Ia-Batiste (Spain)

Key duo from the Catalan folk scene, result of the union between Ia Clua (from '2+1') and Jordi Batiste (one of the leading forces of Maquina! together with Enric Herrera), after the Jordi's return from military service.
It's a mix of folk, progressive rock and psychedelic hard-prog.

Un Gran Da, the duo's first album, was recorded at the end of 1972 with the help of such outstanding musicians as Manel Joseph (ex '2+1', Ia's early band), Joaqun 'Max' Su (Vrtice, Tapiman, Iceberg) & Albert Batiste (Musica Dispersa). The result is an amazing & varied musical tapestry, best heard in the record's first side, a long suite covering from orchestral folk-pop with some psych leanings ('Un Gran Da,' 'Max') to straight in-your-face hard rock ('Sleeping Rock') via typical early '70s prog rock ('Oliba') or uncatagorizable experiments which defy all rules ('Reprise') and show perfectly the freaky stage reached by the Catalan scene in its early years (as a matter of fact, the record is sung in English and Catalan...).