INSIDE: MISSING LINK

Volker Kriegel's follow-up to "Spectrum" is a double album and a much more dynamic affair and more to my liking. He has some of the best German and British musicians around helping him out. It's interesting that the first LP has a different lineup than the second LP. The first LP has an eight piece lineup and was recorded on the 20th & 21st of March, while the second LP featured a five piece band and was recorded on the 22nd & 23rd of March. The most well known name for me is John Marshall on drums on the first LP. Lots of pictures in the liner notes and John is as usual very serious looking.

"Slums On Wheels" has such a great sound to start as the sax joins in. Intricate guitar then takes the lead as it settles some.The sax is back then the tempo picks up before 4 1/2 minutes. A calm 6 minutes in as intricate sounds come and go. It's building before 9 minutes and electric piano joins in. Nice. Bass and percussion continue. Sax before 10 1/2 minutes. Drums only from Marshall before 12 1/2 minutes then a full sound. What a way to start !

"The "E" Again" has a good rhythm as sax and guitar do their thing. Dissonant sax before 2 1/2 minutes. Electric piano leads a minute later. Sax is back before 6 1/2 minutes to end it.

"Zanzibar" is led by the bass and drums early then the horns come in just before a minute. The guitar then leads before the horns return before 3 1/2 minutes as it picks up. Some dissonance too. A calm before 5 minutes as bass and a beat with horns lead. It kicks back in before 6 1/2 minutes. Piano leads before 8 minutes and we get some nice bass a minute later. Sax is back 10 minutes in.

"Missing Link" opens with experimental sounds that come and go including vocal expressions. The music comes in after 2 minutes and starts to build. I like the drumming here. The horns start to blast then it settles back. A calm 5 minutes in then it starts to pick up with guitar leading the way. Nice. Horns take a turn before 7 1/2 minutes with lots of dissonance too. A drum show from Marshall 9 minutes in. Great sound before 11 minutes with sax leading then guitar. Killer tune.

The second LP is a little more stripped down but excellent none the less. "Fur Hector" is uptempo and guitar led. Piano takes the lead after 3 1/2 minutes.The guitar is back leading late.

"Remis" is percussion and keyboard led early and the bass is prominant too. The guitar then joins the fray. "Tarang" has a Middle Eastern vibe to it with lots of percussion. Strummed and intricate guitar comes in at 2 1/2 minutes before the opening ethnic soundscape returns to end it.

"Lastic Plemon" is led by the drums and keys and is quite energetic. Guitar before 3 minutes. "Janellias Abertas" is an intricate and laid back track.

"Plonk Whenever" is uptempo with the bass and drums pounding while the guitar and keys play over top. Great track.

"Definitely Suspicious" is one of my favourites. It has such an uplifting mood to it and the electric piano has a lot to do with that. "Finale" is 15 seconds of mainly intricate guitar to end it.

A solid 4 stars. Very enjoyable and a treat for the ears.

The sophomore album release by the German guitar genius. All tracks are Volker Kriegel compositions except where noted.

1. "Slums on Wheels" (13:24) John Marshall is a beast on the drums from the get go on this J-RF rocker. Guitarist and band leader Volker Kriegel uses a DANNY KORTCHMAR "It's Too Late, Baby" style acoustic guitar solo in the Alan Skidmore's soprano sax play in the second movement is so dynamic and exciting! And let's not forget the extraordinary drum playing of Nucleus' own John Marshall! Eberhard Weber's bass play is fairly standard until the seventh minute when the band clears out and he's given solo time--then you know this is the one and only Eberhard Weber--two minutes he's given before the band slowly re- matriculates. The section that follows the bass solo is a bit odd--feeling meandering and out of place, and then Heinz Sauer's saxophone solo feels like it goes nowhere and never gels with the rest of the band, but at 12:15 there's a bit of a restart that helps the band to get back on track for the final minute. A truly remarkable multi-part song (or suite)! (28/30)

2. "The "E" Again" (6:36) tediously repetitious rhythm track over which everybody seems to get a turn to solo (except the bass and drummer). The loose, laid-back feeling coming from all of the song's performers is kind of cool, but then, after six minutes it proves to be overdone. (8.70/10)

