ECLIPSE - JUMPING FROM SPRINGBOARDS (2003)

Músicos: Aloísio Campelo (guitarra, guitarra MIDI, violão e vocal), Patricia Deschamps (guitarra e vocal), Paulo Torres (baixo, teclados e vocal), Sérgio Conforti (bateria e percussão) + Zé Mendes (sax e flauta).

Faixas:
Urban hermit
Inca's revenge
Jumping from springboards
Mantiqueira
Puzzles
Manic waltz
Traffic jam
Ritual


Comentários recolhidos na internet nas línguas originais em que foram publicados.


Maravilhoso e impressionante disco de estréia da banda carioca Eclipse, com arte de Bernard e lançamento conjunto da Rock Symphony e Musea. Influências genesianas e de Renaissance em uma das melhores obras progressivas dos últimos anos no Brasil! Altamente recomendado!!!
(Rock Symphony)

Jumping From Springboards is one of those albums that may have prog fans absorbed in that interminable debate of "is this neo-prog?" Eclipse borrows enough from Yes and Camel, particularly in the guitar and bass styles, that it's tough not to lump them into that category; and yet, they have their own personality which makes me want to call them "modern symphonic prog" or something like that: along the lines of a Halloween or Taal. There's also a dash of jazz-rock here and there, particularly in instrumentals such as "Mantiqueira".
Regardless of how you want to categorize them, Eclipse are pretty clearly quite good at what they do. I think what makes them appeal to me more than most neo-prog or modern symphonic groups is the lack of a cheese factor (a la Glass Hammer or even pop-prog stuff like Spock's Beard). Jumping From Springboards consists almost entirely of very nice melodies played on an array of electric and acoustic guitars, with flute embellishing the main themes and Squire-ish bass holding down the low end. Keyboards make brief appearances here and there, but are fairly uncommon and quite unobtrusive when present. This may be a downside for some, but it seems to work well for this group.
The vocals are perhaps the main point of interest: the singing of Patrícia Deschamps is really pretty impressive - she has a pleasant voice put to good use here, both in the singing of English lyrics (I wasn't bothered by her very slight accent) and in the use of wordless vocals, which are labeled as "scat singing" in the liner notes, but which isn't really scat singing in the jazz sense. Nevertheless, her voice is a definite draw for me. There are also male vocals here and there, and these are more heavily accented and much less impressive.
This is a very breezy, upbeat symph album that should appeal to most any Yes or Camel fan. Not particularly high on the innovation scale, but a pleasant, inoffensive listen for the symphonic prog fan.
review by Brandon Wu — 10-6-03 —


Jumping From Springboards is the debut CD from Brazilian group Eclipse. The quartet comprises electric guitarist and vocalist Aloísio Campelo jr, acoustic guitarist and vocalist Patrícia Deschamps, bass guitarist and keyboardist Paulo Torres and drummer Sérgio Conforti, with flute and saxophone contributions from Zé Mendes. Brazilian prog? Latin American grooves under a syncopated rhythm and a mellotron samba?! Hardly. I confidently assert that if you played any part of this album to someone who hadn't heard of the band and asked where they thought they were from, the last suggestion would be South America and you'd get good odds that the majority would say England. There is a definite English feel to the music, the vocals are sung without a trace of an accent and the lyrics themselves are not only far more erudite and interesting than those proffered by a lot of native English speakers but are also flawlessly typeset (correct punctuation and a complete lack of any 'quaint' Americanisms, long live the diphthong!)
The album is interestingly arranged with each of the four songs, Urban Hermit, Jumping From Springboards, Puzzles and Traffic Jams, separated by an instrumental piece. However, as it is the longer pieces that include lyrics, there is plenty of space within the songs for extended instrumental passages. Overall, the album does have a nice flow to it with tracks merging almost seamlessly.
The style of the album is quite laid back, which is not to say that the arrangements are sparse, there is enough going on within each song to reveal to the listener a different facet of the instrumentation on each listen. Urban Hermit is split into five parts: the ominous introductory section gives way to a more mellow vocal section laden with flute work that is reminiscent of Jimmy Hasting's work with Caravan. A reprise of the opening riff heralds in a more up tempo couple of sections, the first of which has flautist Zé Mendes changing tack to sound more like Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson. The song ends with a final vocal section reprising the earlier section. Inca's Revenge is quite evocative of Hatfield And The North, particularly Patrícia Deschamps' scat singing at the beginning, although there is rather less emphasis on the jazzier side of the Hatfield's idiosyncratic approach to jazz-rock.
Jumping From Springboards is a rather good amalgamation of Camel and Yes and the opening guitar riff, repeated at various points throughout the song, will be instantly familiar to people who know (and love) Yours Is No Disgrace. Mantiqueira also bears some resemblance to Yes with Paulo Torres' bass driving things along in the best Chris Squire fashion. Puzzles is a pleasant ballad which features an interesting, but brief, guitar and vocal interlude that is vaguely reminiscent of early Al Di Meola which is followed by a Gilmouresque solo played by Patrícia Deschamps. The appropriately titled Manic Waltz has a quirky Gentle Giant feel to it and enlivens the tempo before going straight into Traffic Jams, the final song. The album is rounded off by Ritual, another driving bass instrumental that concludes the album as it was started with fluid guitar runs over the top and the introduction of saxophones adding new dimensions.
Overall, Eclipse have come up with a startlingly good debut album, not a progressive classic but certainly enough going for it to sit comfortably alongside other other constituents of the discerning music fan's collection.
Conclusion: 8 out of 10
Mark Hughes


