ARMANDO TIRELLI

Armando Tirelli, prior to releasing his solo album, was the keyboardist for the Uruguayan jazz-rock group Sexteto Electrónico Moderno. SEM was not a prog band, but there were ample classical and jazz influences. I'm no expert in South American music (so I can't specify genres), but SEM also had a distinctly South American feel to their music. Tirelli would use a lot of that classical and jazz experience when composing El Profeta.

El Profeta is based on the book The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. It may have just been "inspired by" Gibran's book?Internet sources are inconsistent in their phrasing. I haven't read it, and my Spanish isn't too great, so I will not be summarizing the album's story. But between what Spanish I know and the large amount of narration, I feel confident in saying that this album tells a story.

The album opens with its title track, which is also the longest song on the album. Groaning synth bass and jazzy piano and guitar licks build before giving way to minimalistic piano, bass, and drums topped with dramatic narration. Spoken word usually comes off as grating and lazy, but the narrator's voice has a great tone, and he sells his passion hard. Even after the narration ends, the music remains decidedly jazzy, with lilting flute and rich synth pads.

El Profeta is structured without gaps between its songs, so the transition to "Candombe Samba" is smooth. Flute, piano, and synthesizers dominate most of this instrumental cut. The song's second half shifts from symphonic to something a bit more aggressive, and fuzzed-out guitar gets a chance to shine with a dramatic, Gilmour-esque solo.

Following "Candombe Samba" is a quartet of short pieces. "Barco de los Sueños" revisits a vocal melody from the title track amid a backing of space-jazz, and "Tema Central El Profeta" is a dramatic little instrumental led by glimmering synths. "El Momento de Partir" combines elements of both of the preceding short songs. "Amanever en Orphalese" is a short instrumental, but it packs a lot into two-and-a-half minutes, with mellow jazz, acidic psychedelia, and classically-inspired piano gymnastics all flowing together coherently.

"Hablanos del Matrimonio" begins with a slow, unassuming build-up. As elsewhere on El Profeta, piano is the backbone, with synthesizers taking the lead and guitar fleshing things out. This song, which opens side 2 of the album, works as something of an echo of the title track. Its structure and instrumentation are similar, with the narrator speaking over the song's middle part before closing on sung elements.

"Hablanos de Dar" continues with the preceding song's gentle atmosphere, but "Hablanos del Amor" opens on a more energetic note. The rhythm section is propulsive, and the main melody is a weird, twisting line with plenty of pep. The verses slow things down, but the instrumentation remains impactful.

"Los Ecos del Almustafe" synthesizes earlier themes from the album into something light and folky. The wordless vocals and walls of keyboard instruments interact wonderfully, and the flutework is especially praiseworthy.

El Profeta ups the tempo with nervous guitar strumming and driving drums on "Hablanos de los Hijos". Narration again takes the lead before giving way to an organ solo that sounds like it could have been on Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This song is full of forceful riffs and serves as a fitting climax to the whole album. A pair of short songs follow "Hablanos de los Hijos", acting as something of an epilogue. "Tocata Scarahuala" is 30 seconds of Tirelli showing off his instrumental chops, and "Tema Central El Profeta" is a reprise of the earlier song with the same name.

El Profeta was Tirelli's only solo release, which is a real pity. There are certain musical parallels between this record and certain Italian prog acts, but much of that likely comes from Tirelli's background in classical music. He crafted a unique album with a distinct timbre, a smooth integration of narration and singing, and a compelling dramatic progression.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2020/09/28/lesser-known-gem-armando-tirelli-el-profeta/

I have listened to this numerous times, trying to see the good in it. I am sorry, I just can't.The cheesy vocal harmonies, although well-done, are so out of place within what I like (and again, I LIKE A LOT!) The instrumentation is OK, but the use of the little single note, MOOG type sound is so dated that it is out of place most of the time.

Having said all of that, I sure appreciate that others enjoy this, and the comparison to Italian symphonic / romantic era is accurate. It just goes too much into that style of music that I personally don't like, as it becomes kind of a 70's American TV show soundtrack.

Just my opinion, and THANKS for Progarchives.com for continued operation.

The clear Italian Symphonic influence, well blended with Uruguayan Folk and a touch of Fusion is delightful, a one in a kind work that I have followed for years and only lately could buy (in LP format) from a friend who never liked it and only listened the album one time in his life, US$ 10.00 well expended.

