EL VALS DE LOS DUENDES

3,5 stars. Very interesting spanish band that has some nice sounds. Their mix of folk, new age, prog and some jazzy overtones is very interesting. The only negative part are some sax interventions that makes their music sound blend FM musak. Fortunatly those moments are not very frequent (but were the main reason I did not rate El Vals De Los Duendes higher). Those guys do play well and the record would be even better if it was all instrumental. Not that the vocals are bad, but surely this is not their forte (again they were fortunate to include only two tracks that has vocals on it). As an instrumental band they really show what they are capable of: fine keyboards/guitar interplay (the title track is an excellent exemple), nice flute and a strong rhythm section.

The music is varied and although it is also clear they are still struggling to find their own sound, the result is quite convincing. Production is very good and the mxing was well balanced, you can hear every nuance and detail. So I found this CD to be very good and promising. Michael Starry is an excellent musician very much influenced by the likes of Carlos Santana, Al Dimeola and to a lesser extend, Andy Latimer I´m looking forward to hear their next release.