Iceberg were the great jazz-rock band of 1970s Spain — a Catalan group from Barcelona whose dazzling instrumental fusion put them in the same conversation as the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever. Built around two virtuosos, guitarist Max Sunyer and keyboardist Josep Mas ‘Kitflus,’ they began in symphonic prog before evolving into some of the most accomplished fusion ever made on the Iberian peninsula. For sheer musicianship, few European bands of the era could match them.

The short version

Iceberg were a Catalan jazz-rock and fusion band from Barcelona, active across the second half of the 1970s and led by guitarist Max Sunyer and keyboardist Josep Mas ‘Kitflus.’ After a symphonic, vocal-led debut, they became a fully instrumental quartet and made their name with virtuosic, Catalan-flavoured fusion. The three albums here — the concept-driven “Tutankhamon” (1975) and the instrumental peaks “Coses Nostres” (1976) and “Sentiments” (1977) — are cornerstones of Spanish prog and fusion.

From Tony Ronald to Iceberg

Iceberg grew out of the backing band of Dutch-born pop singer Tony Ronald, where guitarist Max Sunyer, keyboardist Kitflus, bassist Primitivo Sancho and singer-saxophonist Ángel Riba played together. In 1973 the four resolved to strike out on their own, and in early 1974 they completed the line-up with drummer Jordi Colomer. Sunyer, a veteran of the hard-rock band Tapiman, brought the ambition; with Kitflus’s arsenal of electric piano, Minimoog and Mellotron, the band quickly became stars of the Spanish festival circuit.

Virtuoso Catalan fusion

Iceberg’s music is fast, intricate and electric — built on the interplay between Max Sunyer’s guitar, compared by Spanish critics to John McLaughlin and Jan Akkerman, and Kitflus’s banks of keyboards. The debut leaned symphonic, in the manner of Yes, but the band soon embraced full jazz-rock fusion in the vein of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever and Weather Report, all driven by Jordi Colomer’s restless drumming. What made them distinctive was the Catalan and flamenco colour woven through the solos — a Mediterranean accent no British or American fusion band could offer.

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The albums

Iceberg’s debut, “Tutankhamon” (1975), is a concept album about the pharaoh, sung half in Spanish and half in English, and their most symphonic work, though the vocals divided opinion. When singer Ángel Riba stepped back, the band turned fully instrumental: “Coses Nostres” (1976) is a fusion tour de force, while “Sentiments” (1977), often hailed as their masterpiece, is the most refined of all. Two further records, the live “En Directe” and the studio “Arc-en-Ciel,” followed before the band wound down at the decade’s end.

Album by album

The three Iceberg albums in our guide, in order. Tap any title to explore.

The players

Iceberg were led by two of Spain’s finest musicians: guitarist Max Sunyer, repeatedly voted the country’s best guitarist in the late 1970s, and keyboardist Josep Mas ‘Kitflus.’ The rhythm section paired bassist Primitivo Sancho with drummer Jordi Colomer, while founding singer and saxophonist Ángel Riba featured on the debut before becoming the band’s manager. When Iceberg ended, Sunyer and Kitflus formed the celebrated jazz-rock group Pegasus with bassist Rafael Escoté of Gòtic; Sunyer later led his own trio, while Kitflus became a sought-after arranger and Joan Manuel Serrat’s musical director. Jordi Colomer died in 2025.

Where to start

Start with “Sentiments” (1977), widely regarded as Iceberg’s masterpiece — the most polished and inventive of their instrumental albums, with Sunyer and Kitflus at their creative peak. From there, “Coses Nostres” (1976) offers the same fusion fire in a rawer, more energetic form. Two records that show why Iceberg are considered the finest jazz-rock band Spain ever produced.

Why they still matter

Iceberg matter as the high-water mark of Spanish jazz-rock — a band whose virtuosity and ambition proved that world-class fusion could come from Barcelona as readily as from New York or London. Their best albums stand comparison with the genre’s giants, while their fusion of jazz-rock with Catalan and flamenco colour gives them a voice all their own. Through Pegasus and the careers of Sunyer and Kitflus, their influence on Spanish music ran for decades. For any fusion lover, they are essential.

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