Iceberg - "Sentiments"
(Si Wan SRMC 3023, 1977/1994, CD)
The Korean collector Si Wan has taken it upon himself to fill the void of
Iceberg CDs, beginning with the follow-up to their landmark Coses
Nostres, 1977's Sentiments. While Sentiments builds upon
the sound developed on Coses Nostres, it turns away from the strong
flamenco influence and futher explores symphonic and jazz-fusion elements
through a variety of approaches. The four piece of g/k/d/b open this set
with the scorching "Sentiments/Andalusia,Andalusia," which features some
searing lead guitar sounds, some far ahead of their time. Keyboardist Josep
Mas uses electric piano for rhythm parts mostly and unleashes some very
impressive leads, usually on the Moog. His interplay with guitarist Max
Sunyer, whose soloing is equally impressive, is the heart of Iceberg, while
drummer Jordi Colomer and bassist Primitiu Sancho constantly fill and riff
underneath them.
This is a hotbed of instrumental virtuosity, and only falls a tad short
of Coses Nostres because the writing is a bit less consistent. But
'Sentiments' should be recognized as being unique from its predecessor, and
Iceberg should be commended for pushing the band in a different (at least
somewhat) direction. The reissue is clean sounding (not from vinyl, but not
the master tapes either), but the reproduction of the packaging and liner
notes are very hard to read unfortunately. This is a very strong reissue
from the ultimate Spanish fusion ensemble.
(Originally published in Exposé #6, p. 48, Edited for Gnosis 4/23/01)
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