GABRIELUS

This Ukranian ensemble was established in 1989 in Kiev by its main composer Alexei Alexandrov.By 1992 he had managed to come up with a core of musicians to help him perform his compositions live as well as recording the first album of Er. J. Orchestra.The instrumental armour of the band included traditional percussions, saxes, accordion, marimba among the usual rock instrumentation.The debut ''Gabrielius'' from 1995 was recorded at the ArkadiA Studio in Kiev in 1994/95, released privately in 1998.

The soundscapes created by the Ukranian ensemble are always built around ethnic orientations and delivered either through Fusion-like arrangements or cinematic textures.The opening piece ''The Tea Ceremony Kiev-Paris'' gives hope for a nice album.This is pretty nice Acoustic Ethnic/Fusion with a lovely romantic atmosphere, highlighted by Alexandrov's work on piano and the light interplays with saxes and accordion.The rest of the album doesn't hold up on the same level.While there is always a jazzy atmosphere in the air, blending some delicate string sections and archaic sounds in a good amalgam, the musicianship lacks dynamics and the arrangements sometimes sound a bit loose.Additionally parts of the album have a very Ambient/Chill-out mood, that becomes really hypnotic for the listener, while individual instrumental performances start to pop out in a more minimalistic mood.Most of the tracks though are quite long and among these weak moments one can find also some interesting material, the smooth jazzy interplays and some elegant melodies being the more decent ones.Few parts of the album contain also wordless vocals in order to make the music richer and more energetic, while no electric instruments are used in an album of totally acoustic nature.

The concept idea of this instrumental band was rather good, the execution though becomes a little boring along the way.A pair of good instrumentals and a few sporadic peaks are the best moments of an effort, that works better as nice background music.For fans of World Music or light Folk/Fusion...2.5 stars.