ONE SHOT

Those who know their prog history will recall that zeuhl can be best thought of as a weird offshoot of jazz fusion, with early Magma releases being along decidedly fusion-oriented lines (in keeping with Christian Vander's reverence of John Coltrane) before shifting into the "Klingon opera" mode of peak zeuhl.

One Shot are a group who vividly recall zeuhl's fusion roots, and who play a style of fusion which bridges classic fusion of a dark, volcanic Mahavishnu Orchestra bent with zeuhl stylings, particularly when it comes to having a dark, pulsating rhythm underpinning their compositions. Ewaz Vader, the release preceding this, pioneered this style very effectively, whilst Dark Shot takes it even further, immersing the listener into a subterranean world of sinister zeuhl- fusion guitar growls and keyboard titters. Deserves the consideration of fans of both subgenres.

On Ewaz Vader One Shot straddle the line between zeuhl and jazz fusion - already a pretty thin one given that the earliest Magma releases had such a strong jazz influence (in particular via Christian Vander's idolisation of John Coltrane). In particular, the release seems to blend the throbbing, pulsating rhythm section we typically expect of zeuhl with the dark, volcanic style of the Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame, an intoxicating mixture that fans of both subgenres will find very much worth their time and which also suits the scale the band are working on as a four-piece unit, rather than the full Klingon choir and orchestra required for hardcore zeuhl work.

Very polished, melodic, and sophisticated Zeuhl-based jazz fusion from France. Three of these band members are alumni of Christian Vander's MAGMA lineup from his 2000s studio and touring band, while drummer and ONE SHOT founding member Daniel Jeand'heur being a long time fan of Magma and the jazz greats of the 1960s.

1. "Black P" (9:09) plodding along with great skill, there just isn't very much for me to be drawn in by. For me, Philippe Bussonnet is the star of this one. (17.33/20)

2. "Opus 12" (7:52) a little more driven and uptempo. James Mac Gaw's guitar play is almost ALLAN HOLDSWORTH-like while Emmanuel Borghi's keyboard range is delightfully more similar to those of George Duke's or Allan Zavod's contributions to JEAN-LUC PONTY's wonderful string of albums in the late 1970s. A very solid song with some nice hooks and, of course, great performances. (13.25/15)

3. "Def MK1" (9:48) back to a more brooding jazz-rock, perhaps even closer to the Avant Garde world of GUAPO or UNIVERS ZERO, though this is still very much what we'd all call Zeuhl. Keyboards and drums are more in the limelight on this one. (17.5/20)

4. "Blade" (4:54) opening just like an old JEAN-LUC PONTY song, this one continues to move along very slowly, very delicately, as if moving cautiously through a dingy dark alley well after midnight. Cool but never really goes anywhere--never achieves resolution. (8.667/10)

5. "Automate" (7:29) more plodding suspenseful music in which the drums, bass, and keys play their parts very conservatively over the course of the opening two minutes. Drums are the first instrument to "come to life" in the third minute as the others go through some zombi-like chord progressions before returning to the opening motif. At 3:35 the soundscape shifts (though the rhythm and pacing remains constant) as keys move to the front to solo in a very JAN HAMMER-like aggressive way. The drummer is so solid, so in-sync with the pace! At 5:35 we return to whole-band solidarity (the keyboard solo ends) before we go through the "chorus" of chord progressions. Guitar takes a turn in the lead for final minute but really does nothing very dynamic. Solid. (13/15)

6. "Downwards" (9:10) dirty electric guitar arpeggi in the opening minute give this a very rock feel to it. The break and bridge at the one-minute mark is also very rock-like, but then the band picks up a new chord progression and new rhythm foundation to carry forward. Keys offer a little floweriness before the band shifts gear into a more laid-back Zeuhl motif with strong bass play and, eventually, electric guitar soloing. Despite some fine drumming on display, the repetition of the same descending chord-and note progression gets a little old; by the sixth minute I've about had enough; there's just not enough exciting music going on over the top/in the front. A little keys action, some fine bass play in the seventh and eighth minutes and, finally, some dynamic (JAN AKKERMAN "Answers? Questions!"-like) guitar work eighth and ninth minutes but it's just not enough. (17/20)

