Would it shock you to know that I’ve been digging heavily into reissue labels? Sigh…I didn’t think so. Anyway, PQR specializes in vinyl reissues of obscure progressive and jazz rock around the world, and I’ve covered a few of their releases, including Lift and Mirthrandir. Bubu hails from Argentina, and their debut Anabelas has been sitting in my unlistened stack of albums for close to a year now. What a mistake: this progressive odyssey takes influences from all over the world, concocting a lush, unclassifiable sound that sits firmly at the crossroads of jazz, rock, and classical composition.
I hesitate to use the term “fusion” because, much as I love the genre, it provokes a specific tonal palette in people’s minds, and the music here couldn’t be further from that place. Early King Crimson springs to mind, but then so does the work of free jazz composers like Don Cherry or more 20th-century chamber pieces by the likes of Stravinsky and others. Zappa and RPI figure prominently as well (a lot of reviews make comparisons to Osanna, so maybe I’ll hit that up sooner rather than later), and multiple listens to the album’s centerpiece, the side-long opening suite “El Cortejo de un Día Amarillo: Danza de las Atlántides / Locomotora Blues,” reveal a combo fully in control of itself — there are startling leaps of imagination, ranging from lengthy guitar excursions to quotes of Elgar and avant-garde tonalities. But it’s all packaged together so seamlessly — the septet is tightly arranged with one another, yet there’s never a moment that feels overly forced or “composed” if that makes sense. When the song suddenly explodes into a jam for the final five minutes, it feels like a celebration of perfect execution.
Had this been my only exposure to the group, it’d be enough (and if you want, the suite is free to download from Bandcamp in lossless format), but a whole second side still remains to explore. Side B’s opening vocal chant clashes violently against Crimson-esque guitars before “El Viaje de Anabelas” sinuously slides into some Italian progressive rock. As ambitious and grandiose as the opening suite was, the grace here lies in how much this song can achieve by narrowing in on only a few components in the group’s sonic arsenal.
Finally arriving at “Sueños de Maniquí,” Bubu settle into a skronky jazz rock that I would have loved to hear explored on future releases. Alas, the band broke up soon after the release of Anabelas, and despite reforming in the 2010s, it’s a new lineup, more firmly focused in the “fusion” realm the original group was so successful at avoiding.
One of the few archival releases from PQR also available on streaming services as well as Bandcamp, I heartily recommend seeking Bubu out. Easily one of the best discoveries this year.
Leave a Reply