Vytas Brenner - La Ofrenda De Vytas (1973)

01 - Morrocoy
02 - Ofrenda De Miguel
03 - Tormenta De Barlovento
04 - Frailejon
05 - La Sabana
06 - Tragavenado
07 - Araguaney
08 - Canto Del Pilon




Vytas Brenner was born in Germany, but grew up in Venezuela. When I was a kid, I used to visit my Dad in Caracas every summer. Back in 1973 I remember looking for some cool Venezuelan music I could bring back home to the States to show my friends. This is one of the albums I found. I was blown away by Vytas Brenner. Vitas is a composer and performer. One of the great things about these songs, is the way he uses the typical Venezuelan instruments, like the four stringed cuatro, maracas, and Venezuelan harp, all mixed up with 70's style electronic synthesizers (Mini Moogs and Arps). All the songs are instrumental. A lot of typical Venezuelan sounding music, with an electronic blend.  Some songs are very progressive sounding, others are classical in nature, all very interesting to listen to.

I did a needle-drop on my vinyl LP, but it was in pretty bad shape. I then found a copy of the out-of-print CD, so I decided to rip it instead. So the cover images are from my LP, but the music is off the CD. Sounds a lot cleaner.

Quote found on the Internet:
Highly regarded Venezuelan keyboardist, composer and arranger, who played piano, organ and synthesizer, whose albums "La Ofrenda De Vytas Brenner" and "Hermanos" are considered some of the best progressive rock to come out of Venezuela, died March 18 of a heart attack in Salzburg, Austria at the age of 57.

Musicians:
Vytas Brenner - Piano, organ, synthesizers, acoustic guitar, arranger, and producer
Pablo Manavello - Electric and acoustic guitar
Carlos Acosta - Bass
Frank Rojas - Drums
Jesus (Chucho) Chinchilla - Drums and percussion
Angel Melo - Cuatro
Ramon Hernandez - Harp
Alfredo Rojas - Maracas

Favorite Songs: Ofrenda De Miguel, Tormenta De Barlovento, and Tragavenado

Links:
Wikipedia
Bio & Discography

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes album cover art and pictures from inside the album.

Download:  Vytas Brenner - La Ofrenda de Vytas

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Vytas Brenner - Hermanos (1974)

01 - Agua Clara
02 - Madrugada
03 - Amanecer
04 - Danza Con Pajaros
05 - Gavilan
06 - Pastos
07 - Ganado
08 - Estampida
09 - Ana Karina Rote
10 - Sentado En Una Piedra



This 10 track album is the sophomore release by Vytas Brenner (a.k.a. Vitas Brenner), the German born musician who grew up in Venezuela. Although I own several copies of this vinyl LP, I recently acquired this pristine recording on compact disc. Both the vinyl and CD are long out of print, so if you are a fan of Mr. Brenner, as I am, I hope you appreciate this archive I've made available (see link below). When my brother and I were kids, we would visit our Dad who lived in Venezuela at the time. Vitas was popular at that time. This man was way ahead of his time. I hope you enjoy listening!

Quote from Prognofrog
Vytas Brenner, was a Venezuelan in his heart although he was born in Tubingen, Germany in 1946. His parents emigrated to South America in 1948 and he studied in the famous Emil Friedman School, an institution dedicated to form composers and performers since an early age. In 1958 he travelled to Italy and Spain and there he formed several juvenile bands like Vytas Brenner Quartet, Brenner’s Folk or The Pic Nics. In 1967 he went to USA to study electronic music in Tenesee Conservatory and later in Nashville College where he graduated with honors in 1972. That year he went back to Venezuela and started a long relation with Venezuelan folkloric music, an influence that permeates all his posterior works. At that time he was also obviously influenced by the electronic kraut scene (specially Cluster and Tangerine Dream) and devoted himself to the possibilities of synthtizers and the potential of the fusion of modern electronic sounds, progressive rock and acoustic aboriginal and folk elements.

Musicians:
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar – Pablo Manavello
Acoustic Guitar, Electric Piano, Timpani, Vocals, Piano, Synthesizer, Guitar, Written-By, Arranged By, Producer – Vytas Brenner
Artwork By – Ramon Rojas
Bass – Carlos Acosta, Pupi
Drums – Eleasar, Frank Rojas, Iván Velásquez
Electric Guitar – Jairo
Engineer – Michel Chazet
Percussion – Oscar Rojas
Producer – Haakon Brenner
Saxophone – Rolando Briceño


Links:
Wikipedia
Nice article about this album on Prognofrog

Encoded at 320K from CD. Includes album cover art and pictures from inside the album.

Download: Vytas Brenner - Hermanos