Psych-prog, guitar, sitar, violin. (Juan L. Joy)
Fabulous mix of psychedelia, symphonic progressive, flamenco and italian barroco rock. A legend.
(J.J.Iglesias, Revista Atropos).
Gualberto was the guitarist for Smash in the early 70's. Hard to imagine
such a creative mind content playing easy rock music like Smash did.
On his first solo effort, A La Vida al Dolor, it appears Gualberto was
unsure what to do with his newfound freedom. The compositions are a
mixed bag of Spanish folk, rock and roll similar to
Smash and some original progressive music.
It's too varied, patchy and unfocused for my tastes.
Vericuetos, on the other hand, is yet another Spanish progressive
classic. Borrowing heavily from the music of India and Spain, Gualaberto
incorporates these sounds with a classic Anglo progressive
perspective for a truly unique blend. Gualberto plays with a unique and
soulful style and also plays the sitar this time around. A must discovery.
Vinyl collectors should note that the original gatefold cover of this album
is well worth seeking out. (Tom Hayes)
Original and elegant Spanish prog with an Italian flavour (PFM, RDM, etc.).
The frequent use of violin brings especially the Italian band Quella
Vecchia Locanda to my mind. The album is mainly in the classical and
symphonic progressive style, but the occasional use of Arabic tone
scales and sitar (or processed guitar sounding like a sitar) give an exotic
touch here and there. Overall a great album well worth exploring.
(Sjef Oellers, as reviewed in Gnosis)
Gualberto was born in 1945 in Sevilla, Spain. At 17
he formed the rock group "Los Murcielagos", followed
in 1967 by Smash, a standard and pioneering group in
Spanish and Andalusian Rock history. After disbanding
the group Gualberto leaves for the US to study music.
He starts as a composer. His first work was the rock
opera "Behind stars"; in cooperation with the "Good
Vibrations Studio" and the "Yoga Symphony Orchestra",
he formed a group for it with the famous Hindu
sitarplayer Diwan Mothihar.
This first solo
recording has not been published yet. Returning to
Spain he published there two solo works : "A la vida
al dolor" ("To life and pain") and "Vericuetos". In
1976 he remains several months in France and Holland,
composing camera music leading to his next record
"Otros dias". Between 1976 and 1979 he arranged and
contributed on several projects, rock and flamenco
copositions all brought together on "Inquietudes a
compas" (in 1997). In 1979 he records an album of
fusion between jondo songs and sitar called
"Gualberto y Agujetas" (included on that disc from
1997 too). In the eighties he makes mostly
orchestration arrangements, in which he arranges the
flamenco instrumentations and the classical part.
From this time he arranged "Casta" for Lole and
Manuel and "Cuaderno de Coplas" (" Notebook of
Songs") and "A través del olvido" de Carlos Cano
at and the song "Rimas de Bécquer" for Carlos Cano
and "Rimas de Bécquer" for Benito Moreno. He
recorded also the album "Puentes", and compositions
for a Trio of clarinetes called "Quartet Biennial",
a work for the Banda Municipal de Sevilla and
"Turrunuelo" for an inaugural concert of the second
Biennial. He also directs the Choir Rociero de
Triana, with will record in ten years of collaboration
several albums.
In 1983 after some memoriable concerts with Ricardo
Mino he was asked to do a record once more (which was
the very spontaneous "Puente Mágico"). From 1987 he is
introduced in the world of comnputer music, creating
his own study, publishing music for cinema and
television. In 1990 he returns to the scene as an
interpreter, with several concerts emphasizing his
participation in the 1st Cycle of the New Music at
the University of Seville, from which the disc
"Sin Comentario" will come forth (only published
later by Lost Vinyl in 1996), and at the
International Festival of the Guitar in Cordova,
a Festival in Italy, where he played with Nacho
Duato, Encuentos de Nueva together with Wim Mertens.
In 1995 he initiates a new cycle of concerts, in which
he plays different instruments on prerecorded bases,
combining different styles and tendencies. In 1998 he
records "Resistances" with Ricardo Mino. In 2000 he
records one more disc with him and with the cooperation
of a lot of artists.
(From a lost web page: www.sevillacultural.com)
Very unique about Gualberto is that he plays flamenco
guitar with his sitar. In this way flamenco takes a
step back to his roots. Indian music from the sitar with
a wide range of sound once was transformed into western
standards into a more limited in range instrument, the
guitar. The style developed further into what we call
flamenco now.
Gualberto introduced the sitar in his
legendary group Smash at first in the early seventies,
recorded after having studied in the US a few more
progressive composed albums in the mid seventies, did
some collaborations at the end of the seventies and
recorded a few guitar, voice, sitar combinations in the
last twenty years. Thanks to his contribution the flamenco
still with full of respect to his origins he opened the
way to more possibilities in expressions.
(Gerald Van Waes)
"Vericuetos" has been recently re-released by Fonomusic.
Review of the record "A La Vida Al Dolor" (in spanish)
Review of the record "Vericuetos" (in spanish)
The Spanish Progressive Rock Encyclopedia![[sorry]](/img/ar12.jpg)
dlsi.ua.es
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