Alas (Argentine Band)

Alas was a mid-1970s, mostly instrumental progressive rock group in Argentine rock. They were also one of the major players in the tango-rock movement in Argentina during that period, alongside Rodolfo Mederos's group Generación Cero.

History

Gustavo Moretto had left Alma y Vida to embark on a more ambitious musical project. He was eventually joined by drummer Carlos Riganti (formerly of Materia Gris), and by Alex Zuker, which became the original line up for Alas. They made their live debut at the IFT Theater in 1975. Alas gained rapid word-of-mouth praise for their live performances and for the instrumental virtuosity of its members.

By the end of the year they released a single: "Rincón, mi viejo rincón", a nice melody with a clear "porteño" sound; the back side featured the track "Aire (surgente)", an instrumental with great technical skill.

Their self-titled first studio album came out in 1976. It featured two extended compositions, in turn subdivided into smaller passages. It is one of the definitive albums of the tango-rock scene that arose in Argentina in the mid to late 70s, with the first long suite "Buenos Aires sólo es piedra". On the other hand, "La muerte contó el dinero" is a musically multifaceted track. For this album the band was joined by bandoneón player Daniel Binelli.Alas
www.rock.com.ar (Spanish)

Following this album, Alex Zuker left Alas and Pedro Aznar joined the group. Aznar brought more instrumental versatility than Zucker had, which would prove useful for the second album, ''Pinta Tu Aldea'', which was on track to be released in 1977. The album was unusual in two ways. First, halfway through the recording, drummer Carlos Riganti left the group, and Moretto and Aznar decided not to replace him. The result would be a very disjointed two halves on the same album. The second was that the record was not released until 1983 by EMI, to this day for unclear reasons.

Yet the album opener "A Quiénes Sino" is generally seen as the best Alas track ever; the rest of the first half is an exquisite blend of tango-rock with jazz incursions. In the second half, the band does not sound as tight or in control of the music.Pinta Tu Aldea (review)
www.progarchives.com -Your Ultimate Prog Rock Resource Still ''Pinta Tu Aldea'' is consistently voted in opinion polls as one of the most essential recordings of Argentine rock in that period.

Alas broke up in 1978. In 2003, the original trio was reunited, along with Martín Moretto on guitar and Hugo del Curto on bandoneón for a few shows in the United States. Buenos Aires tiene una música compleja" on '' Página/12'', 27 August 2005. They were joined by Aznar and Binelli for their 2005 album, ''Mimame Bandoneón'', which featured an even greater tango influence.

Members

* Gustavo Moretto: keyboards, wind instruments and voice (1974-1978, 2003-2005)
* Alex Zuker: guitar and bass (1974-1977, 2003-2005)
* Carlos Riganti: drums and percussion (1974-1977, 2003-2005)
* Pedro Aznar: bass (1977-1978)

; Guests
* Daniel Binelli: bandoneon (1977, 2005)
* Néstor Marconi: bandoneon (1977)
* Cecilia Tanconi: flute (1977)
* Héctor Del Curto: bandoneón (2003-2005)
* Martín Moretto: guitarra (2003-2005)

Discography

* ''Aire (surgente) / Rincón, mi viejo rincón'' (1975)
* ''Alas'' (1976)
* ''Pinta tu aldea'' (1977, released in 1983)
* ''Mimame bandoneón'' (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alas
Argentine rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1975
Musical groups disestablished in 1978
Argentine progressive rock groups