Sunday, 26 January 2025

Leb i Sol's first 8, limited time only, plus Cecil McBee requested















From discogs:

Leb i sol (eng. "Bread and Salt") was a premier fusion band in former Yugoslavia. They were formed on 1st January 1976 in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia (back then part of Yugoslavia), with the original line-up consisting of: Vlatko Stefanovski (guitar and vocals), Bodan Arsovski (bass), Nikola Dimuševski (keyboards) and Dimitar Čočorovski (drums). In mid-1977 Garabet Tavitijan replaced Čočorovski on drums and this line-up would last until 1980, making the first three albums of largely instrumental Macedonian ethno-jazz-fusion that remain their best work so far. Dimuševski left in 1980, to be replaced for a short time by Miki Petkovski (ex-SMAK) but he also quit shortly. The remaining members decided to continue as a trio (without keyboards), so the fourth album introduced a change of music direction from pure jazz-fusion into more rock-based territory, retaining some ethno-fusion elements but making them more accessible to mainstream pop/rock audience. Tavitijan left in summer 1982 and his replacement was Dragoljub Đuričić, ex-YU Grupa drummer. The same year they changed their record label from Belgrade-based PGP RTB to Zagreb-based Jugoton. The 8th album "Tangenta" was produced by the Canterbury scene veteran Kevin Ayers. Tavitijan was back on drums in 1986, while the following year they added saxophone and keyboards for "Kao kakao" album, making another radical shift towards AOR laid-back sound with all vocal tracks, including several pop-hits, abandoning prog explorations almost entirely. Dimuševski was back in team for the last studio album "Putujemo" in 1989, while Đuričić again replaced Tavitijan on drums for the North American tour and "Live in New York" album in 1991.  They played their last concert in Thessalonica, Greece, December 1995, after which LEB I SOL disbanded. Stefanovski and Arsovski founded their private label Third Ear Music in 1990 and continued with successful solo careers.

In mid-2006 Leb I Sol gather back together in their most recognizable line up (Stefanovski, Arsovski, Dimuševski, Tavitijan) for their "30th ANNIVERSARY TOUR 2006", having gigs all around former Yugoslavia in the next several months.  After this tour ended, Vlatko Stefanovski leaves the band and the rest of the members continue to work with new guitarist Dimitar Božikov, a well established and appreciated Macedonian musician.


Well certainly the first 2 are masterpiece level, particularly the first one, I think.  In fact already by the second the stunning level of composition full of originality, starts to flag a little, and by the third there's already a bit of disappointment which starts to take over the show and predominate by the time of the fourth, called Infinity (1981, with the lying 8 figure). The next one is the obligatory double-LP live (1982) which usually came at the 4th to 6th release, for ex. Led Zep (#6), Frampton (#4), Deep Purple (the 4th if you set aside the first 4 primitive juvenilia works), etc. And that one too I found quite disappointing, but just wait to continue if you want more disappointment. By the time of 1982's Sledovanje you are frantically searching desperately for the slightest original chord change, creative idea, and invariably are disappointed, and the situation is even worse, like a single 55 year old woman desperate for a reasonable marriage prospect who isn't either divorced or a jerk or both. 
Nonetheless to my surprise there are gems here and there, sparsely, far apart, such as, from Kalabalak (1983), LA Kridja:




and from Tangenta (1984), which as mentioned above was surprisingly produced by Kevin Ayers, Laku Noc:




But these are a little pale in comparison to the first couple of albums...






10 comments:



  1. the first 8 limited time only
    https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/1a8727e5-60fe-4b7d-b6a0-db1249a69b07

    Cecil McBee's Spaces and Flying Out also requested
    https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/c0fa4b66-fdb1-4d32-b0b0-767e16a97e8c

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Julian.

    You probably know this band but are you familiar with Den Za Den?
      
    https://www.discogs.com/release/1141245-Den-Za-Den-Den-Za-Den

    They only have one album and there was a former member from Leb i Sol involved.

    Definitely worth checking out.

    -Nick

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  3. Qué buenos, muchas gracias.

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  4. How the hell did they get Kevin Ayers as a producer - in Yugoslavia in 80's? Does anybody know the details?
    Thanks for this, the band is new to me and sounds great! (I've known only Smak and Den Za Den from this era, I'm always eager to learn something new...)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, right? Kevin Ayers?
      But his influence is hardly noticeable

      Delete
    2. The following is some tunes from obscure Eastern world:
      Smak: https://youtu.be/7RbC3z_KN28
      September: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pamswtE6tUs&list=PLGfb2R92OHul9RcbPiqUYtwgFv1ek63bu
      Indexi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYFPi-ZuINQ&list=OLAK5uy_n77-fd7jxRnsZZulA9h3mwnoyeIU5CuoI&index=2

      Delete
    3. Why is Eastern world obscure?

      Delete
  5. Top tier fusion. Many thanks

    ReplyDelete