakra- emotions, the search for growth and balance.

The music here, also electric, features the careful use of guitar effects interwoven into the tapestry of the music.

3. Crudo (Crude). third chakra- represented by fire, and concerned with power, control, and discovery of the true self. This electric piece if filled with raw energy, opens boldly, subsides, then builds.

Bassist Francisco shines, at times taking the lead.

4. Cyan, representing one of the elemental colors of the spectrum, as a metaphor regarding the fourth chakra- balance, acceptance, equilibrium.

Cyan abruptly shifts us into another dimension, as it moves into an acoustic sound.

There’s an Indian flavor to the vocals of Pascuala Ilabaca, mournful, a lament?

This music suggests the spiritual quest for something beyond, for greater truth, and for communications from the heart.

5. La Montana (The Mountain), fifth chakra- ether, sound, vibration. The mountain represents the spiritual challenge- it’s one thing to hold a newborn. It’s another to raise a child.

This too is acoustic- delicate, chiming guitars, violin (guest Boris Del Rio), and vibraphone- interwoven, intuitive.

This is the result of almost 30 years of working together.

6. El Despertar (The Awakening), the sixth chakra- light, the 3rd eye.

Here the ensemble playing is also acoustic and filled with the intuitive, feeling, and thought.

7. Condensacion(Condensation), “the Spiral, the Source, and the cosmic consciousness.”

Back to the energy of the electric TRYO.

First the meditative opening. Then thunder, and vocals that represent the seventh chakra, “Together as one…together we are one.”

In about 43 minutes we have taken an intense and enlightening journey- one could say, spiritual- from darkness to light, from ignorance to wisdom.