ENERGIT

I have sampled quite a few non-US albums that purported to be "fusion", and (no names named for the sake of peace), well, they either weren't good enough, or weren't jazz-rock fusion enough. Venezuela .. Brazil .. Hungary ..the UK ... France .. Italy .. Norway .. things just didn't seem to be "fusing" properly in these otherwise lovely places. I couldn't even consider John McLaughlin and Jean-Luc Ponty as "British" and "French" respectively, because they were living and working in the US when they did what they did best in their careers.

With the notable exception of the German United Jazz-Rock Ensemble, and the Russian band Arsenal (to a limited degree), perhaps.

The Czechoslovakia of the 70s was a standalone phenomenon in this respect. Somehow the country the size of Pennsylvania, tucked away behind the Iron Curtain produced 3 world class fusion bands: Energit, Modry Efekt and Jazz-Q within a short period of time.

Energit's Energit is probably my favorite title of all the albums, produced by the said 3 bands in that period. I would be struggling to adequately describe its "features and benefits", but would certainly recommend that everI

With its Inventive and, frankly, refreshing melody lines, highest level musicianship and the contagious upbeat mood Energit could give a head start to just about any of the internationally revered fusion bands.

The best feature of Energit is the smile that it leaves on your face .. I would recommend that you consider treateing yourself to your own copy of Energit!

"Drift" sounds nothing like their debut as we get this funked up sound reminding me of Hancock's Headhunters album. Man this is the funk people as horns blast. We do get some guitar and electric piano taking the lead as well as it plays out. Excellent start. "Stratus" opens with atmosphere and piano as drums and guitar join in. Check out the drum work here ! The guitar is outstanding as well. Horns 3 1/2 minutes in then it settles late with atmosphere to end it. "Jami Rovnodennost" is led at first by piano then the acoustic guitar comes in and leads the rest of the way. "Mobilis In Mobili" is one of my favourites. Raw guitar with electric piano and drums as the horns join in. I like how the horns, electric piano and guitar keep taking turns leading.

"Zapomenuty Ostrov" has this somewhat haunting intro then percussion, horns and electric piano start to lead. Deep bass lines and drums follow. Electric piano leads 2 minutes in. Guitar 3 minutes in but then horns and electric piano return as they trade off. It settles after 5 minutes then starts to pick up before 7 minutes. Great sound ! "Ricni Pisek" has these deep bass lines, solid drum work and more. The sax starts to play over top before 2 1/2 minutes. "Piknik" is uptempo with horns blasting to start. Electric piano leads 2 minutes in then the drums and synths lead after 4 minutes until the guitar kicks in after 5 minutes.

A really good album that's worth 4 stars for sure but get the debut if you can.

Soumrak" opens with electric piano as the bass and drums join in followed by the sax. This is laid back and groovy baby. Love the chunky bass. Electric piano leads after 2 1/2 minutes when the sax stops. The guitar joins in a minute later. Nice. The sax is back to end it as the bass growls.

"Zeleny Saten" is very MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA-like. Absolutely fantastic ! Love the electric piano, drums and guitar. Killer stuff.

Without question a nice companion for the debut studio album. And a solid 4 stars.

I'm using the English song titles. "Morning Part I" is the opening side long suite. Outbursts of sound come and go then percussion only as drums then electric piano join in. Yes we have a drummer and a percussionist (congas) the latter brings SANTANA's music to mind at times. Deep bass lines come to the fore then sax. The guitar after 2 minutes starts to light it up. Sax replaces the guitar around 4 minutes and he's now ripping it up after 5 minutes. Electric piano and percussion also standout here. A calm before 7 1/2 minutes then percussion, electric piano and bass take over. The guitar joins in and eventually comes to the fore after 10 1/2 minutes and proceeds to light it up. It settles right down after 14 1/2 minutes then turns powerful again a minute later with sax playing over top. So freaking good.

"The Early Sunday" sounds great with electric piano, drums and bass leading the way as the sax joins in. "Night-Butterfly" opens with atmosphere as sparse sounds come and go. A change 2 1/2 minutes in as it turns powerful with bass and drums as the electric piano plays over top. The guitar starts to solo 4 1/2 minutes in. it settles back to that intro soundscape before 6 1/2 minutes right to the end. "Apotheosis" features guitar, electric piano, drums and synths throughout. "Morning Part II" is a great way to end the album reprising the opening track. This of course is a much shorter version. Percussion only ends it.

I have to give this 5 stars. So powerful and the guitar and electric piano are intoxicating to say the least.

The self titled debut used free jazz to inspire their rock oriented jamming--Piknik draws more on groove. The musicians are obviously world class and having a great time, and it shows on the record. 8 musicians contribute to the full sound the group achieves, and the dynamic patterns displayed throughout the music enhance the listening experience through gates that transcend nature. Energit came to me at the right time, and the obscure nature of this Czech group add to the appeal for me.

As instrumental pieces, these tracks present quite innovative melodies, which are sometimes hidden so well, that you don't hear any melody at all. I feel need to say that "Luboš Andršť" is rated as one of the best Czech guitarists (oh yeah, our country has few of these remarkably best ones), as shown in acoustic, flamenco-like solo in Jarní rovnodennost (Solstice), which offers the better side of this record.

What brings me to negatives, problem is that I don't hear any. Maybe problem of jazz itself, that it has parts, where nothing's going on. But that's just first look (hear), when you listen closely and concentrate your mind, you'll see these hidden relations between certain parts, which forms musical composition. Indeed, one of the best jazz music from Czech Republic, I even didn't know about this for a long time, but it's over now.

4(-), because it's very good jazz album. But not so good for me, as I'm not the best jazz listener, in fact I'm far from being the best and I'm still so called jazz apprentice. I'm trying, but it's coming slowly. But I can see perfection in this and because of this, final rating is 4.