I brasiliani Eclipse sono uno di quei gruppi che sanno come ammaliare l'ascoltatore che tutt'oggi vuole essere catturato dai caldi suoni del rock romantico di derivazione Camel-Genesis. Il quartetto sudamericano si presenta infatti con tutte le carte in regola per farsi apprezzare: melodie incantevoli, impasti elettroacustici, cambi di tempo e di atmosfera, una certa vena malinconica, flauto spesso in evidenza e alternanza del cantato maschile e femminile. Ma, per usare una frase fatta, non è tutto oro quello che luccica e, in quasi cinquanta minuti di musica, si avvertono alti e bassi. I brani più lunghi ("Urban hermit" e la title-track) sono ben strutturati e abbastanza convincenti, così come molto gradevoli risultano quei pezzi in cui è la voce femminile a dettare attimi di sano romanticismo ("Incas' Revenge"), ma ci sono anche dei momenti abbastanza deboli e tutt'altro che efficaci, nei quali i musicisti sembrano limitarsi a svolgere un compitino eccessivamente semplice (emblematico il caso dello scolastico new-prog di "Puzzles"). Inoltre, nei brani cantati, sarebbe stato a mio avviso più logico puntare maggiormente sulla voce femminile, dato che quella maschile sembra insicura, oltre che non del tutto convincente da un punto di vista timbrico. Gli Eclipse, quindi, hanno alcuni punti di forza abbastanza notevoli, ma devono limare alcuni difetti per meritare la più completa considerazione. Il loro album, nel complesso, è più che sufficiente e penso che molti amanti del rock sinfonico più classico lo accoglieranno in maniera benevola. D'altro canto, c'è anche chi mal digerisce certi schemi che ormai non sorprendono più e preferirà giustamente indirizzare altrove le proprie attenzioni.

Jumping from Springboards é o disco de estréia da banda carioca Eclipse, que conta com os excelentes músicos Aloísio Campelo Jr., Patrícia Deschamps, Paulo Torres e Sérgio Conforti. Sucesso de crítica em todo o mundo, o álbum apresenta oito faixas com o melhor do rock progressivo dos últimos anos no Brasil, entre elas, "Urban Hermit", "Inca´s Revenge" e "Manic Waltz", alguns dos destaques. Vale a pena conferir!

Integrado por Aloisio CAMPELO (guitarra), Sergio CONFORTI (batería, percusiones), Patricia DESCHAMPS (voz) y Paulo TORRES (bajo, teclados), ECLIPSE se desarrolló como banda de tributo desde mediados de los '90 hasta principios del 2000. Formalmente eran una banda que interpretaba a PINK FLOYD, mas participaron además en la grabación de dos álbumes tributo: uno a ELP y otro a GENTLE GIANT (de su época tributo a PF no se conoce registro grabado). Entre 2000 y 2001 graban su primer álbum oficial, "Jumping from Springboards", donde se integra como músico invitado Zé MENDES (flauta, saxofón). El álbum vio la luz en 2003 y desde la salida de éste no hay reistro activo de la banda.

