KUBLAI

I missed out on the Accordo debut album so "Kublai" was in fact my initiation to the band. The very first thought that popped into my head on the first play is that this is the band which will carry on for the legendary D.F.A. who may not be coming back after the death of one of their members, and the desire of the others to be close to their families. They also bring to mind some of my elder favorite Italian jazz bands like Free Wave System and Bella Band. These guys have that same combination of prowess on their instruments and refusal to fall into the too often "dry" mode of jazz/fusion, bringing instead much more color to the table. Without question my favorite part of the equation are the keyboards of Giovanni Parmegianni. Wild runs of bombastic organ jump off the map every now and again, thrilling in an old school way, linking the unquestionably forward-thinking edge of the group to an important portion of prog-rock's storied sound. Richard Sinclair delivers a very Robert Wyatt like vocal on "L'ombra di un Sogno" over a somber, somewhat more traditional jazz sound. The closing "Battery Park" is not surprisingly my favorite track as here they bring some piano into the mix. Throughout you can expect intelligent and high energy jamming where the interplay between musicians is impressive, the songwriting diverse, and an overall experience which leaves all of us wondering where they go next. I'm pretty sure this is not a group that will repeat themselves.

The cover which initially looks rather bland becomes much more interesting when you begin to stare at the designs inside the circle, I was having flashbacks to my old spirograph set. A fine second album, though not quite enough for the 4-star plateau in my book.

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