WAVES

Like Debussy's original score for LA MER, the cover of Jade Warrior's WAVES incorporates the main image from Hokusai's 'Great Wave'. Jade Warrior's music even bears some similarity in mood to Debussy's chamber music (particularly the latter's sonata for flute, viola and harp), though compositionally it is considerably less daring. Guitarist Tony Duhig and flautist Jon Field perform most of the duties, with some assistance from Steve Winwood (piano solos and Moog), David Duhig (electric guitar solos) and Graham Morgan (drums). Gently undulating guitar and keyboard arpeggios rise and fall, a couple of lazy riffs fade in and out of the picture, solos on flute, piano, acoustic and electric guitars come and go. The term 'New Age' rears its ugly head, but the music isn't as anodyne as that: it is never sentimental, and it has a hypnotising effext - at least on THIS listener. Somehow, the music seems more mature than the ten tracks on the band's previous album, FLOATING WORLD, but this time there's no trace of sudden shocks or starts. Like FLOATING WORLD, WAVES is best appreciated in the context of the highly enjoyable 2-disc collection ELEMENTS.