Yezda Urfa are one of the great cult treasures of American progressive rock — an astonishingly intricate band from Indiana who took the contrapuntal madness of Gentle Giant and the symphonic sweep of Yes and pushed both to dizzying, joyful extremes. Too complex and too eccentric for the music industry of their day, they left behind just two albums, recorded in the 1970s, that have since become beloved touchstones for prog devotees the world over.

The short version

Formed in 1973 near Chicago, Yezda Urfa play intricate, Gentle Giant-influenced symphonic prog — fiendishly complex music full of frantic time changes, dense multi-instrumental arrangements and elaborate vocal harmonies. Their two albums, the self-pressed demo “Boris” (1975) and the long-shelved “Sacred Baboon” (recorded in the mid-1970s but unreleased until 1989), are cult classics, prized by fans for their breathtaking musicianship and quirky charm. They are one of America’s most eccentric and rewarding prog bands.

Indiana: America’s Gentle Giant

Yezda Urfa came together in 1973 in Portage, Indiana, in the suburban orbit of Chicago, built around four high-school friends — guitarist Mark Tippins, bassist Marc Miller, keyboardist Phil Kimbrough and drummer Brad Christoff — soon joined by singer Rick Rodenbaugh. Their odd name was plucked at random from a dictionary, combining Yazd in Iran and Urfa in Turkey. Steeped in the British symphonic prog of Yes and the angular complexity of Gentle Giant, the five young musicians quickly developed a style of jaw-dropping intricacy that made them one of the most distinctive bands in American prog.

Intricate symphonic prog

Yezda Urfa’s music is a whirlwind of complexity and wit. Drawing equally on the grand compositions of Yes and the contrapuntal, polyphonic games of Gentle Giant — which they pushed even faster and stranger — they packed their songs with sudden tempo shifts, intricate instrumental interplay and a small orchestra’s worth of instruments, from flute and cello to vibraphone and mandolin. Rick Rodenbaugh’s high voice recalled Jon Anderson, while Mark Tippins’s guitar nodded to Steve Howe. For all the dizzying technicality, there was a real playfulness too, reflected in their gloriously absurd song titles. The result was a sound so eccentric and demanding that it has been called an early form of “brutal prog”.

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Boris and Sacred Baboon

Yezda Urfa’s two albums are closely intertwined. “Boris” (1975) was a self-pressed demo, issued in just 300 copies and shopped to record labels in the hope of a deal. Raw but brilliant, it remains the band’s signature record and, for many fans, their masterpiece. In 1976 they recorded a more polished album, “Sacred Baboon”, reworking several Boris pieces alongside new ones, but despite their best efforts no label would take it, and it sat unreleased for over a decade. Only in 1989, after a copy of “Boris” reached a symphonic-rock archivist, did “Sacred Baboon” finally appear, on the Syn-Phonic label — at last giving this remarkable music a wider audience.

Album by album

Two albums of dazzling, eccentric, Gentle Giant-inspired prog. Tap any title for its guide.

The players

Yezda Urfa were a five-piece of remarkable multi-instrumentalists: singer Rick Rodenbaugh, guitarist Mark Tippins, keyboardist and flautist Phil Kimbrough, bassist and cellist Marc Miller, and drummer Brad Christoff, several of whom doubled on a host of additional instruments. After the band wound down, Tippins and Kimbrough continued together in a group named Crafty Hands, after the Happy the Man album. Singer Rick Rodenbaugh and drummer Brad Christoff have since died. The two albums they left behind remain a testament to one of American prog’s most singular talents.

Where to start

Either album makes a fine introduction, but most fans begin with “Boris” (1975) — the band’s raw, adventurous calling card, bursting with invention. From there, “Sacred Baboon” offers a more polished take on much of the same material, with extra songs and cleaner sound. Together, these two records are all the proof you need of Yezda Urfa’s extraordinary gifts.

Why they still matter

Yezda Urfa matter as one of the most dazzling and original bands American progressive rock ever produced — a group whose fearsome complexity and irrepressible humour made them a worthy New World cousin to Gentle Giant, yet entirely their own. That they went almost entirely unheard in their time, only to be rediscovered and cherished decades later, is one of prog’s great vindications. For anyone who loves intricate, joyful, endlessly inventive prog, Yezda Urfa are an essential discovery.

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