Von: Jürgen Meurer @
Eclipse scheint ein beliebter Gruppenname zu sein. Diesmal handelt es sich um ein brasilianisches Quartett, dessen Debütalbum jetzt bei Rock Symphony erschienen ist und bei unseren Lieblingsfranzosen vertrieben wird.
Ich fasse mal die Presseerklärung von Musea zusammen: Die Musik hat viel mit YES zu tun, speziell was die Spielweise des Gitarristen und des Bassisten betrifft, einiges klingt mal wie Camel, mal Hatfield & the North (die Stimme der Sängerin), Mike Oldfield, VdGG und – wie der Name schon vermuten lässt – Pink Floyd. Ein buntes Gemisch also. Kann ich dies bestätigen? Nun ja, ansatzweise schon.
Mit den klassischen YES verbinde ich Symphonik-Bombast, was hier aber nur selten gegeben ist. Gewisse Parallelen zu Howes Gitarrenspiel sind allerdings in der Tat gelegentlich zu erkennen, bei einigen Titeln erinnert es mich eher an Starcastle - und das ist ja bekanntlich nicht so weit weg von Yes. VdGG höre ich mit etwas Phantasie lediglich bei einigen Saxophon-Parts heraus, Camel und Floyd trifft es da gelegentlich schon eher.
Aber, und das ist erfreulich, die Brasilianer präsentieren durchaus Eigenständiges. Und den nachhaltigsten Eindruck hinterließ für mich Gitarrist Aloisio Campelo, der durch differenziertes Spiel, mal laut, mal leise/zurückhaltend, eine eigene Note einbringt und auch für einige Ausflüge in Jazzrock-Bereiche verantwortlich ist. Er setzt recht häufig eine MIDI-Gitarre ein, mit der er –laut Booklet – folgende Sounds zu zaubern vermag (in order of appearance): bass clavinet, bandoneon, trumpet, moog, bells, tuned percussion, choir, ocarina und – aufgepasst! – Mellotron! Dann stellt sich natürlich die Frage, wozu man noch einen Tastenmann benötigt. Live ist das sicherlich eine sehr verblüffende Spielerei (ich habe das mal bei einem gewissen Jay Stapley gesehen), ob das aber im Studio so laufen muss, sei mal dahingestellt. Jedenfalls wäre ich bei dem leicht jazzigen Inca’s Revenge beispielswiese nie auf die Idee gekommen, dass die Trompete nicht echt ist, sondern per Gitarre erzeugt wurde.
Doch auch die gelegentliche Tastenbearbeitung durch den Bassisten, sowie einige Flöten- und Saxophoneinsätze wissen zu gefallen. Jedoch halten sich die Tasten auffallend oft dezent zurück, so dass Gitarrist Campelo automatisch mehr Gewicht erhält.
Der leicht düstere Beginn mit Mellotron und E-Gitarre ließ mich beim 11-minütigen Opener urban hermit aufhorchen, doch der schließlich einsetzende Gesang des Gitarristen relativierte meine Erwartungen dann wieder. Der Gesang des Herrn Aloisio ist eher mittelprächtig, die Arrangements mit Sängerin Patricia Deschamps scheinen mir da besser gelungen zu sein. Da aber auf diesem Album nicht allzuviel gesungen wird, sollte dies niemanden nachhaltig abschrecken.
Gegen Ende des Albums macht sich dann bemerkbar, dass eine Prise Härte dem Album sicherlich gut getan hätte, denn zum Schluss geht ihnen doch ein wenig die Luft aus. Trotzdem bleibt ein insgesamt positiver Gesamteindruck zurück und die Aussicht, dass mit Eclipse eine weitere durchaus talentierte Band aufgetaucht ist. Und als Pluspunkt zähle ich noch dazu, dass sie sich doch deutlich vom typischen Südamerika-Soft-Symphonik-Prog abgrenzen.
Musea versprechen in ihrem Statement den Brasilianern eine große Zukunft – nun ja, den Sprung in die Charts schaffen sie hierzulande sicherlich nicht, aber dem Südamerika-Prog-Sammler bieten sie mit ihrem Debüt eine lohnenswerte Anschaffung.

