YUME NO OKA

Kenso is a masterful Jazz-Fusion quintet heading from Japan and are known for releasing splendid albums during their long career, with "Yume No Oka" being one of their key albums, and with good reason. Stylistically inluenced by a good dose of progressive rock bands such as Gentle Giant together with the smooth and melodic styles of other Jazz-Rock outfits such as Ain Soph, Bruford and Return to Forever and it really shows when listening to these smooth and well arranged songs. The songs have a clear Symphonic Prog vibe to them but still with a strong dominating fusion twist and they all feature an incredible amount of ideas and diversety, as well as being very balanced at the same time. They all go through several different moods and complex melodies without being repetitious or dull at all, something that many artist haven't quite managed to do equally well. Kenso, however, have no problems with this and the overall result is just perfect. The musicianship is amazing and every player is technically profilic and knows exactly how to handle the music and play it the right way. The drummer, Masayuki Muraishi, especially is excellent drawing comparisions to other great drummers such as Phil Collins, Bill Bruford and Lenny White with complete ease.

Sound quality is crystal clear and great, with all details fully audible and supports the otherwise excellent music even further. The creativity of this band is unbelieveable. During these 45 minutes, this band came up with so much interesting material that is all pure gold to my ears at least, and after listening to this, you'll immediately get a feeling that you're either perfectly feeded instead of feeling bored. The case with me was that I was demanding for more to be honest, and if you're a Jazz-Fusion lover you'll surely feel the same after hearing this. I can't think of any particular weak parts on this album actually and it's carefully written and put together to produce the best possible result it seems. I can guarantee that they suceeded. Essential to any Jazz-Rock/Fusion lover or prog lover in general!