Eduardo Bort Garcera (January 2, 1948 – February 26, 2020) was a Spanish

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 ...

guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer.

Life and career

Born in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Bort started his career in the late 1960s as guitarist in such bands as Los Exciters, Los Bodgies, and La Oveja Negra, before working as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

in Switzerland, Germany, Britain and France. After an unsuccessful collaboration with the Paris band Out, he returned to Spain."Eduardo Bort dies, the Spanish “Sugarman” who may have been Queen", ''Archyde.com'', February 27, 2020
Retrieved 3 March 2020 In the early 1970s, Bort began to compose songs, inspired by the writings of

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

and

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957), commonly known as Lord Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. He published more than 90 books during his lifetime, and his output consist ...

. He founded the band Yann with musicians Vicente "Fony" Font (lead vocals), José Soriano (keyboards), Marino Hernández (bass), and Vicente Alcañiz (drums). In

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in 1974, they recorded Bort's songs, with some lyrics by Juan Beltrán Pilato, for a demo version of what was intended to be the band's debut album. With Alcañiz, Bort took the tapes to London, where they were heard by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

's A&R director Joop Visser. He was impressed and suggested that the album be re-recorded in London, and then promoted widely. However, none of the other musicians wished to move to Britain, and Visser lost interest. The album, self-titled ''Eduardo Bort'' and with re-recorded vocals by Bort, was eventually released on the Movieplay label in Spain in 1975. The release was poorly promoted, though Bort did perform its songs at several European

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

s. Arturo Blay, "'Así se hizo' - Yann", ''EduardoBort.es''
Retrieved 3 March 2020 Bort also worked as a

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

in the 1970s, on albums by

Pau Riba Pau Riba (7 August 1948 – 6 March 2022) was a Spanish author and Mallorquín versatile artist. Riba was born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain on 7 August 1948. He started working during the 60s in the context of the counterculture. Riba died from p ...

and the band Iceberg."Mor el guitarrista valencià Eduardo Bort", ''Enderrock'', 26 February 2020
Retrieved 4 March 2020 In 1983 he recorded his second album, ''Silvia'', dedicated to his daughter who had died at a young age. It was released on Bort's own label, Bambule. He continued to perform and tour in Europe, Latin America, and Japan, and on one occasion performed for

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

heading for

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

on an aircraft carrier moored at Valencia. In 2012, he released the album ''Charly Buffalo'', in honour of his friend Vicente Ausina."El último acorde de Eduardo Bort, pionero del rock progresivo español", ''El Pais'', 27 February 2020
Retrieved 4 March 2020 Over several decades, Bort's debut album acquired a cult reputation, and copies changed hands for high prices. In 2019, the Teatro Principal de València hosted a tribute concert in his honour. "Fallece el músico valenciano Eduardo Bort, leyenda del rock progresivo", ''SGAE'', February 27, 2020
Retrieved 3 March 2020 Bort died in Valencia in 2020, aged 72, from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bort, Eduardo 1948 births 2020 deaths Spanish guitarists Progressive rock guitarists Deaths from lung cancer in Spain