T-TAURI

T-Tauri biography
One of the best things of being part of a sub-genre team in Prog Archives is that you are able to find about old and new bands you maybe if too much only had heard their names before, some of them are incredibly good like in the case of T-TAURI.

If somebody asked me to describe them in one sentence, I would tell that person to go to the web site and read the first few words and read how they describes themselves, being that they surely are a "a 6 man symphonic orchestra with a rock 'n ' roll attitude". Maybe for some people this may sound like "cliché" because those words sound pompous and fake, but when listening them you only can wonder how such a small numbers of members are able to sound like a complete orchestra.

The band was formed in Eindhoven (Netherlands) in the late 90's by the talented and beautiful front-woman, vocalist and violin player Mellie Oudejans, Matthieu Cleijne (Bass and Vocals), Bart Brouwer (Keyboards), Bart Beks (Guitars), Gerard Voz (Drums) and Rob Haertel who plays additional percussion.

In 1998 they released their first and only album to the date "Pictures at an Exhibition". Many people will probably say "Hey ELP already did that, they are probably clones" but please don't fall in prejudices, the approach of T-TAURI is totally different, much more classical and respectful but not less original, mainly based in the sound of the violin (With Romanian gypsy flavor), supported by an excellent band and arrangements and a hard Rock edge that IMO create the best version of Mussorgsky's classic.

It's really a shame that they never released a second album, because I believe they are a group of talented and obviously classical formed musicians able to release many albums that would satisfy the most hardcore Proghead and demanding music lover, I just hope they surprise us with another masterpiece.

Anybody who has the chance to get "Pictures at an Exhibition" by this excellent band/orchestra should buy it without hesitation, I'm sure there's no way to regret the experience.

Iván Melgar Morey - Perú