Yezda Urfa was an American
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
band founded in the fall of 1973. The band recorded two albums before breaking up in the spring of 1981. The band's music is currently distributed by
Syn-Phonic.
The name
The name Yezda Urfa comes from
Yazd
Yazd ( fa, یزد ), formerly also known as Yezd, is the capital of Yazd Province, Iran. The city is located southeast of Isfahan. At the 2016 census, the population was 1,138,533. Since 2017, the historical city of Yazd is recognized as a Wor ...
, Iran and
Urfa
Urfa, officially known as Şanlıurfa () and in ancient times as Edessa, is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. Urfa is situated on a plain about 80 km east of the Euphrates River. Its climate features ex ...
, Turkey. The band came across these names while leafing through the dictionary, looking for a band name. Yazd was changed to Yezda to ease pronunciation. In the Russian language "yezda" (ездá) is a noun meaning a "ride" or "drive", however this is apparently incidental.
The sound
Described as a blend of
Yes and
Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band were known for the complexity and sophistication of their music and for the varied musical skills of their members. All of the band members were multi-inst ...
, Yezda Urfa was known for playing high-energy progressive rock. Break-neck tempos, changing time signatures, and diverse instrumentation were hallmarks of their sound.
Members
The original members:
*Rick Rodenbaugh – vocals
* Phil Kimbrough – keyboards, mandolin, wind, vocals
* Mark Tippins – guitar, vocals
* Marc Miller – bass, cello, marimba, vibes, vocals
* Brad Christoff – drums, percussion
Members during the live concert:
*Ronnie Platt — vocals
*Michael Barry — keyboards
*Mark Tippins — guitar, vocals
*Marc Miller — bass, vocals
*Brad Christoff — drums, percussion
Discography
* ''
Boris'' - Demo album 1975 (
CD re-releases 2004, 2009, 2010 & 2012)
* ''
Sacred Baboon'' (recorded 1976, released 1989) CD re-releases 1992 & 2010)
* ''YEZDAURFALIVE - NEARfest 2004'' (2010) CD and MP3 release recorded live at NEARfest 2004
Yezda Urfa discography, album releases & credits at Discogs.com
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References
External links
Band's website: www.yezdaurfa.com
Ground and Sky Review
Yezda Urfa biography, discography and album reviews, credits & releases
at AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
Yezda Urfa discography, album releases & credits
at Discogs.com
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the l ...
Yezda Urfa albums to be listened
as stream at Spotify.com
American progressive rock groups
{{US-rock-band-stub