7. "Nosh Partitas" (5:56) coolness (in the engineering of the drums) and melody! Jazz-like in a JEAN-LUC PONTY way. Great keyboard chord support, great bass play (especially the funk stink in the middle), and nice drumming and guitar play. The band all seem to be working very hard to time the syncopated melody lines together as a team. And then James Mac Gaw does some truly avant (DAVID TORN-like) guitar work. Another nice JAN HAMMER-like synth solo in the fourth minute. My favorite song on the album. (9/10)

Total Time 54:18

The skill and competency levels of the four musicians is unparalleled, but the music, to my mind, misses the additional presence of human voices and maybe something else--like melodic (or non-melodic) "hooks".

B/four stars; a nice addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you like high quality instrumental jazz or Zeuhl.

One Shot started in late-90's as a project of former Magma members Emmanuel Borghi (keyboards) and James MacGaw (guitars).To complete the line-up they recruited another ex- Magma member, bassist Philippe Bussonnet (also a collaborator of Francois Thollot and later member of BBI) and drummer Daniel Jeand'heur (member of Francois Thollot's group, Amygdala and Pienza Ethnorkestra).One Shot started as a live band and actually their self- produced debut from 1999 was a one-day recording of tracks presented live at the time, which took place on 22th February, 1999 at Le Moulin de Villery and eventually saw a reissue by Soleil Zeuhl as ''Reforged'' in 2010 with a bonus track.

Good and challenging electric Jazz-Rock is the style met in the album, totally instrumental, and having a tendency towards furious grooves and dark dissonances.A pounding and powerful rhythm section leads all tracks, where MacGaw and Borghi are given plenty of space for full- blown interplays, solos and improvisations.There is a breezy air of a ''live'' atmosphere throughout with long breaks full of jazzy atonal battles, coming out of MacGaw's fiery guitar playing and Borghi's frenetic electric piano.The longer tracks are not surprisingly the more interesting ones with a variety in tempos and moods, being also more tightly structured, though a sense of free performance is always around.''One shot'' is among the most interesting pieces with a feeling of Electric and Canterbury Jazz-Rock dominating the sound in a mid- tempo delivery.The same atmosphere follows ''La Main du Diable'' and ''Un Jour dans l'Est'', two pieces divided into smooth jazzy interplays and heavy Jazz-Rock explosions with great performances by the members.The rest of the tracks are partly dissonant and hard-to-get-into pieces or heavy Jazz-Rock with a more dynamic atmosphere.

The material on ''One Shot'' is the result of a band wanting to put together the free sense of jamming with the more constructed face of Jazz-Rock, ending up to be a very long piece of music characterized of the fundamentals of these styles.Powerful, energetic and challenging, this release has a great luck to satisfy all fans of jazzy instrumental Rock music and even more.Recommended.

Is this still (progressive) jazz rock or already zeuhl? ... never mind, there's some fluent passage to state in any case. No wonder, three current MAGMA band members (guitar, bass, keys) are involved here, plus drummer Daniel Jeand'heur. You can experience outtakes from a fantastic performance by this French quartet, recorded 2010 in Japan. One hour brimful of big-hearted and virtuoso moments, each track is clocking around the ten minute mark, so they take the time to let it evolve in each and every case ... let's go Tokyo!

Provided with a strong fusion and canterbury styled outfit Black P is my personal highlight. I adore the dramatic Rhodes piano riffs at the beginning, Bruno Ruder arrives at top form while playing in such a playful manner, and it sounds like he's using a wah-wah pedal here - fantastic! This also features guitar solos and an irresistibly meandering bass. With Ewaz Vader they probably seem to break all records when it comes to the tempo, wow! Can't really imagine what is composed here and what improvised on the other hand. Def MK1 at least stands for well attuned guitar and Rhodes cooperation which never ever can come out of the blue.

