Search - Ilan Chester :: En Vivo

A late release of Ilan's concerts in the early 90s

Ivo Tremont | Houston, TX United States | 05/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album from Sony was launched in the fall of 2004 and has 12 live songs from Ilan.The CD has no liner notes to provide a historical background for these recordings, but t is possible to trace the date and the location of these recordings from comments Ilan makes in some of these songs; for example, that he performed at the Teatro Teresa Carreño (Caracas, Venezuela), and that all the tracks here are from his album "Opus 10" (1990), or before. This means the songs were recorded between 1990-1991. His next album, "Un dia Mejor", was launched in 1992, and no song from that or any other album later released is included.

Ilan was at the peak of his musical career, at least commercially. I must say that the arrangements and the sound quality are superb, and the improvisations in some tracks are simply wondrous. For the price, it is a good deal.

As I wrote reviewing Ilan's second album "Amistad", if the reader is not acquainted with his music, this might be the CD to start, followed by a compilation of Hits recently released by EMI-Colombia (2005). It is a pity that "Serie 32", a collection of 32 of Ilan's greatest hits is extinct, as no Internet seller currently has it available. That particular double CD is the one to have."