Mezquita's 'Recuerdos de mi Tierra' is, IMHO, the definite masterpiece of Flamenco oriented prog, and most certainly, one of the highlights of Spanish prog in general. From the beautiful city of Córdoba, Mezquita managed to elaborate a prog style firmly rooted in the Flamenco traditions, and watered by the influential flows of 73-75 Yes (with less meandering), the melodic side of KC, the fire of Rush, and some hints to classic hard rock. The result is simultaneously powerful and exuberant, since the four musicians' skills are top notch. The fluency of the interactions between the guitars and the keys is simply awesome, and so is the precision with which the rhythm section lays the proper foundations for this intrincate, energetic material. The opening title track is per se a manifesto of Mezquita's personal style. The following three tracks are the most explosive ones, full of tempo changes, pyrotechnics (never reaching at a gratuitous level) and genuine enthusiasm (oh!, that chanting/clapping passage right before the end of 'Ara Buza', that is special gypsy magic of Flamenco at its purest) - a special mention goes to the opening instrumental section of 'Desde que Somos Dos', my personal fav. Track 5 is more somber, due to the dark solemnity of the subject (a massive suicide), but still manages to capture the intense magic of South Spanish folk, as well as the band's punchy swing. The fusion touches that were somewhat moderate in previous tracks, emerge more clearly in the instrumental closure - once more, a superb number. The occasional use of a guest string quartet enhances the Arabic air of some compositions (string quartets are very recurrent in Moroccan folk tunes), making the exotic thing compatible with the rock side of Mezquita's music.Review by Cesar Inca (César Inca Mendoza Loyola)
From ProgArchives
A masterpiece! "Recuerdos De Mi Tierra" mixes fusion, symphonic, flamenco, and North African (Islamic) influences to define Spanish progressive rock.
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i wanna get an lp of this guys..o mejor si me puedo contactar con alguien que sepa hablar en castellano...soy Mexicano...y...quiero ver quien me peuede ayudar a conseguirlo.... mi correo es lsdamianc@hotmail.com
ReplyDeletethanks for this!
ReplyDeleteThis Record is so awesome! But according to what i know it was reissued by some korean label 5 or 6 years ago.
ReplyDeleteJust a couple more informations: Mezquita did released one more album, called "Califas del Rock", in 1980. It pales in comparison to "Recuerdos de Mi Terra", since is much more mainstream (although one of the tracks is very similar to the ones in "Recuerdos" and the singing and musicianship remains flawless in my oppinion).
As far as I know, this second album was never reissued in CD format.
Mezquita continues performing to this day. You can see some excellent live numbers performed by him in Youtube.
This is my first comment here, but i've been a Mutant Sounds' fan for quite some time and i must say you guys definitly broadned my taste for music. Thank you all.
Cheers from Portugal.