MARE ET TERRA

There is a six-year long gap between Raimundo Rodulfo's second and third official works, but the man was far from inactive during this period.Besides two live bootlegs surfacing and related to his ambitious work on ''The dreams concerto'', he worked for some 3-4 years on his next effort ''Mare et Terra'', which was mainly recorded at his own studio in Miami, Florida, where he had settled for good, but several parts of guest musicians were recorded also in Spain and Venezuela.In the meantime he was discovered by Musea Records and got involved in the Dante series of multi-artist projects.In 2008 Musea was also the label to eventually release his third album.

The album is divided in two sections, ''Marre'' and ''Terra'', the first of which contains Rodulfo's more intricate effort thus far, the 36-min. suite ''Naufrago''.An excellent attempt on Brazilian-like Prog ala BACAMARTE and RECORDANDO O VALE DAS MACAS meet PREMIATA FORNERIA MARCONI with a more convincing and cohesive style compared to Rodulfo's previous compositions.Besides his long runs on folky, jazzy and Classical tastes, this piece offers also a beautiful atmospheric diversity, passing through several dreamy, romantic, dramatic and optimistic segments.A nice combination of Symphonic and Folk Rock with lots of Spanish guitar thrown in and some superb guitar/keyboard interplays in a GENESIS/P.F.M. vein, highlighted by symphonic grandieur and electroacoustic majesty.There are some vocals to be found also, but these are the less interesting parts of this epic, as the music is impressive to say the least.Most keyboards are analog and the flute parts along with the wind instruments are excellent, inspired additions.''Libertad'' is the other piece of ''Marre'', 9 minutes of dreamy Symph/Folk with some Neo Prog-like synths added for good measure and lots of violin, piano and acoustic explorations.

''Terra'' opens with the 11-min. ''Blue'', propably the most jazzy cut on the album, featuring also some Fusion, bluesy and symphonic orientations, but performed rather in a soft Prog/Jazz Rock manner with a slight Canterbury feel, plenty of sax and synths in this one with Rodulfo's smooth electric guitar shining through.Second part is another long epic composition, the 19-min. ''Thoughts'', which sees Rodulfo revisiting the qualities of the opening piece.Additionally this is the more modern-sounding part of ''Marre et terra'', focusing more on the contemporary Symphonic Rock stylings and featuring English lyrics.This is pretty weird of a listening experience, when you are get used to Rodulfo's rural and Classical soundscapes.Even so, this is a convincing effort on Progressive Rock with dominant symphonic arrangements and light jazzy interludes, great keyboard work, mostly on Hammond organ and synthesizers, lovely flute lines and Rodulfo's alternating electric and acoustic textures offering a variety of moods.

At this point I would compare Rodulfo with Brazilians BACAMARTE or the more recent POCOS E NUVENS.Great folky Symphonic Rock, intricate, captivating with lots of instrumental interactions and stylistical variety.He seems to have abandoned these odd moments of Chamber-Folk pastiche and the sound here is definitely more focused on the progressive fundamentals.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Raimundo Rodulfo was born in Venezuela (1970), he pursued musical studies since 1977 until 1978 at the Escuela Sinf'nica Infantil. There he started to study violin and also began autodidactic studies of classic guitar at the age of 12, and electric guitar at the age of 14. Between 1986 and 1992 Raimundo joined several groups in which he started to compose music, blending classic and contemporary elements. He performed at several festivals and shows in his country and in some professional recordings. Since 1992 Raimundo has been dedicated to his musical projects as a soloist, composing music for guitar and group.

In 1999 he produced his first album Dreams and in 2002 his second album The Dreams Concerto (a concerto for guitar, group and chamber orchestra in 3 movements, featuring 15 guest artists). This release was played live for the first time at the 6th issue of BajaProg Festival in Baja California Mexico. In 2003 Raimundo released To Live A Dream - Official Bootleg and To Live A Dream 2 - Official Bootleg, two live full downloadable virtual albums, available from his website www.raimundorodulfo.com. And featuring music from several live performances as BajaProg, ProgJazz and concert opening for The Flower Kings. Parallel to his musical career, Raimundo Rodulfo is an Electronics Engineer, specialized in Digital Systems and Telecommunications and he has dedicated several years to Research and Development both in the academical and industrial fields.

Well, listening to this third solo album entitled Mare Et Terra (2008), I am impressed by his virtuosity on all guitars. To me Raimundo sounds like 'The Latin-American Steve Howe', what an outstanding guitarwork. The CD starts with the epic, very alternating and melodic composition Naufrago (almost 37 minutes!): the intro delivers an excellent piece of solo classical guitar that alternates between classical, Spanish and flamenco, what a jawdropping technique but it also sounds very pleasant, not clinical or as 'scale-acrobatics'. When the music blends with flute, Dutch progfolk Flairck comes to my mind. Then we can enjoy cascades of shifting moods and breaks. From a slow rhythm with sensitive electric guitar and piano, a string-section, a blend of classical and Howe-inspired electric guitar with Grand piano to a swinging rhythm with saxophone. From a compelling part with electric guitar and choir-Mellotron to a Seventies Yes oriented bombastic grand finale with jawdropping classical guitar runs, accompanied by castagnettes and lush choir-Mellotron, great! The other four tracks also showcase Raimundo his guitar skills and his pleasant and varied way of composing. I am delighted about the violin-Mellotron and warm clasical guitar in Libertad and the Santana-inspired atmosphere (guitar sound and conga's) with trumpet, flute and synthesizers in Blue. And about the Minimoog flights in Thoughts Part One and variety in the final track Thoughts Part Two: from a swinging rhythm with conga's and flute to bombastic Hammond and Minimoog with delicate steel-guitar work (evoking Yes) and a beautiful final part with tender classical guitar and violin.

If you are up to a varied, very tastefully arranged guitar driven album with a nice vintage keyboard sound, this one is yours! On his abovementioned excellent website you can read about the albums Raimundo Rudolfo releases (and re-releases, compilations and collaborations) between this third album and his most recent effort entitled Suite Dantesca from 2014. My rating: 3,5 star.