Alas was a mid-1970s, mostly instrumental

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

group in

Argentine rock Argentine rock (known locally as ''rock nacional'' , "national rock" in the sense of "local", "not international") is rock music composed or performed by Argentina, Argentine bands or artists mostly in Spanish. Argentine rock was the earliest inc ...

. They were also one of the major players in the tango-rock movement in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

during that period, alongside

Rodolfo Mederos Rodolfo Mederos (born March 25, 1940) is an Argentine bandoneonist, composer and arranger. He lived in Cuba and France; in Argentina, he founded the experimental group Generación Cero. Early life Mederos was born in the Constitución nei ...

's group Generación Cero.

History

Gustavo Moretto had left

Alma y Vida Alma y Vida were a musical group in Argentina during the first half of the 1970s. Composed of jazz musicians that turned to rock music in the late 1960s (Carlos Mellino was a member of The Seasons), while other future members were regular visitor ...

to pursue other musical projects. 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. By the end of the year they released a single: "Rincón, mi viejo rincón", which the track "Aire (surgente)" on the back side. Their self-titled first studio album came out in 1976. It featured two extended compositions, in turn subdivided into smaller passages. The album contains the songs "Buenos Aires sólo es piedra" and "La muerte contó el dinero". For this album, the band was joined by

bandoneón The bandoneon () or bandonion is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, it is held between the hands, and playe ...

player Daniel Binelli.Alas
www.rock.com.ar (Spanish) Following this album, Alex Zuker left Alas and

Pedro Aznar Pedro Aznar (born 23 July 1959) is an Argentine musician and singer-songwriter. He has musical experience in jazz, Argentine folk and rock music and has a successful career as a solo artist. He is well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented ...

joined the group. Aznar worked on the group's second album, ''Pinta Tu Aldea'', which was on track to be released in 1977. 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 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.
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 Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

: drums and percussion (1974–1977, 2003–2005) *

: 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 Musical groups established in 1975 Musical groups disestablished in 1978 Argentine progressive rock groups