ProgDay is celebrating its 20th anniversary this weekend. Day 1 featured four bands, Zombie Frogs, Kotebel, The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, and Sensations’ Fix.
I arrived just in time to see Spanish symphonic progressive rock band Kotebel, one of the highlights of the festival. Kotebel is one of the leading acts in the symphonic genre, featuring the father and daughter team of virtuoso keyboard players and an equally skilled rhythm section and guitar player. Their music also has avant-garde elements although the symphonic side is the core essence of the band.
Kotebel fans arrived from various parts of the country, primarily the northeastern United States, but also from Florida, and there was also a photographer who traveled all the way from Mexico.
Although based in Spain, Kotebel includes musicians from Spain and Venezuela. The band’s leader, Venezuelan Carlos Guillermo Plaza is currently living in the Washington DC area. The rest of the band, including his daughter, Adriana Plaza Engelke (keyboards), flew over from Spain. The other members of the band that played at ProgDay include Carlos Franco (drums), César García Forero (guitars), and Jaime Pascual (bass).
Kotebel played a few pieces from its earlier albums and the complete Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble (2012), its most recent studio album. The band has a brand new live album recorded at Prog-Résiste Convention in Belgium that is only available as a digital download. Eventually, this recording will be released as a double CD.
Kotebel’s discography includes Structures (2000), Mysticae Visiones (2001), Fragments of Light (2003), Omphalos (2006), Ouroboros (2009), Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble (2012), and Live at Prog-Résiste 2013 (2014).
Related stories: Interview with Carlos Plaza on Kotebel’s Concerto for Piano and Electric Ensemble