Anabis

A German band formed in 1978 largely of musicians from the Giessen region, Anabis produced three studio albums before disbanding in 1988. The band's music has proven somewhat difficult to classify, with a psychedelic element that has been compared to fellow countrymen Eloy, and a singer (Holger Sann) who has engendered comparisons to the theatrics of Gabriel-era Genesis.

Put the force of McCoy Tyner, the superhuman keyboard agility of Art Tatum, and the delicacy of Erroll Garner into a 6-foot-4 Cuban-born frame, and you'll get Jesus "Chucho" Valdes, one of the greatest piano players on the planet. For three decades, Valdes led the Cuban superband Irakere, with Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval. But in the last few years, Valdes has been spotlighting his pianistic prowess in small combos such as the quartet he led during a spirited stint at the legendary Village Vanguard in 1999. Backed by a young group of Cuban musicians–drummer Raul Pineda Roque, percussionist Roberto Vizcaino Guillot, and bassist Franciso Rubio Pampin–Valdes turns the piano into a hurricane of melody, harmony and rhythm.

Epidermis was considered, in the end of the 70's, like the German Gentle Giant, but in regard with the group's total discography, this might be quite reductive. They created a moving sonic dreamscape with keys, bass, acoustic and electric guitar, winds, percussion and cannon vocals. Their first album was progressive music of the very dense and complex type, with multi-layered vocal arrangements comparable to Gentle Giant and dynamic instrumental arrangements like Yes and King Crimson. The four tracks often had sudden shifts of tempo and mood, resulting in exciting music, which was at times disjointed. Often unfairly dissed as a clone band, Epidermis managed to render the Gentle Giant realm being only a quartet. They recorded second album in the early 80's called "Muster-Burger"…