"El Profeta" is opened with "Prólogo El Profeta", a song that starts with a poetic and clear narration in the vein of the Gauchos, who remind me a lot of the famous folklorist Cafrune, but then comes the great part, a soft piano and flute lead to an instrumental passage of singular beauty, somehow reminiscent of Focus with a touch of Fusion, and the correct vocals at the end are the cherry over the cake, also pristine clear in the style of "Sui Generis" or "Seru Giran", from the start the listener knows that he's before something special.

"Candombe Samba" flows directly from the prologue as an integral part of it, the melody keeps getting more and more beautiful and elaborate, like few bands, the crew play for the music rather than for personal gain, the piano break is just out of this world, with clear echoes of the two Folk genres (Candombe y Samba) mentioned in the name. The closing section is much more aggressive with a killer guitar

"Barco de los Sueños" (Boat of the Dreams) starts in an abrupt way, the vocals (characteristic of Argentinean bands) blended with the piano and soft choirs hit us directly, but in a soft and melodic mood, the song flows gently without changes until the end, leading to the central theme named as any bilingual person would guess "Tema Central El Profeta", another melodic and nostalgic track of great beauty, but in this case not without some changes mostly leaded by the piano and Synth, the guy is a genius keeping the atmosphere intact and linking every track perfectly.

"El Momento de Partir" (Time for Departure)is another melodic track in the vein of Seru Giram, but with magnificent Moog sections and flute, really a unique product for the region.

"Amanecer en Orphalese" (Dawn in Orphalese) marks a radical change, without loosing the nostalgic atmosphere, Tirelli and his piano hit us with all he has, classical influence mixed with great Prog and radical changes, a perfect jewel in the album.

"Háblanos del Matrimonio" (Talk us about the marriage). is am obscure and more mysterious track based mostly in piano, but despite this darkness, Tirelli manages to create a brighter side with his Moog.

"Hablanos del Dar" (Talk us about the giving) is softer and again extremely melodical, totally sung in Spanish, again flows softly from start to end, except for a few lush keyboard sections, don't expect too many changes, but, Prog is more than just changes.

"Hablanos del Amor" (Talk us about Love) is some form of Latin Jazz that lightens the mood that was getting a bit somber, the Latin American roots of the author are evident in this good song, but about the middle, a radical change bring us back to the style of the previous track.

"Los Ecos de Almustafá" (Almustafa's Echoes) is an excellent instrumental in which the human voice is used as an additional instrument, again the Latin Jazz can be heard, but made much more complex and elaborate, the flute played by G. Bregstein is impressive and the rhythm section is perfectly accurate, as always, everything is in it's place, nothing is unnecessary or superfluous, not even the keyboard passage with some reminiscences of Wendy Carlos.

"Háblanos de los Hijos" (Talk us about the Sons) starts with a repetitive rock section with the clear narration, but after the voice ceases, we ae before the harder track that reminds me of "Grand Funk Railroad" with a wild guitar by Rody Troccli, well supported by the excellent drumming, great change.

The album ends with "Tocata Scarahuala" a classically influenced piano short track with something of Keith Emerson and a reprise of the Central Theme to close the album in a pompous way for the first time.

It's unnecessary to say how much "El Profeta" has impressed me but I must also accept that albums as "Foxtrot" or "Close to the Edge" are in a higher level,

Despite this reality, is also truth that Armando Tirelli is not far from them, with the extra bonus that his absolutely unique sound and dexterity to blend styles make from this release a complete masterpiece, so I will go with 5 stars.

Those who love Italian Symphonic and Folk, will be really pleased with this excellent album and get it without doubt.

I love Symphonic Prog, I am part of the PA team for this genre, but I find that sometimes some gems of our beloved prog type are no better than average.

El Profeta is one of them. I can readily admit that the music is beautiful, or at should I say, the soundscape is beautiful. As previous reviews state, the piano / keyboard playing is very melodic. Romantic even, as Steve Hegede mentions. But even after multiple listens, I still have no songs that I walk away humming, that insists on sticking themselves in my ears and not going away.

As I went back to the album time & time again, Hablanos del Matrimonio & Hablanos del Dar do stand out, as I almost get the feeling that I'm about to hear some Pink Floyd derived tuneage. But it goes back to the album's own stylings.

There are some heavier moments where the guitar is brought in, and there are occasions where one can hear the pop stylings of Latin America.

But nowhere do I hear the masterpiece, the captivating composition that would elevate this release above the average. Hublanos De Los Hijos is an example, the spoken word parts are interesting, but the music is nothing more than latin jazz inflected rocker with some instrumental flourishes and not much else.

If you are interested or curious, I would strongly recommend trying to find a site that has MP3 samples before you buy ...