IM WINDSCHATTEN

This German Fusion combo came from Hollenstedt and was found in 1979 by multi-instrumentalist Thomas Ziebuhr and percussionist Detlef Schaper with Klaus Behnke on keyboards, Thomas Glagow on bass and his cousin drummer Mathias Goerlich joining shortly after.Carsten Peters became the main bassist, after Glacow left, the band moved to Hamburg and Hanover and in 1981 they felt pretty mature to record their debut.The sessions took place at Frank Mille's Studio and the album ''Im windschatten'' was released in 1981 as a private press.

The band played in a period Fusion style, which is characterized by the steady use of percussion and drums throughout, but for the most of its part ''Im windschatten'' is a constant affair of synths and the rhythm section with a tropical atmosphere and some Latin edges.Extremely well-played, its quality drops because of the weak keyboard stylings in a pretty standard 80's delivery, but even these parts contain some indredible yet refined fanfares.I have the feeling that the band should have been a great experience on stage, as the 80's recording values have had a serious affect on the vinyl with the atmosphere being a bit sterile and the mix rather uneven.The compositions though are mostly very good with series of keyboard lines in tricky, spacious and lounge offerings, the presence of a percussionist tightens the links with Latin Music, but you can hardly listen to any guitars on the album.This is not some Fusion destined to become a display of virtuosic excess and technical masturbation, any Kraut/Jazz links are also quite absent and the focus remains on the tropical melodies, the efficient keyboard moves and the metronomic bass and drum parts.''Opus octopus'' contains also some surprising organ injections, which stand very well to the standard synth moves.

In 1982 Peters left to be replaced by Thomas Piechowiak and during the 1983-85 the band recorded a few demos with a saxophonist and a trumpetist in the line-up, but they soon realized that there's was no luck for Jazz Rock bands at the time.They were renamed to Small Talk, but eventually folded shortly afterwards.

Lovely Jazz Fusion with Latin colors.A bit comparable to other tropical German bands like KANGURU or ROZZ, but with a more synth-based sound.Recommended, if you find a cheap copy, which I doubt.Nothing to do with another German band of the same name, which released the album ''Fruhjahr 76: Erinnerungen an Klaus'' in 1976 as psych/prog/rock specialist Tom Hayes claimed.