Companyia Eléctrica Dharma - L'Oucomballa (1976)

Seguimos con lo mejor del rock catalán gracias a la colaboración de El Canario, Esta vez, le toca el turno a La Companyia Elèctrica Dharma que es una banda enmarcada dentro del movimiento de rock progresivo catalán de los ’70. Su nombre está inspirado en el título de un libro del escritor Jack Kerouac, "Los vagabundos del Dharma". En sus inicios, la influencia de Miles Davis fue clave, pero muy pronto evolucionó hacia el folk y la tradición mediterránea. El Canario nos la presenta enb nuestra escuelita de rock y estudiando el tema referido al mejor rock español.

Artista: Companyia Eléctrica Dharma

Álbum: L'Oucomballa
Año: 1976
Género: Jazz Rock / Folk Prog
Nacionalidad: España

Lista de Temas:
1. Adéu, estrella del dia
2. Ones nones
3. Mitjanit
4. Ball lunàtic-Toc
5. Mater marítima
6. Els pardals de la Rambla
7. L'Oucomballa
8. Tiru-Tiru-Ritu

Alineación:
- Pep Fortuny / drums, percussion, vocals
- Joan Fortuny / soprano saxophone, vocals
- Carles Vidal / bass, guitars

Perdón, antes que nada, un mensaje para el Canario: tengo listo el fantástico disco de Los Canarios para publicarlo cuando me hagas una reseña, vamos a sorprender a los cabezones que no los conozcan...
Ahora sí, vamos a presentar a la Companyia Eléctrica Dharma.
Considero que no es de los mejores trabajos que ésta banda ha sacado pero fue el disco que El Canario quiso compartir. Es que para él sí es su mejor disco, pero sea como sea, mejor los escuchan y sacan sus propias conclusiones.

Aquí, lsa sabias palabras de nuestro cabezón canario que ilustran a la banda y al disco...

Su música tiene un aire festivo y agitado, en ella se conjugan folclore catalán y jazz-rock, y es eminentemente instrumental. La voz cantante la ostenta el saxo soprano, instrumento que recuerda las bandas de vientos que ejecutan la “sardana”, nombre con el que se designa una danza típica de Cataluña. Para saber más sobre la sardana, he aquí un articulo de la wikipedia que hace referencia a la misma: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardana . Volviendo a la Companyia Elèctrica Dharma, esta banda se gestó en el barrio de Sants, de Barcelona, para luego consolidarse en una comuna rural cercana a Gerona, que ellos mismos fundaron, en aquellos tiempos en los que el movimiento hippie y las comunas estaban todavía en auge. Durante el verano de 1974, los hermanos Joan, Josep y Esteve Fortuny, el bajista Carles Vidal y el teclista Jordi Soley compusieron los temas que formarían su primer trabajo, "Diumenge". A ese álbum le sucedió una extensa discografía de la cual, personalmente, me quedo con un disco, que para mi es digno de pasar a la historia de la música pop catalana y mundial como una obra de arte, sin querer denostar los demás, que no dejan de ser excelentes. Me refiero a "L’Oucomballa" (literalmente: "el huevo, como baila" en catalán) su segundo trabajo, grabado en 1976. El título del álbum hace referencia a una tradición de Barcelona, en la que se trata de colocar huevos sobre el chorro de agua de los bebederos en las plazas. La música de la Dharma fue denominada "La nueva música del Mediterraneo".
Discografía:

Diumenge (1975)
L'Oucomballa (1976)
Tramuntana (1977)
L'àngel de la dansa (1978)
1979- Ordinàries Aventures
L'Atlàntida (1981)
Al Palau de la Música amb la Cobla Mediterrània (1982)
Catalluna (1983)
Força Dharma! Deu anys de resistència (1985)
No volem ser (1986)
Homenatge a Esteve Fortuny (1987)
Fibres del cor (1989)
Tifa Head (1991)
Que no es perdi aquest so (1993)
1994- 20 Anys
El ventre de la bèstia (1996)
Racó de món (1998)
Sonada (2000)
Llibre vermell (2002)
Dharmasseria (2004)
2006- 30 anys, la Dharma
El misteri d'en Miles Serra i les músiques mutants (2008)

A lo largo de los años la Dharma ha tenido diferentes formaciones, en las cuales los hermanos Fortuny han jugado siempre un papel central.

El Canario

Y vamos con algunos comentarios en inglés:

L'Oucomballa is the second album by the five-piece Companyia Electrica Dharma, a Catalan jazz fusion group that incorporates ethnic music from their region into their sound. The record follows closely the blueprint laid down by their debut, Diumenge, as the group creates instrumental music that is both relaxed and breezy, with lots of tweaked-out solos on guitar, keyboard, and sax, as well as some Spanish guitar. Though many of the tracks are not quite as loose and flowing as the stuff on the earlier disc, at other times L'Oucomballa gets even more intense, especially on the crazed jazz-funk of "Ball Llunatic-Toc," and there are several longer tracks, the title cut, "Ones Nones," and "Mater Maritima" for the group to really stretch out on their jamming. On the more ambient sections one often hears environmental sounds in the background, like ocean waves or birds twittering. Like its predecessor, L'Oucomballa offers flowing relaxed jazz fusion that is exotic, colorful, and wild.

