Valvulado: The Great Music of Portugal (Part II)

And Portugal continues to surprise us with great bands, great music. Thanks to Magal, now they are available at Valvulado...

ANANGA RANGA (Jazz Rock/Fusion)

Ananga Ranga biography (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=9818)

ANANGA RANGA appeared in Lisbon, Portugal in 1976 playing Prog covers and were formed by Luís FIRMINO (guitar), ÁLVARO (bass), Manuel BARRETO (piano), NECAS (drums), Rui PEDROSO (organ) and PANTERA (percussion).

They released a couple of Pop singles in 1979 but on the same year they recruted Manuel GARCIA (saxophone) and released their debut, a Jazz Rock/Fusion album called Regresso às Origens. It's fully instrumental and has a very typical 70's Fusion sound with obvious influences from MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, RETURN TO FOREVER, among others. It also had Carlos ZÍNGARO (violin) as a special guest which added even more diversity to the album.

After that album, ÁLVARO was replaced by Vasco ALVES and Rui PEDROSO and PANTERA left the band. The next year the recorded their second and last album Privado, with the participation of Alfredo NASCIMENTO (cavaquinho, percussion). On this one they tried to appeal to both Pop and Jazz Rock listeners, but the result was a confusing album that didn't appeal to either.

Their output was very uneven but Regresso às Origens is an obscure gem that is highly recommended to fans of the Jazz Rock/Fusion genre.

::Meltdowner::

Regresso às Origens (LP 1979)

Privado (1980)

ANAR BAND (Experimental Instrumental Music)

Anar Band was a project by Jorge Lima Barreto (1949), who had been performing interventions in experimental and jazz music, video art and performance-art since the late sixties; graduated in Art History and doctorate in Musicology and Social Communication Theory, he wrote several books and produced radio shows. Anar Band was a laboratorial group for improvisations, in the aesthetics of the free-jazz and electroacoustics. Produced and recorded in 1976, Anar Band was, on an electroacoustic profile, the first Portuguese record of improvised music, clearly committed as such.Formed by Jorge Lima Barreto (who would be from 1981 onwards one of the halves of Telectu, the other being Vítor Rua) and Rui Reininho (later the lead singer with avant-garde pop group GNR), this is a true trip into the inner realms of the mind, fuelled by jazz rock leanings and electronics – the ARP Odyssey synthesizer also reminds us that from here to prog rock is sometimes a small step. This is a truly original work of art, and the gatefold features extensive sleeve notes.

Anar Band (1977)

Carlos Alberto Vidal (Folk Prog Rock)

Carlos Alberto Vidal is a Portuguese musician, singer and composer. Born in 1954 in Lousã, he began his solo career in the early 70s, releasing some singles and his only LP in 1976. From 1982 Carlos became the character "Avô Cantigas" (Grandpa Storyteller) and has since become the best known children musician in the country.

Post here the album "Changri-Lá", it consists of 9 tracks, most short, progressive rock similar to other works done in Portugal, melodic, with beautiful harmonies, lyrics in Portuguese and varied topics as mystical beings, day by day and childhood. In the instrumental, great passages of keyboard, piano, sax and flute; best songs are "Corpo de mulher sem mal", "Emanuel," "O meu nome somos nós" and "Sunrise". Perhaps one of the most interesting Portuguese prog rock records of the 70s, recommended.

Changri-la (LP 1978)

Filarmonica Fraude (Prog Rock)

Filarmónica Fraude is a Portuguese band, one of the first to introduce and give relevance in Portugal to the musical style that was beginning to emerge in Europe and the United States of America called progressive rock. In 1969 he released an album and two EPs.

Epopeia

Herois do Mar (Pop Rock)

Herois do Mar were a Portuguese pop-rock band formed in March 1981 by: Paulo Pedro Gonçalves (guitar), Carlos Maria Trindade (keys), Tozé Almeida (drums), Pedro Ayres Magalhães (bass) and Rui Pregal da Cunha (voice).

Vol. I (1981-1982)

PSICO (Prog Rock)

Portuguese pearl, Psico was formed in 1968 and unfortunately just released a single 10 years after, in 1978. The two songs Al's and Epitáfio bring a great progressive rock, remembering Gentle Giant. Emphasis on keyboards and drums. REALLY GREAT PROG!!!!

Al's-Epitáfio (EP - 1978)

PETRUS CASTRUS (Prog Rock)

Ascenção e Queda (LP 1978)

SAGA (Crossover Prog)

Saga biography (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=8375)

Portuguese project SAGA was the creative vehicle of composer and musician João Luis Tinoco. Under his leadership some of the finest musicians in Portugal at the time gave realized his thematic oriented production revolving around issues such as war and the use of atomic weapons. While crafted with a minute attention to detail, the end result didn't strike a nerve with the mainstream audience when "Homo Sapiens" was released in 1976, and Tinoco left the realm of the recording artists soon after to concentrate on songwriting.

Homo Sapiens (1976)