BARCELONA TRACTION

1. "Has Vist Passar Els Ocells" (5:00) very solid and enjoyable melodic and smooth j-r Fusion. Great bass and percussion work beneath the melody-generating Fender Rhodes. (9/10)

2. "Modulacions" (6:03) 90 seconds of okay blues-jazz piano before anyone else joins in. okay. (8.5/10)

3. Estudi En Afro (7:15) Lucky Guri solos on his piano for the opening minute in a very Vince Guaraldi-like style. Then he takes a break while Jordi Clua establishes a bass line that Francis Rabassa plays off of until Lucky's synthesizer, organ, and electric piano can join in. Jordi's wah-wah-pedaled bass is very interesting (and slightly distracting). Two different yet smoothly-connected motifs alternate over the course of the next minutes with Lucky's soloing moving from instrument to instrument above the solid, creative, and interesting work of the rhythm section--until 4:25, that is, when everybody takes a sudden right turn down a steep hill so that Lucky can Bob James solo on his Fender Rhodes. I must say, I am increasingly happy with the way the band/producer/engineer have mixed the instrumental palette with the percussion, bass, and drums as distinctively clear and forward as the lead instruments. More synth and Fender Rhodes soloing before a dynamic piano finish. Nice! (13.5/15)

4. Sudamerica (7:25) Another pristine and (to my ears) perfect mix of the full band over a definite Latin (even, perhaps, South American) sound during which Lucky Guri gets the first extended lead and solo with his Fender Rhodes. This is followed by a couple brief stints given to Jordi Clua to shine on both his electric bass as well as his stand-up double bass. Francis Rabassa's drums and Padrito Diaz and Manel Joseph's percussion play, as usual, add so much to this-- almost, at times, to the distraction of the "lead" keyboard instruments. The second, quick-paced motif that the band alternates between is so awesome--like the frenzied outro of some Latin jam--with Lucky hammering his piano with full chords in an awesome! (It reminds me of one of my favorite Jane Siberry songs, "Are We Dancing Now? (Map III)" from her 1989 album release, Bound by the Beauty.) This is definitely my favorite song on the album. (14.5/15)

5. "Foc I Pluja" (8:50) wind chimes and other percussion sounds with Fender Rhodes open this one. Drummer Francis Rabassa only enters with some delicate cymbal play in the second minute. At 1:38 Lucky Guri begins establishing a lullaby-like melody on his electric piano before he and the percussionist swell to serve notice to bassist Jordi Clua to enter. Drums follow and a nice Latin groove is established while Lucky moves into a chord play reproduction of some familiar pop melody. In the second half of the fourth minute the band subtly moves into a smoother, more sophisticated and jazz-like motif. Very cool how smoothly they made that transition! Now Lucky and Francis are both playing full-on jazz but then at 5:15 they kind of come back to a Bob James-like smooth jazz bridge before returning to the sophisticated motif for some wah-wah-effected bass soloing from Jordi. It's okay: melodic and quirky, but fails as a funk solo. Percussion and Fender take the next brief solos before Lucky returns to that familiar pop melody line while the rhythm section remains in fourth gear. But then at 7:40 a cymbal crash signifies the end of all instrumentalist's contributions save for Lucky's pensive chord play on the Fender Rhodes. Odd song! But interesting! Nice drum and percussion work, boys! (17.75/20)

Total Time 34:33

It is rare that one encounters an album in which the drums, bass, and percussion are mixed so evenly forward with the other instruments in the sound palette. This really gives the percussionists a chance to not only be noticed but to shine! The steady, defined tracks with the smooth keyboard sounds and play of band leader Lucky Guri definitely render this album into the fray of the new "Smooth Jazz" domain--one of my new favorites from that category. And did I mention the great drumming of Francis Rabassa?

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of very well composed, admirably performed, and excellently engineered Smooth Jazz that I think all prog lovers should give a listen to.

Share this BARCELONA TRACTION review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to BrufordFreak
• Report this review (#3090354)
• Buy BARCELONA TRACTION music online with PA partners
• Show all BARCELONA TRACTION MP3/Stream
• Go to BARCELONA TRACTION page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Barcelona Traction page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for BARCELONA TRACTION related discussions