Rolf Semprebon

L'Ou Com Balla (The Dancing Egg) is an old catalan tradition by which on the day of Corpus Christi an emptied egg is placed on the water jet of the fountain in monastery cloisters and the egg stays "dancing on the water" without falling down. Nowadays it can be seen mainly in the cloister of the cathedral in Barcelona city, you can Google images "l'ou com balla" to see it. It has no special meaning, it was meant to be a sign of festivity and to attract people to the monasteries on that sacred day for christians.
This was the 2nd album from La Dharma and the one which started to shape their sound. La Dhama's debut Diumenge was an excellent Fusion record but not too personal apart from the dominant soprano sax. As from this sophomore album the band started crafting what would become their unique trademark style integrating more catalan traditional influences in their music, a process which would mature as from their 3rd album Tramuntana.
Following the way of albums such as Queen II, vinyl side A has the title Balls De Nit (Night Dances) while side B has the title Tocs De Festa (Festive Sounds) although in this case the musical style is not noticeably different between the 2 sides.
The music is still excellent Fusion dominated by the melodies and solos of the soprano sax, with plenty of Rhodes as well. The guitar does not take much leading role which is good because Esteve Fortuny was stronger as a rhythm guitar player than as a lead soloist. The melodies have often that special feel of coming from traditional mediterranean music rather than from the standard scales found in classic Jazz-Rock / Fusion, which gives this music a very distinctive and interesting sound, often with a festive mood.
The strongest features of this album are on one hand how dynamical it is, the songs visit multitude of tempos and intensities and nothing feels like dragging, and on the other hand the great drumming by Pep Fortuny.
I will not make a song by song review but just a couple of comments on some of the ones which are most different from the album average sound.
The opener Adeu, Estrella Del Dia is a short lullaby with a sweet melancholic mood. Mitjanit is a very good song on acoustic guitar and soprano saxo melody which also explores several dynamics even if it's just over 2 minutes long.
Ball LlunaTic-Toc would become one of the band's classics thanks to its catchy melody hook. The closer Titu-Tiru-Ritu is a very short rendition of a catalan traditional tune which in the next album Tramuntana would be revisited in a much more electrified and fast arrangement, becoming also a classic of the band despite of it's short length.
All the other tracks follow a similar style of dynamic blend of standard Fusion with tradional catalan floklore music, and they are all great. Really recommended for those who like Fusion but want something different and personal.

Gerard Gerinski

Despite its very good sound "Diumenge" went rather unnoticed by the authors at the time because the style of Companyia Electrica Dharma was considered unoriginal.Slowly the group deeped into the music of Catalan composer Joaquim Serra and started adding different influences in their music.Relative success would follow after the win at Trobada de l'Ona Mediterrania held in Barcelona next to names like Toti Soler, Orquestra Mirasol or Jordi Sabates.Several other gigs would encountered and another album was recorded at the Gema 2 Studio in January 76', entitled "L'Oucomballa" and released again on Zeleste.
This one marks a new era for the Catalan group, leaving behind the tight Fusion of the debut for a more Jazz/Folk-oriented debut, where the Ethnic vibes meet the loose performances of Jazz Music.The WEATHER REPORT source of inspiration is however more than evident in the longer tracks, presenting an improvised Jazz Rock with extended individual performances on guitars and electric piano, while the saxes sound ethereal. The sound is very smooth and laid-back with light interplays and mellow improvised jams, while the level of technique is quite excellent though not acoustically conveincing.Some of the shorter tracks sound more interesting, somewhere between the solid Fusion of their debut and the new approach of the band with the obvious Mediterennean flavor around, especially when the acoustic guitars take over. "Ball Llunatic-Toc" is propably the best of them with a fiery and dramatic Jazz/Fusion with fantastic sax and energetic grooves and "Mater Maritima" contains some really interesting guitar solos.The rest of the material is a bit confusing with the group trying to keep a balance between their early and more recent stylings, but failing to offer trully imaginative and personal arrangements.
"L'Oucomballa" is a pretty nice album for anyone who wants to gets mystified into an amalgam of Jazz Rock and Folk.But it actually fails to impress next to Companyia Electrica Dharma's stunning debut...2.5/5 stars.

apps79

Si les gusta la onda de la banda y quieren sus mejores trabajos, no tienen más que pedir algo más, con gusto lo traigo si El Canario lo reseña! Bueno, sino también :)

 

Página web: http://www.ladharma.com/