Looking at the music of Dutch rock band Focus, started in the late sixties by Thijs van Leer (b /31/03/48) with Jan Akkerman (b 24/12/46). Van Leer still performs and records under the name today (official site here). Akkerman's site here.

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20111117

Track by track 116 Sylvia's Stepson UbaTuba

Archive number: 116
Title: Sylvia's stepson Ubatuba
Main Album: Focus 9 (New Skin)
Track number: 4
Genre: Progressive Rock Instrumental
Studio: Fieldwork Studios, Schoten, Belgium
Length: 04:46
Composer: Bobby Jacobs
Musicians: Thijs Van Leer – Hammond organ, voice; Niels Van Der Steenhoven – Guitars; Bobby Jacobs - Bass; Pierre Van Der Linden - Drums
Producer: Bobby Jacobs and Thijs Van Leer
Engineer: Han Nuijten
Label: Red Bullet
Date of recording/release: Summer 2006
Alternative version: None
Notes: Organ and guitar begin together, backed by bass and cymbals, as this beautiful piece is introduced (00:00-00:31). The drums announce the main theme, a typical piece of Focus guitar - slow, yearning and thoughtful - with occasional volume swells or violining (00:32-02:00) before quiet (02:01-02:10) then louder (02:11-02:24) guitar-led sections. At 02:25-02:56 we have the “ubatuba” section featuring guitar and “ubatubing” from Van Leer's voice. A caesura at 02:57 announces the return of the yearning guitar lead with some exquisite finger work from Van Der Steenhoven, especially towards the end (02:58-04:14). Finally, we have a quieter section (04:15-04:35) that is rounded off with a coda of 10 violined harmonics (04:36-04:46).

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