3. "Zanzibar" (10:22) penned by Edu Lobo, this is a very catchy, melodic song that feels as if it's led by the big band-like horns. Great jazz funk bass play (in a style that I've never heard before from Eberhard) leads in over John Marshall's solid drumming over which Volker, then, takes the first extended solo on his jazz guitar. It's very GEROGE BENSON and Wes MONTGOMERY-like. From the 3:00 mark two tenor saxophones trade off the next solos. Again, these guys are very engaging and compelling (which is exceedingly rare for me: I am not nor have I ever been a fan of the saxophone). The grooving JAMES BROWN-like high-energy R&B jazz-rock fusion is so infectious! Amazing performances top to bottom! (19/20)

4. "Missing Link" (12:03) some wild and crazy sounds being emitted here from all the band members but I ultimately reject this song for its overly-repeated foundation and 1960s-sounding guitar solo. Great, creative performances on top, but way too simplistic and repetitive--even in the suite's different motifs. (21.75/25)

5. "Für Hector" (5:45) another hard-drivin' song based on a fairly rudimentary JAME BROWN-like rhythm track (and "Shaft"-like introductory hi-hat play) that somehow inspires stellar performances from all soloists as well as the rhythm-makers. It's like they're pretending to be the JBs only at 45rpm speed instead of 33! Has there ever been a rhythm section as tight as these guys? Eberhard Weber and John Marshall are extraordinary! (9.25/10)

6. "Remis" (4:26) a more Latin-based song that feels as if it came out of the Latin/Caribbean-crazed 1960s: 1960s hippie game show music! But so tightly performed! Very smooth, fluid jazz guitar play over acoustic rhythm section (and electric piano). (9/10)

7. "Tarang" (10:00) a composition credited to Eberhard Weber, it opens up sounding like something from the Far East (not quite Indian, perhaps SouthEast Asian). The sound palette is very cool; not what one would expect on an album that presented those first six very Western songs. It's not until the second half of the third minute that we begin to hear any instruments familiar to the Western ear: double bass, drums, acoustic guitar, and electric piano. The sixth and seventh minutes present a long nearly-alone Eberhard Weber solo with clay hand drums before Fender Rhodes and drums start to reinforce both the pace and the harmonic structure. Interesting and definitely engaging despite a kind of lack of melody and harmony. I like it! (17.75/20)

8. "Lastic Plemon" (5:21) another rampant-flowing R&B-based song in the James Brown tradition that flies along with everyone playing their 1960s parts. Well-orchestrated impeccably-performed song that never really grabs me. (8.875/10)

9. "Janellas Abertas" (4:09) a short little four-part Caetano Veloso composition with double bass and symphonic percussion beneath Volker's extraordinary Spanish-style nylon-string acoustic guitar play. John Taylor also gets some time in the spotlight with his electric piano in the third movement, but everything returns to Volker's lap for the final beautiful section. (8.875/10)

10. "Plonk Whenever" (4:06) another song that sends the musicians off to the races from the very start, arranged in some very complex "old jazz" forms and streams, sounding a lot like pre- or proto-Fusion Herbie, Wayne, Miles, Johnny Mac, and Tony. (8.875/10)

11. "Definitely Suspicious" (5:55) acoustic guitar and gang come up with a rock/pop like construct with a bit of Latin and psych flavor over which Volker's simple rock/psychedelic electric and acoustic guitars take turns soloing for the first three minutes. The styles seem to move fairly cleanly between rock, psych-rock, and blues-rock. Fender Rhodes solo from John Taylor in the fourth minute before we return to Eberhard excels in a Danny Thompson kind of way while this song makes it clear that John Marshall is really meant to be a Jazz-Rock Fusion guitarist (not pop or jazz). Catchy enough melodies that I could see this getting some radio air time (back in the day). (9/10)

12. "Finale" (0:10) Volker's cartoonish finish.

Total Time: 81:77

A much more jazz- and jazz-rock representative. The question is: How much of this album's superlatives are due to the guitarist, composer, and band leader and how much to the amazing all-star lineup he's enlisted in support? I mean, these collaborators keep performing at such a high level throughout the album (despite some weaker song foundations) that it's hard not to credit them, but could it also be the band leader's brilliant instruction and inspiring example motivating these amazing performances? Also, I must mention and commend the great sound the engineers and producers got out of this album. Also, I'm very much appreciative for this opportunity of seeing/hearing bass virtuoso Eberhard Weber in a far different light than anything I'd ever heard from him.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of eclectic jazz, R&B, and Jazz-Rock Fusion pieces from a band of multiple virtuosi.