Vytas Brenner -

Vytas Brenner (Sept. 19, 1946 — March 18, 2004) was a Venezuelan keyboardist, guitarist, and composer who recorded a slew of sympho-space/jazz-rock albums during the 1970s, some co-credited to his band Ofrenda.

Gonzalo Vazquez-Casals on Vytas Brenner – “Cariaco/Sancocho de Medula” / “6 Por Electron/Jayeche” (1975)

Sancocho is a soup from the Spanish Caribbean. Medula is the spinal cord. It may refer to a soup made with the cow’s spinal cord among other meats. Cariaco refers to a peninsula in Sucre State, in Venezuela. I met Vytas Brenner (pronounced Veetas) in person and lended equipment sometimes, as he was one of my teenage idola and my initial keyboard setup included a Rhodes piano, a Micromoog, etc. He used the Mu-tron Bi-Phase with the Solina string ensamble, and the Micromoog, the Electrocomp, and other synths he used later went through a Maestro Echoplex echo chamber. Pablo Manavello was considered the best electric guitar player in Venezuela during the 1970s, and so was Ivan Velasquez as the best drummer at the time. Ofenda as a band was extremely successful in their time, when making rock, prog or jazz-rock fusion was no business in Venezuela. Thus, Vytas worked a lot doing soundtracks for TV commercials and movies, Pablo became a producer for other artists after a short soloist career, and Ivan played in many pop stars records. Vytas used Venezuela’s landscapes and folk music for inspiration, so many people described his music as paisajística (landscapist).

Discography: