José Luis Fernandez Ledesma Q. is the keyboardist for Nirgal Valis ("Y Murió la Tarde"), a group and album I didn’t hear myself yet.
Here are reviewed 4 albums :
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Musea Rec.
José Luis Fernandez Ledesma Q. :
Motivos para perderse (rec.1994-1995)*°°
Having heard the wonderfully arranged “Dicen Que Somos Dioses y Nos sonamos hombres” this album disappointed me at first listen, because it sounded more keyboard dominated, with a partly neo-symphonic edge. Now, when listening back, having overcome a specific sound expectation, I can appreciate the album better. It has here and there something of the late old Genesis period, around 1977, including the solo albums, and the neo-symphonic music that came after it. But it surpasses, in moments, this period as well. “La Ciudad de las Mil Columnas” for instance, has a flamenco theme, and some world music elements, making the sound more varied. Often the keyboard sounds still overload the music melodically. “Relatis del Agua” sounds like a crossover between new age and progressive rock, & neo-symphonic. The titletrack is also amongst my favourite tracks. It has a kind of melodic RIO variation, pretty (somewhat exotic) rhythmical and strange female vocals, sax and guitars. A pretty unusual track which shows Ledesma’s talent as arranger.
Smogless Rec.José Luis Fernandez Ledesma Q :
Dicen que Somos Dioses y nos Sonamos Hombres (rec.1993, re.2000)****°
This is a brilliant album. Here Ledesma really used his talent to arrange his compositions with very colourful instrumentation. This is between varied classical music & chamber music, with a progressive, and perhaps even also a contemporary touch on the first three tracks. For the rest we hear some neo-Genesis influences, which are pretty convincing because of the variety in rhythm and themes (like on “Angel Del Sol”) and art-rock like or chamber-music like arrangements, with more than once captivating keyboards. “Silfos” for instance starts with a classical guitar passage, but is followed by varied circus-sounds like symphonic keyboard passages. Two of the tracks on the album are like interconnecting musical passages as instrumental parts, whereas “Levitante” sounds a bit fusion like, with background trumpet. Some nice background vocal arrangements also come back thematically at a couple of, in this way, musically even better connected, tracks. Very beautifully the music on the album evolves more than once to a perfect combination of chamber music, with skilful rhythm variation, and with female vocals, and some variation of additional acoustic instruments For this kind of approach, like on “Palimsesto” therefore a group like Amarok (-style period 1997-2003-) came to mind. I also really like the Latin warmth of Margarita Botello’s vocals ! On the last tracks, “Danza Inerte” and “La Media Luna” the style really is as complete as it can be, with different styles equally melted together. There we hear beautiful chamber music arrangements, and an emotional power, and always, these very varied rhythms. On “Danza Inerte” are some progressive keyboards and electric guitars going really over the top !
This album still is one of my favourite Latin American albums, along with the Argentine MIA albums, the Cuban Sintesis album, and a handful of others..
Sadly I think it's sold out at source. They should reissue it !
Luna NegraJosé Luis Fernandez Ledesma Q : Al Filo (2001)**°
This is a completely different album, going from the first 5 tracks into the more ambient experimental territory, with otherworldly echoes, consonant vocal arrangements, acoustic guitar meanderings, with here and there some contemporary sounds. It gives the impression of a world outside ours, lonely, often with a certain peace but sometimes scarily different from ours, with avant-garde ambient sounds coming from between the doubt zone. As a sort of soundtrack this is pretty descriptive. This approach takes until the sixth track, “Ojo de venado”, to come back to earth, with a nice melodic, prog instrumental (with acoustic instruments and various electric guitars, percussion). The next track, “Las cuatro imágines” is a 25 minute instrumental, with a similar quietness, but with the peace more from a human form. With electrified echoes from slow guitar evolutions, with background whistle instruments, and so on, this creates a sort of landscape, while water flows in the background, and further on rhythms and more vocals and instruments are added. This still all happens as part of a slow evolution. The last track is something very strange, because it sounds as if we suddenly get an overload of horror sounds, of voices coming from somewhere else, hearable through some small 'passage' coming into our realms.
This album was a cooperation between Ledesma and his wife Margaritta Botello Flores, both listed with a wide range of acoustic instruments.
Luna NegraJosé Luis Fernandez Ledesma Q : Designos (2003)***°
This album brings the singer, Margaritta more to the fore. Many arrangements are build on a structure of first of all acoustic guitars with keyboards, with additional acoustic instruments, percussion, and sometimes electric guitars. A lot more of this album comes closer to the spirit of what Amarok were doing in Spain before 2003 (they’re now on the same label). “Saena” and the longest (almost 18 minutes) track, “Los Designios de Géminis” is much more worked out with a progressive band along with the acoustic instruments and keyboards, on the titletrack perhaps with a more symphonic edge. The keyboards have been given more individual attention compared to the “Dicen..” album, where every detail counted as much. Fine album !
PS. Ledesma has also recorded one track on "Pangea, The World of Progressive Music" (Luna Negra). and one with mexican singer Alquima : "Dead Tongues" (ReR).
