SUFFER

ESSENTIAL LISTENING FOR EVERYONE WHO EVER LOVED PIERRE MOERLEN'S GONG...

I know, I know, this is BENOIT Moerlen's (and Hansford Rowe's and Bon Lozaga's) version of Gong, but it sounds so much like a reincarnation of the two classics, GAZEUSE and ESPRESSO II, that I (who have loved those albums for three decades) could jump for joy! If it wasn't for Progarchives, I would never even have discovered Gongzilla, since their jokey name always made me suspect they were a cabaretish, "Pothead Pixie" kind of band.

Instead, it seems, Benoit Moerlen, Rowe and Lozaga (all three of whom played on ESPRESSO II itself) have very consciously set out to revamp and expand upon Pierre Moerlen's style from the second half of the 1970s. Not only is their opening track similar in feeling to ESPRESSO II's "Heavy Tune"; their song titles refer to the earlier album as well (e.g. "Gongzilla's Dilemma"); at least one of their tunes is a straightforward reworking of an ESPRESSO II track (namely "Bad Habits") and, best of all, they got the inimitable Allan Holdsworth to guest on four of their compositions.

Believe me, SUFFER really is good news! Late 1970s Gong was unique among progressive jazz-rock bands, since they dared to use an original combination of vibraphones, marimbas, electric guitar, bass, sax and flute (at least when Didier Malherbe was still with them), as well as lots and lots of percussion... I've always loved that sound, and I've been trying to find its equivalent in as many jazz groups as possible, ever since Pierre himself (at the very end of the seventies) felt an unfortunate need to start playing middle-of-the-road-rubbish... Now here we are in a new millenium and it turns out there is a gorgeous North American band who have actually resurrected a style I love.

If I have one criticism to make, it's that the great Pierre himself proves irreplacable. Although the drummers on SUFFER are good, not one of them matches P.M.'s incomparably rich and virtuosic sound. But let's not carp. There's such a lot of brilliant music here... The bluesy solos on "Mr Sinister Minister", the GAZEUSE-like guitar and vibraphone arpeggios on "Hip-Hopnosis", the wonderfully refined playing on the highly delicate "Allan Qui?" - I'd be a fool if I didn't recommend this album!