Saturday, 29 November 2025

Mezzoforte from Iceland (1979 ST and 1980 Octopus aka I Hakanum)

 






Light and pleasant fusion sounds from this band that was quite prolific from the late 1970s onwards, as you can see here.

Mezzoforte is an Icelandic, instrumental jazz-funk/fusion band, formed in 1977. They signed a record deal with Icelandic label Steinar. Their biggest hit single was Garden Party (1983), taken from their fourth album (second international release), Surprise Surprise. It peaked at number 17 in the UK Singles Chart. The solo that takes place two minutes into 'Garden Party', was created and played on the flugelhorn by English trumpeter, Stephen Dawson. 'Garden Party' was later covered by Herb Alpert at a slower speed than the original, apparently as he'd learned the track from the single played at the wrong speed. Another single, Rockall, spent one week at number 75 in the same listing in June that year, and was used as a signature tune by several European radio chart shows.

And, obviously:

The band was named after the traditional musical term mezzo forte, an instruction to play, literally, "moderately loud".

The opener of the first from 1979, Kinahverfio:



Northern Winds from the 2nd:



Personally, I was not so impressed with their 'big hit,' Garden Party, but I'm sure others were.

1 comment:



  1. https://krakenfiles.com/view/CP0Qni4pus/file.html
    https://www.sendspace.com/file/qhgezj

    ReplyDelete