ELSEWHERE

One of the rarest Canterbury Scene worshippers, MASTER CYLINDER emerged from one of the least Canterbury locations i can think of, Ft Worth, Texas, USA. Only The Muffins who came before really represented the USA in any way, shape or form when it comes to the Canterbury Scene and while that Washington, DC band has become somewhat of a cult favorite, MASTER CYLINDER remains firmly in the obscurity bins scarcely known even by self-proclaimed Canterbury freaks. Perhaps the only other act i can think of who beat them both to the punch is the even rarer example of Richie Duvall and Dog Truck. The Muffins surely must've provided inspiration for the band.

Considering the jazz-rock sounds of the Canterbury Scene have a decidedly English flavor it's even more surprising how extremely well MASTER CYLINDER adapted the tones and textures of early Caravan and Isotope with the more stellar compositional fortitude of the master of the CS, National Health. Led by keyboard virtuoso Joe Rogers, the band's sole album ELSEWHERE featured finger breaking piano rolls in league with jazz greats like McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor. The band also consisted of Robert Atwood on guitars, Jack Carter on basses and Eddie Dunlap on drums. Four additional musicians provided the big band sounds from several brass and wind instruments.

ELSEWHERE has been described as typical English jazz-rock fusion that incorporated the warmth of Canterbury primarily in the light breezy delivery of bands like Gilgamesh only with Caravan's clever hooks and National Health's ability to make hairpin turns seamlessly. There is also a clear Happy The Man symphonic presence which adds atmospheric knottiness to the whole affair. The band was amazingly accomplished and seasoned as musicians and the tracks are diverse and sustain interest throughout the seven tracks that just miss the 44 minute mark. ELSEWHERE appeared in 1981 on the Inner City Records but was quickly forgotten considering the age of prog had fully waned and new wave, post-punk and heavy metal were the new kids on the block dominating the music scene.

While i find the album's primary sensual breeziness to be the dominate factor, the band resonates as finding its main inspiration in Gilgamesh yet achieves much more interesting compositions than that band ever did. Through the course of this album's run, MASTER CYLINDER showcases its mastery of the jazz-rock fusion scene with a whole slew of influences such as Weather Report, Return To Forever, Isotope and myriad Canterbury acts amongst others. Starting square away with the opening "Overture" the music displays strange jazzy chord progressions, loads of time signature changes, dramatic shifts of dynamics and instrumental interplay. Tracks like "Isabelle" feature the laid back smoothness of the album which dominates the entire run but there are more than enough uptempo outbursts and moments of strange avant-garde passages.

While one hardly associates the 1980s with anything remotely Canterbury, especially the complex adventurous styles that had climaxed with bands like National Health only a few years prior, MASTER CYLINDER swam upstream to release this sophisticated slice of Southern USA Canterbury which still seems hard to believe that such an exquisite work of this style came from such a place! Apparently there was only one vinyl release and all desires to reissue on CD were crushed when it was discovered that the masters had been lost. Hopefully someone will digitally record from the album at least because this album truly is a beautiful specimen of Canterbury jazz-rock splendor that far exceeds the talents of many similar minded bands that came before. Well worth multiple listens.