Despite a name strongly relying on vintage PINK FLOYD, ECLIPSE owes a lot to another British dinosaur of the Seventies-era: YES. This new Brazilian band mixes the so-called South-American symphonism with a personal vision, filled with enthusiasm, of the Anglo-Saxon Progressive rock. The fluid guitar soli played by Aloisio CAMPELO Jr strongly remind Steve HOWE (Jazz influenced), and keyboardist-bassist Paulo TORRES displays melodic lines Chris SQUIRE would have been proud of. The whole is performed with an excellent quality. With such an introduction, one could fear "Jumping From Springboards" (2003) will be a copy of "Fragile" or "Close To The Edge". No way ! The four musicians know how to go beyond their influences: some sequences could evoke as well CAMEL, HATFIELD AND THE NORTH (Guitar player Patricia DESCHAMPS’ singing is sometimes close to Amanda PARSONS’), Mike OLDFIELD, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR… And PINK FLOYD ! To conclude, let’s say that ECLIPSE has the true ability to become the new leader of the Brazilian Progressive rock scene. Don’t miss it !


Malgré un nom qui fleure bon le PINK FLOYD grande époque, ECLIPSE doit en réalité énormément à un autre dinosaure britannique de l’ère "Seventies-aire": YES. Cette nouvelle formation brésilienne associe le symphonisme coutumier de l’école sud-américaine avec une interprétation personnelle et réellement enthousiasmante du rock Progressif anglo-saxon. Les soli fluides de guitare délivrés par Aloisio CAMPELO Jr évoquent fortement Steve HOWE (Versant jazz), alors que le bassiste-claviériste Paulo TORRES produit des lignes mélodiques à la complexité digne d’un Chris SQUIRE. Le tout bénéficie d’une qualité d’exécution et de finition absolument irréprochables. Avec une telle présentation, l’on pourrait s’attendre à ce que "Jumping From Springboards" (2003) soit une copie-carbone de "Fragile" ou "Close To The Edge". Il n’en est rien ! Nos quatre compères ont su ne pas s’enfermer dans un carcan: signe d’une variété remarquable, certains passages peuvent également évoquer CAMEL, HATFIELD AND THE NORTH (Le chant de la guitariste Patricia DESCHAMPS rappelle celui de Amanda PARSONS), Mike OLDFIELD, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR… Et PINK FLOYD ! En conclusion, l’on peut dire que ECLIPSE possède clairement le potentiel de s’imposer comme le nouveau leader du rock Progressif au Brésil. Ne passez surtout pas à côté !

Nati come cover band dei Pink Floyd, I brasiliani Eclipse, approdano a questo primo album in studio, interamente composto di brani propri. Eclipse, cover band dei Pink, il gioco è fatto.. ti aspetti un clone floydiano al cento per cento! No, tutt’altro.La chitarra pulita, senza sbavature, di Aloìsio Campelo Jr. ricorda i migliori lavori di Latimer.Album lineare, gradevole e raffinato, nella migliore tradizione del progressive sinfonico inglese, con inserimenti azzeccati di flauto e sax. La voce di Aloìsio Campelo e di Patricia Dechamps non eccelle in particolari estensioni, le poche parti cantate arricchiscono il brano creando piacevole l’insieme. Non ci sono particolari virtuosismi, a parte l’impennata del brano Manic Waltz, dove percepiamo sui cambi dei tempo un vago riferimento a Relayer degli Yes.Ma non cerchiamo i confronti a tutti i costi: Jumping from Springboard è un buon album, piacevole, da ascoltare e riascoltare senza stancarsi.Un’altro ottimo lavoro arrivato dal Brasile, paese che non finisce mai di sorprenderci. Buon ascolto!

Voici un nouveau groupe brésilien qui doit beaucoup à l'école de Canterbury. Eclipse est très proche du Camel des débuts, leur rock progressif se ressent également des influences du Van der Graaf Generator de Peter Hammill et à certains moments de Mike Oldfield.Lorsqu'on découvre le premier morceau "Urban Hermit", c'est indéniablement à Camel que l'on pense excepté sur sa 5ème et dernière partie où la voix est typée Hammill.L'album alterne entre morceaux chantés et instrumentaux. Les vocalises de la guitariste Patrícia Deschamps saupoudrent le tout et habillent le chant de l'autre guitariste, mâle cette fois. C'est la guitariste qui chantera le morceau titulaire avec sa voix aérienne, voix qui s'avèrera parfois lassante. Par contre, celle d'Aloísio Campelo Jr. convient particulièrement bien à la musique d'Eclipse."Puzzles" nous fera alterner entre influences caméliennes et floydiennes. Sans doute le plus complet des morceaux avec "Urban Hermit". C'est aussi le plus actuel.Dans l'ensemble, c'est très bien produit et parfaitement joué. Mais, musicalement, cela date un peu. L'album plaira aux amateurs de Camel et de l'école de Canterbury en général.

