Manal were an early argentine rock group, one of the three along with Almendra and Los Gatos dubbed the fouding trilogy of rock in that country. Whereas Almendra brought an Argentine identity to the sound and Los Gatos the electric guitar, influenced by Cream Manal brought the blues to Argentina's rock conscience.
In 1973 an excellent double LP set was released featuring the first Mandioca album, all Mandioca singles and unreleased tracks. It was given the innovative title… Manal (better known as "Manal double album").
Claudio Gabis (Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 18, 1949) is a guitarist, composer and educator, recognized as one of the founders of the rock movement in Argentina and a pioneer of blues in that country.1 Among his contributions are include those he made with the Manal trio -the first group to compose blues in Spanish-, considered along with Almendra and Los Gatos, a founding group of Argentine rock,2 in addition to being one of the best guitarists in his country.