'Live In Tokyo' showcases a very energetic presence, recorded with top-notch audio quality on top of it - well, please concentrate on this powerful bass for a while! Highly recommended to jazz rock and zeuhl fans. An album with complex arrangements which even sometimes seem to lose order in between, dizzying ... but always with intent ... and caution. It all lives from the musician's somnambulistic interaction of course, just take Monsieur G which leaves me fascinated every time I listen. Can't imagine who has the ability to make it better - please tell me. 4.5 stars with entitlement to a masterpiece ... we just have to wait a while.

ONE SHOT are one of my all-time favourite bands.That combination of Fender Rhodes piano, huge bass lines and outstanding drumming all in a dark and heavy setting just does it for me. Yes there is guitar too but it seems to take a back seat in this style of music a lot of the time. 3 / 4 of the band were MAGMA members and as you might guess from the band's name they didn't really expect to carry on after the one concert. I say 3 / 4 "were" MAGMA members because keyboardist Emmanuel Borghi has since been replaced by Bruno Ruder, but of note he has also replaced Emmanuel in MAGMA. The guy can play ! And we still get tons of my beloved Fender Rhodes piano.This is a live performance from Tokyo, Japan and we even get the talents of guitarist Kido Natsuki on the final track.You might know him from BONDAGE FRUIT or KOREKYOJIN.

"Urm" is my favourite and it opens with a slow, dark beat as the Fender Rhodes comes and goes. A change 3 1/2 minutes then we get some huge bass lines a minute later. Love the guitar which reminds me of ANEKDOTEN. Check out the piano after 9 minutes as that heavy, hypnotic rhythm continues.Amazing track ! "Black P" is a classic ONE SHOT track. Check out the deep, growly bass from Bussonnet as the drums pound and the guitar plays over top. The Fender Rhodes comes and goes. Mac Gaw is ripping it up on the guitar after 5 minutes then it's Ruder's turn on the piano.

"Def MKI" begins with guitar then the drums and bass take over followed by keys. Angular guitar before 4 minutes. Great sound after 5 minutes. "Ewas Vader" has this pulsating ryhthm as the piano plays over top and the guitar grinds away. Incredible ! The throbbing bass with piano after 5 minutes sounds so good. It gets really intense after 9 minutes to end it. "Missing imperator" is quite heavy with slabs of bass and drums to start. It settles into a slow but heavy groove then it picks up before 3 minutes. The guitar continues over top. It settles back around 11 minutes and we get some killer drum work from Jeand'heur here. "Monsieur G" is the jazziest tune on here and the guitar (Kido) lights it up around a minute.The piano replaces the guitar. It turns jazzy again late to end it.

Well I am a fan-boy but 5 stars is what I have to give up for this live offering.

Even if One Shot's second album is a live release (recorded on Friday 13th, 2001 in Macon, France), but it contains all-original material, so it should be regarded as a full-fledged album. Graced with a polar artwork and featuring the same line-up, this album was again a long-OOP private pressing, but is now again available through the Soleil Zeuhl label. What's changed is the general sonic feel as this second effort is much more refined than their raw debut album, but you'll be nowhere near the neo-prog production values either. Indeed, this Friday 13th remains a typical Zeuhl album, without any kind of compromises or concessions.

The opening two-part 20-mins+ I Had A Dream piece is demented track that might be a little too repetitive and overstay its welcome, despite an extremely complex rhythm pattern. For the rest of the album, OS delivers another batch of their dark and sombre soundscapes, between King Crimson and Magma, and on the more modern or lesser-known influences, one could mention Potemkine, Vortex, NeBeLNeST and a few more. The 9-mins No track is the jazziest track of them all, and I mean this in the "standard jazz" manner, because of the second part of the track's solos are very much in that vein - and therefore less broody and menacing.. The following Wild Way is definitely the most-fusiony. Sooooo, you could say that One Shot sounds typically French prog, with some Zeuhl and fusion touches, induced by the pounding bass, but also the dark atmospheres of their music.

Personally, I do not find that Vendredi 13 is their better album and it should not serve as an intro (try the remastered debut or the latest Dark Shot), and might just be my least fave, but it is still an excellent Jazz-Zeuhl album, although there are albums much more urgent to discover before you get to this one.

