Dutch composer Rogier von Otterloo: Telepathy, Visions, On the Move (1973 to 1975)

 

Note the cigar in his mouth on the last cover photo, and cigarette in his hand on the top one -- he passed away in his 40s of mesothelioma (a type of lung cancer).

First of all I'm going to state, I'm shocked there is still so much amazing music to be discovered from this time period: original, creative, progressive.  And these are perfect examples, which is why I've ramped up the posting to several times a week, to go through my backlog of beautiful music. 

The important thing to understand is that not just in English countries but all over the world there was a hugely fertile feeling for musical composition in those years wherein everything came together perfectly (jazz, rock, classical), and this is where exploring lesser known countries' artists becomes so fruitful, as in this case, where we have a guy who's basically the Dutch Morricone, known primarily as a soundtrack composer in his country.

As usual the brief discogs bio to open:

Pianist, composer, arranger and conductor, born 11 December 1941 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, died 29 January 1988 in Bilthoven, Netherlands. Son of Willem Van Otterloo, father of composer, arranger, saxophonist and conductor Thijs van Otterloo. Probably best known as film music composer for Paul Verhoeven-directed movies Turks Fruit / Turkish Delight (1973) and Soldaat van Oranje / Soldier of Orange (1977). Van Otterloo was Chief Conductor of the Metropole Orkest from September 1st 1980 until his death in 1988.

So as was so common in that decade, in the middle of the 1970s he made these 2 brilliant LPs, all-self-composed, no standards, no filler, no cover versions, called Visions (1974) and On the Move (1975), that I daresay are probably forgotten not just everywhere in the world, but also in his own country. (I'm also going to guess they did poorly commercially, compared to the easy listening LPs full of Beatles and Bacharach hits.) These mix on a basis of orchestral easy listening a bunch of incredible ideas ranging from classical to fusion, maybe a little similar to Peter Wolf's 1980 masterpiece posted here, except that this music has its basis in classical orchestra, versus fusion / jazz.  

Probably the best composition (out of many that stand out) from the former album is 2 of a Kind:

The harmonica is played, obviously, by Toots Thielemans (who else?).  In that piece the original chord changes Rogier came up with are the really amazing aspect.

While from the 1975 On the Move, a track that really stands out is Alfie's Lullaby (his son, not the movie with Michael Caine):

From the 1973 album with pianist Louis van Dyke the track called Moment Supreme is absolutely mind-blowing in its beauty, to me:

This one really reminds me of my old fave Claus Ogerman, esp. in the concerto-like interplay between piano and orchestral passages that echo each other, and the gentle chord structures playing melodies.

One more thing to add, I listened to the 3-CD 'Collected Works' from 2003, and it's absolutely criminal that barely a couple of these masterpiece tracks appeared on there, versus his more generic soundtrack material such as Soldat von Oranje.

Closely examining his discography, you can observe that the majority of his albums are easy listening orchestral LPs almost entirely consisting of cover versions (done presumably to pay the bills), but note also this original composition, the only one, from the 1973 Nuages album, called Sagitta featuring the transcendentally beautiful Rhodes piano sound (here played by Rob Franken):

Surely we all agree it's brilliant?  

Again, that one was left off the Collected Works-- can you imagine??

Armando Tirelli's El Profeta, from 1978

Gorgeous cover graphic. Again from Uruguay, Armando Tirelli:

Armando Tirelli was a Uruguayan keyboardist who was part of the "Sexteto Electronico Moderno", and later was also part of an ephemeral band called "Exodo".  In 1978 he released his first and only LP entitled "El Profeta".

Some really lovely true-blue symphonic prog on here. Similar to a lot of the old Italian concept prog albums, to my ears, or even to the recent Tantor, Opa, if you remove the fusion references from those.

A track called Candombe Samba has absolutely nothing sambaish about it, and that's a good thing, I think:

Quite enjoyable for a totally lost album.  But isn't that true for so much on these pages?

Metronic Underground 's Illusion, "Electronic Aus BONN" from 1981

 

Metronic Underground:

German synth/guitar duo who ran the gamut of 1970's Teutonic styles, blending dissonant elements into a melodic music, with hints of Ashra and Velvet Universe.

Despite the positive review here below, I think it's relatively ordinary electronic music as reflected in the just above 3 rating on RYM, despite the (outlier) statement below:

Produced by Conny Plank, this is an excellent entry into the large scale German electronic scene. Not really a Berlin School album, though some rhythmic sequencing is present, but still very much informed by late 70's Berlin based artists like Edgar Froese (especially "Ages"), Ash Ra around the time of "New Age of Earth" and Klaus Schulze circa "X". Haunting synthesizers with THAT vibe combined with lightly sprinkled fuzzed and acoustic guitars makes for an album I heartily recommend. Side 2 of the album shifts gears a bit and features some vocal numbers that are quite a bit different than the other contents but are strangely engaging all the same.

Westerwald:

Great cover though!

The unreleased Archie Whitewater material [Unreleased Material from the Cadet Concept Label] limited time only, Oct 13

 

I guess this is another of those 'bootlegs' that are banned by discogs.  But boy is it worth hearing this one!  All fresh material except one or 2 songs that appeared on the official release, but some of these are quite fragmentary and not fully fleshed out as compositions.  The raw talent of the band really shines here though.

Truly love this stuff.  I adore the lyrics to the Lighthouse Track:

But by far the best track is Coming from where I'm going, etc. which is just so meditative and listenable, which it had been fleshed out into something a little longer, with a bridge, etc.:

Archie Whitewater's ST 1970, FLAC limited time only

 

Here's a horn rock album which unlike the predecessor is actually quite good and well written, unfairly unknown in my opinion.

Discogged thusly:

9 piece jazz rock ensemble from New York, USA. Archie Whitewater is not an actual member but the adopted Cherokee name of member Travis Jenkins (2), which then provided the band's name. The ensemble released only one album (recorded 1970-03, released 1970-08) though they also recorded material for a second album that has remained unreleased.

The smooth sound of Friends and Neighbors, with the lovely Rhodes sound:

The music mixes harder rock, electric sounds, jazzy stuff, and more simple ssw songs, plus the brass arrangements are nicely done.

These 2 discogs reviews are quite accurate:

Psych Rock at its best!

Archie Whitewater was a band that never was. Forgotten by the failing Chess / Cadet Concept label their album languished in limbo and was released to little fanfare. The band was signed during the early 70s horn rock craze, but their sound was much more complex and seductive. Their 1970 debut fused jazz, soul, rock, funk, and psychedelic shrink wrapped with a warm aura.

And

Great musicianship and arrangements but I find the singing cheesy somehow. Or is it a good reason I found not to buy this very expensive record ?