JAZZ ROCK (AKA VOLKOR)

3.5 stars. This is one of those albums I want to give 4 stars to just for the lineup alone but my tastes and conscience won't let me. We get former WEIDORJE members Kirt Rust(drums) & Patrick Gauthier(moog) along with Didier Lockwood(violin) who played with MAGMA along with Gauthier of course. Didier's brother Frances plays piano and Bunny Brunel is on bass. The music here is not Zeuhl in the slightest but is just as the album's title says "Jazz Rock". While I like the violin as more as a different shade you could say to the music it is quite dominant here and that's my issue. Especially when Didier is playing slowly over top of the music. The piano and drums really don't standout that much to me but the bass is quite impressive along with the synths. This was released in 1976 by the way.

"To-Morrow" is the 2 1/2 minute opener and that chunky bass is impressive before the violin and synths trade off over top. "Astral Trip" opens with electric piano, bass, drums and shakers as the violin comes in. A relaxed piece but the tempo does pick up around 1 1/2 minutes. Some nice drum work here then the e-piano leads after 2 1/2 minutes as the violin steps aside. The bass leads a minute later as the electric piano stops. It's pretty much bass and drums here with moog. The electric piano is back after 4 1/2 minutes though as it settles then violin.

"Elbow" has a bass intro as the drums and percussion join in, moog too. Violin after a minute. Gotta love that bass as the violin solos slowly over top after 2 minutes. Electric piano joins in as well half way through. "What's The Matter" is a short relaxing piece but the moog gives it an experimental sound.

"Volkor" is jazzy with bass, drums along with violin and moog. The violin starts to solo slowly over top. I like the synths when they take over as the violin stops around 2 minutes in. Prominent bass then moog kick back in. The violin is back around 4 1/2 minutes soloing slowly over top. Electric piano later. "Yellow Faces" is mainly bass and drums before the violin comes in.

"Green" has throbbing bass lines with drums as the violin comes in over top. Moog to the fore after 2 minutes as the violin steps aside but it's back before 3 minutes. "Naita" opens with electric piano for about a minute before the violin takes over. The e-piano is back in this laid back closer. It does pick up after 3 1/2 minutes but not for long.

Just not enough variety and too much violin I suppose. A good album regardless.

The Lockwood brothers--20-year old violinist, Didier, and his older keyboard-playing brother, Francis--team up with monster bass player Bunny Brunel and recent Zeuhl artist Patrick Gauthier to produce an album that was inspired by Jean-Luc Ponty's work (especially his collaboration with Frank Zappa for King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa) and probably that of Michal Urbaniak, and perhaps even Italian fusion artists Arti E Mestieri, David Cross (King Crimson, Clearlight), and Darryl Way (Curved Air). Though this album's original vinyl release was listed under Didier and Francis' surname, "Lockwood," later reissues (as early as 1980) tend to list the band as "VOLKOR"--though I know not why.

1. "To-Morrow" (2:15) opens with some super funky bass from Bunny Brunel--deep water bass, I have to call it. With the establishment of the main motif dueling solos ensue between Didier's electrified violin and Patrick Gauthier's Moog. This felt like a complete song despite being only two minutes long! (9.375/10)

2. "Astral Trip" (5:30) a great foundation presents fecund ground for Didier and to fly--while drummer Kirt Rust and, to a slightly lesser extent, Bunny Brunel also seem to fly underneath. Francis gets the next solo on his electric piano in the fourth minute and then Bunny in the fifth (which merely magnifies the prowess of power drummer Rust's extraordinary skill). Cool song with some great things accomplished with tempo changes over just two chords rotating over and over! (9.25/10)

3. "Elbow" (7:00) opening with some super-funky effected-bass establishing both the melody and pace before distorted Moog synthesizer starts to squawk its way into the groove. Drums and echo- and delay-treated-electric violin are next, the former playing a straight-time near-Disco beat while Didier provides melodies to counter Patrick's squawking synth. In the fifth minute Bunny and Kirt slow things down as Francis' Fender Rhodes stabilizes things with regular chords played in a Zeuhlish progression while Didier really goes to Jean-Luc Ponty town with his screaling violin. Cool shift--which allows Kirt to show more of his skills and creativity on the batterie. Patrick re-enters with that saw-squawk Moog for the final 30 seconds as the engineers give the song a slow fade. (13.75/15)

4. "What's The Matter" (2:15) multiple tracks given to Francis' distorted Fender Rhodes while Patrick puts on display another of the highly-unusual sounds that he's discovered on the Moog--this one sounding as if a calypso steel drum were filtered through a garbage disposal. An unique little novelty piece. (4.375/5)

5. "Volkor" (6:05) a Jazz-Rock Fusion piece that is structured and paletted like a Zeuhl song with a fairly constant/rigid Fender Rhodes four-chord progression and deep bass line towing the line while Kirt's drums race frenetically-along and Patrick's Moog and Didier's reverb-violin trade barb's up top. A shift in motif (but not sound palette) occurs at 5:30 but this just leads to a slow fade-out from the production crew. Cool song with great play from Bunny, Kirt, Patrick, and Didier. (9.125/10)

6. "Yellow Faces" (3:35) sonosphere-dominating underwater bass and spacious time-keeping rock drums provide the fertile medium for Didier to solo on his ever-increasingly-reverberated electric violin. It's cool, with a great sound palette, but ultimately a little monotonous in its one dimensionality: like another experimentation or étude. (8.75/10)

7. "Green" (3:50) another cute, quaint, and yet interesting little sound experiment (more in palette--due to another one of Patrick's sonic discoveries on his Moog) that ends up never changing, never developing into a full song, always feeling like another étude. (8.875/10)

8. "Naita" (4:20) the Lockwood brothers performing a spacious duet: Francis' dirty Fender Rhodes more supporting and reactive to his brother's wonderful soaring, plaintive work on the heavily-treated electric violin. In the fourth minute Francis picks up his involvement--almost sounding as if he's providing structure and pace for the rhythm section to join in--but it never happens. The song dies with Didier's last sad note as Francis' last echoed-chords filling the sonosphere. (8.75/10)

Total Time 34:50

Some amazing experimentations with sound and sound textures are occurring throughout this exciting, inventive album but there are two tendencies that render my overall impression one of words that are not all superlatives: 1) the clear Jean-Luc Ponty-ness of Didier's sound and stylistic approach to his violin play and 2) the fact that so many of the songs (three of them) feel incomplete--as if the brothers were so enamored of their sound creations that they figured a little blurb of these rather unique (and entertaining) sonic experiences was deserving of public preservation.

A-/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of innovative and experimental Jazz-Rock Fusion that never seems to reach its fullest potential.