Une fois n'est pas coutume, Le Brésil nous présente Eclipse, un groupe original qui évolue dans le rock progressif. Quatuor doté d'un talent à faire rêver Pink Floyd, Mike Oldfield ou Camel, Eclipse associe le lyrisme sud-américain et le rock anglo-saxon avec une maestria époustouflante. Outre les instruments traditionnels tenus par Aloisio Campelo Jr. (guitare et voix), Patricia Deschamps (guitare et voix), Paulo Torres (basse, claviers) et Sergio Conforti (batterie), on découvre quelques parties de flûte et de saxo qui sont l'œuvre de Zé Mendes. Fortement influencé par Yes, le groupe ne se contente pas d'en être une pâle copie mais choisit au contraire de diversifier son approche musicale pour lui donner un cachet tout aussi inattendu que sympathique … Leader du rock progressif en Amérique du Sud, Eclipse a les épaules d'un des colosses du genre dans le reste du monde.
_Eclipse trouve d'entrée de jeu le ton juste et élève le sujet d'un ton. Ambiance feutrée, fraîcheur bienvenue, guitares aériennes et mélodies enchanteresses, tout est réglé sur les fréquences charme et bonheur. Composés et arrangés de façon ingénieuse, les morceaux sont tour à tour des œuvres épiques ou des instantanés précis. Eclipse se distingue par des lignes mélodiques pointilleuses mais aussi par une diversité impressionnante au niveau du chant. Sortant des travées parcourues par leurs maîtres, les Brésiliens regorgent d'idées inventives qui apportent autant de douceur à une musique qui en devient cotonneuse à souhait. On appréciera les symphonies modernes que sont " Urban Hermit " et " Ritual " tout autant que les tempos ouatés des magiques " Mantiquera ", " Puzzles " ou " Inca's Revenge ". Le côté relaxant de " Jumping From Springboards " fera d'Eclipse une des étapes privilégiées de tous les amateurs de musique volubile et techniquement parfaite. Un album hautement reposant !
Fred DELFORGE - 01 septembre 2003

So here we have another Brazilian band with the (not quite spectacular) name ECLIPSE that might lead to the conclusion that we can expect some Floyd-ish sound. But this is not the case at all rather can we listen on “Jumping From Springboards“ to some very pleasant modern progressive rock that is really not that much derivative and moreover not similar at all to the usual Retro Prog produced by bands like Glass Hammer, Spock's Beard or Flower Kings which is very welcome at least to me. Reminiscences to seminal bands are absolutely marginal like Squire-ish bass or female vocals that remind to Hatfield & the North. The compositions are highly versatile and are ranging from rather mellow ones to more upbeat but never harsh ones, just very good modern symphonic prog (NOT neo prog) with a dash of jazz-rock here and there. Keyboards are playing a quite subsidiary role what I’d like to add as an advantage (all keyboard freaks will be appalled!) remembering all those newer bands using squeaky synths tunes in a exaggerated manner. The music really does not suffer at all from this since guitarist Aloisio Campelo uses quite often a MIDI-guitar that enables him to emulate instruments like clavinet, bandoneon, trumpet, moog, bells, tuned percussion and – as well – Mellotron. The (often wordless) vocals by Patrícia Deschamps are very pleasant, more than the (occasional) male ones which are not superb but not disturbing or annoying neither. Any the instrumental parts are prevailing here and some tracks like "Mantiqueira" for example where the jazz-rock touch is most obvious manage without any vocals apart from some wordless ones. Overall I can summarize my fully positive and astounding impression of this album by saying that ECLIPSE is next to INDEX for sure one of best prog bands coming from Brazil nowadays and is absolutely able to provide a quality in their music that comes very close to the one in BACAMARTE’s. Moreover it’s far away from the usual schmaltzy symphonic prog coming from that area. Highly recommended to every prog fan looking for something different than the common standards!