VIVO

I registered myself because this record. This is the best record by Fulano. This band lived for 19 years and only did 4 studio works. It means clearly that this band was (because they don´t exist anymore, like a band, since Jaime Vivanco dies) a live show band. I could see them alive many times. Except for "Trabajos Inutiles" (a 5 stars album), all this previous works are very chaotics. They comes to the studio each time they had the money, and later they develope the songs in a different (better) way in live shows (remember, 19 years). When Jaime Vivanco dies, they finally make this record like a tribute. Live (Vivo) is for "Alive" in 2 ways. Here we can hear the songs in his complete development, like they always do. A masterpiece if you like the band. They defined his music like "eclectisismo antihegemonico" wich means something like... "all the music and nothing rules" (not exactly, but...). A strange kind of prog, a strange kind of jazz, a strange kind of music.

At last! After many efforts I could buy Vivo (Live) the last album made by this excellent chilean band. Really, it's the last because after Jaime Vivanco (keyboards, vocals) died, the members of the band took differente ways. In fact, you could find Cristian Crisosoto, Arlette Jecquier and his daughter Regina under the name of Mediabanda continuing the Fulano legacy and the great bassist Jorge Campos playing with another legendary chilean band, Congreso.

Well, IMO Vivo is a 5 stars album for many reasons. First: Fulano is one of the most innovative band in South America. Second: Their concerts were totally cathartic. Third: The exceptional talent and technique of their musicians. Fourth: the wonderful, raw and even lyrical voice of Arlette Jecquier. Fifth: Fulano in concert was one of the most powerful experiences that I ever had 'cos they sound better on stage than on studio, giving to each song the power of rock mixed with astonishing improvisations taking form the jazz side of the band. Starting with the caothic Krikalev, the album is like a guide to met most of the best songs made by Fulano on their four studio albums, including two songs never released before, Pinocho en Patolandia (a nice piece of jazz) and Todas las ratas de todos los ríos del mundo (6:05). Basura sounds great (specially the hilarious bass intro). The best two songs of the album are the jazzy Nena, no te vayas a Chimbarongo. and Suite Recoleta a piece that sounds better with the pass of the years just like the wine.

In each song you can find the unique Fulano style that mixes rock, jazz, avant gard, some drops of prog, but overall the sense to listen music make with heart and emotions.

For those who already know Fulano from their studio albums, even if you didn't have an excellent or a good impression, I recommend this audition. The arrangements have been slightly modified from the original versions, and the cadences were considerably changed on many tracks. IMO, achieveing much better results. A way to perceive this diferences can be comparing the three tracks from their debut, realeased in 1987, that are on this live effort. Production and edition are superior too ? perhaps because of the fact that they received a certain amount of money from a fund of Chile's Ministry of Education.

If you don't know anything from Fulano, starting through this album is probably the most guaranteed way to access the best prog they've executed. And you'll meet Arlete Jequier's chant, quite na experience. A fine manner to describe her abilities is to point the teachers she had. One of them was chilean soprano Lucía Gana. The other was Inés Delano, which is a chilean painter and artist considered one of the biggest personalities in her country to make the cross between jazz, pop, bolero and tango. And I wouldn't be surprised if Thijs van Leer's vocalizations were another inspiration. Besides that, Arlette also plays clarinet many times on the studio albums, and sometimes on this CD. Notice how Arlette uses her voice on the second track, called Fulano. At certain moments, similar to a wind instrument; on others, like keyboards. It is also one of the songs where she performs some classical lyrical singing, in a very precise vibe. Amazing! The (rest of the) instrumentation on this track is really inspired. When, for instance, sax makes a duet with the vocalist, along with the energetic rhythm and solos of the bassist. Another aspect to increase the complexity of the vocal harmonies is that other four musicians on stage also sings or makes some vocalisations. The absence of a guitar player (at least this instrument isn't mentioned on the CD case) is hardly noticed, because of the interplay between keyboard player and specially the bassist. Pay attention to this instrument on the third track, Basura, to capture what I'm trying to express. The section of the CD that goes from track 1 to 4 is the peak of their work. The original studio versions would be scored by me between 3 and 4 stars, but on these live executions, reaches a spectrum from 4.7 to 5 stars. Similar text can be applied to fifth track, but this composition doesn't appear in any other album from Fulano or Mediabanda (a group with some members of Fulano, and that released albums from 2004 to 2021, until now). The next track, Todas las ratas de todos los rios del mundo, also doesn't appear on other works of these two bands. This track could be excluded, IMO, with no regrets, from this release. Or replaced by another composition. It's monotonous and repetitive, gets from me a 1.8 star. Fortunately, the rest of the disc is splendid, and deserves to get scores from 4.2 to 4.8 stars.

To summarize the review above, this work is one of the greatest live acts I've heard from Latin America. 4.6 stars.