Longstanding Chilean band Congreso, Part 2: [1981 Viaje por la Creste, 1983 Ha Llegado Carta, 1984 Pajaros de Arcilla, 1986 Estoy que me muero cassette]

 

It's unbelievable how beautiful the album covers get, at least until this stage in their history, in keeping with the high quality of the progressive music.

Here this series of 4 albums features incredibly advanced compositions, one track after another, just a  shockingly embarassing surfeit of riches, like Elon's attic maybe.  We have chamber music, fusion, dissonance, vocal tracks, the gorgeous Italian-style (Genesis-influenced) flute prog, etc.  At times it reminds me of my old Mexican favorite Gerardo Batiz, all of whose albums I tried to collect, or perhaps the wonderful Sacbe band posted before. Not quite as ingenious as Carlos Franzetti or fusionary, but it comes close at times.

Again, wikipedia makes some good points here:

Change of members and shift towards progressive rock (1979-1984)

The departure of some members diminished the power of the group, which was deeply embedded in the dictatorship, with protest songs disguised as poetic lyrics and musical complexities. The three González brothers took more than a year to rebuild the group while working as backing musicians for television orchestras and with musicians like the Argentinian pianist Raúl di Blasio . It was through these connections that they met the young Chilean-Brazilian Joe Vasconcellos , whose Latin American interests and musical background they felt would breathe new life into the project. Together, they completed the new lineup of Congreso. The band had recently welcomed pianist Aníbal Correa and bassist Ernesto Holman , who was not only an old acquaintance of Tilo González from his university days in Valparaíso, but would also become one of the most representative figures of the group's new fusion sound. Vasconcellos then took over as lyricist, and with this arrangement, Congreso released Viaje por la cresta del mundo (1981), one of their strongest works, featuring some of Tilo's most challenging compositions such as "Viaje por la cresta del mundo," "Hijo del diluvio," and "El descarril," among others. However, public recognition came with the inclusion of a single song, the now-classic "Hijo del sol luminoso," written by Joe Vasconcellos. Congreso then took a clear turn toward progressive rock , but always retained their Latin American style.

Moving between the stages of the Nueva Canción Chilena movement , the emerging rock spaces of those years, and university circuits, Congreso solidified its name as a fundamental band of the Chilean music scene. With their album, Ha Llegado Carta (1983), they toured extensively and were signed by CBS-Argentina to record a new album. Vasconcellos' departure led the group to focus their repertoire on instrumental pieces, resulting in Pájaros de Arcilla (1984). That year, saxophonist Jaime Atenas, from Valparaíso and formerly of the jazz-fusion group Ensamble , joined the band . This album is one of the most critically acclaimed in Congreso's history; however, it received little distribution on this side of the Andes, alienating them from their local audience and generating a new crisis that was resolved shortly afterward with the return of Sazo (by then a PhD in Philosophy, after years of study in Europe).

Very interesting indeed, and I see they are putting forth my thesis exactly that the most progressive period for them was this early 1980s stage, and of course that's quite a surprise given the zeitgeist worldwide, from which they were evidently, and thankfully, completely insulated.  Viva los Andes!

Nuevo Intento, from the 1981 Viaje:

While the composition called Sur from Ha Llegado Carta, absolutely made me fall off my chair yet again, though after I recovered from my head injury I listened to it for the rest of the day:

I absolutely love the cover of the Pajaros, and here's Anden del Aire to musically impress you all further:

These are their masterpieces, let me assure you.  Sometimes reminds me of the formidable Argentinian Raul Porchetto.  A glorious period for this group wherein they pulled all the compositional creative stops and went all in for the (lost?) cause of progressive music.  Who would've thought, from Chile?  On this blog, I think only the wonderful hard fusion band Fulano has been featured.