IBERIA

MUSICA URBANA were from Spain led by multi-instrumentalist Joan Albert Amargos. They released two studio albums in the second half of the seventies. "Iberia" from 1978 is their second and it's not without it's changes. Joan Albert played flute on the debut, but he gets a full time flautist this time as well as a second horn player. Joan plays sax still but we get a trumpet/flugelhorn blower added to the lineup. There's a new guitarist but the rhythm section is back.

The debut was a complex stew of Jazz/fusion/classical and it worked. It was so complex and some of the arrangements left me dizzy. I have a huge amount of respect for their self-titled debut. Joan clearly wanted to focus more on the classical side of the equation this time around. This is lighter, in fact there's not much "rock" here. Fancy music I call it, but man these guys can play. I miss the clavinet from the debut and overall punch. A fair amount of piano here and at times it's like we're listening to a mini orchestra.

I am not into this new direction. And while most who have rated both feel they are equal, I disagree. I'm not much on the soft stuff though.