This live set recorded in Tokyo during One Shot's tour of Japan in 2010 is simply a breathtaking, blistering performance. The sound quality of the recording is absolutely first rate, the separation of the individual instruments remarkable as well as the overall clarity. This recording is our introduction to the newest member of the band, keyboardist Bruno Ruder, and he certainly does not disappoint with his playing throughout the record. While all the musicians deliver outstanding performances, it is worth noting that Daniel Jeand'heur has over the years honed his craft, and evidence of this is fully displayed here - he plays with such ferocious precision that calls to mind the late great Pip Pyle at times. Then of course we have one of the premier modern masters of the bass guitar; Bussonnet does nothing short of giving us one of the finest performances of his career.

This is the one of those records where the only knock on it is it might be too short! While the album is fantastic start to finish, a wonderful highlight for me personally was the performance of Ewaz Vader - the band took what was already a great studio cut to the next level, with an intense, unrelenting rendition.

It's easy to run out of superlatives for this record. One Shot has clearly established themselves at the forefront of modern jazz-rock outfits. For fans of zeuhl and high-energy jazz-rock, this release simply must be obtained. 4.5 stars - I was sorely tempted to round to 5. Highest possible recommendation.

Latest release (that I know of) from this French "Zeuhl" quartet, and a double disc affair: with one studio album (recorded over three months in early 08 in the Le Triton studio) and a live DVD of a concert, recorded early in that recording period over the adjoining concert hall. The still-unchanged line-up of OS delivers another batch of their dark and sombre instrumental soundscapes, between King Crimson and Magma or even Univers Zero, and on the more modern or lesser-known influences, one could mention Potemkine, Vortex, NeBeLNeST and a few more. Sooooo, you could say that One Shot sounds typically French prog, with some Zeuhl touches, induced by the pounding bass, but also the dark atmospheres of their music.

The DVD disc is made from one night's concert, where the band was allowed to develop their musical realm, but they chose mostly to feature their in-progress work of the album they were busy with. Indeed only Ewaz Vader (from the album of the same name) and Urm (from Vendredi 13) were familiar to the small public, the rest of their set being from the Dark Shot studio album. As you can guess, the DS tracks are much rawer live than their final studio versions, but they're already fairly close to their final version. As for EV and Urm, they sounded understandably more at ease with those older numbers. There is also a bonus live footage in the studio version of Blade (from their new album) and a two-part interview that is of relative interest. While all One Shot albums are fairly close sonically (especially with their first album recently remixed and remastered), this means that anyone of them could serve as an introduction to the band's works since they are all representative of the band's oeuvre, but if you're going to chose just one, you might want to choose the present Dark Shot, precisely because you get a visual aperçu performance to complete the aural experience.

Third album from this French "Zeuhl" quartet (your basic instrumental prog quartet), one that got the help of the Triton association in Paris, released in 06 and that was distributed through the Musea label. The still-unchanged line-up of OS delivers another batch of their dark and sombre soundscapes, between King Crimson and Magma or even Univers Zero, and on the more modern or lesser-known influences, one could mention Potemkine, Vortex, NeBeLNeST and a few more. Sooooo, you could say that One Shot sounds typically French prog, with some Zeuhl touches, induced by the pounding bass, but also the dark atmospheres of their music.

The opening title track starts the album on a demented pace, but to be honest, it's rather repetitive and overstays its welcome, despite being the shortest track on the disc. The following 15-mins Fat tracks offers an excellent intense ambiance, on that can remind some of the mid-70's fusion (Borghi's electric piano helps out a lot) before smlowly dying away in flurry of beauty. If the following I Had A Dream pt 3 & 4 (the continuation of the two tracks on the previous album) starts out smooth and almost ambient, it soon crescendos to an amazing 100 MPH. The closing Missing Imperator is McGaw's first composition for the group since its origins, but it's not like his "songwriting" differs much from the rest of the band.

BTW, I haven't been able to view the famous bonus video that's supposed to be on the disc, so I can't comment on it, but it won't change my outlook of the album, giving it an average One Shot rating, because EV is no better or worse than their other albums, just a bit of a return to their debut album's newer version (remixed & remastered). Soooo it's your call to see if you need all of the OS albums..