Here's a gorgeous track from the Dutch "prog-rock" band, "Focus".
And I've put "prog-rock" in quotes because that's what they were called most of the time. But labels meant nothing to this band. They were busy fusing classical, jazz, folk, rock, and less obvious influences, creating a style without a name. There was no way to classify this band at the time and there still isn't.
Of course I'm talking about classification as to genre. When it comes to classification as to quality, there's no problem.
This was one of the highlights of their third album, "Focus III", which was released in 1972. At the time, the band consisted of:
Thijs van Leer: piano, organ, flute and vocals
Jan Akkerman: guitar and lute
Bert Ruiter: bass
Pierre van der Linden: drums
Thijs van Leer wrote most of their music, including this piece. And if you can't hear any vocals on this one, that's because there are none.
If you want to hear Thijs sing, you'll have to stick around a little while longer. I'll try not to make it too painful.
