CURT CRESS

Curt Cless Clan formed around drumer Curt Cless of course is one shot wonder group with only one album released in 1975 selftitled and re issued on CD by Sireena label digipak format in 2010. Well what we have here is a kind of jazz fusion funk almost typical for thet period, no groundbreaking moments, only being the opening track Cyclone who is btw killer, Curt druming on this pieces and of course the rest of the musicicans involved here is top notch. This album released when he was still a Passport member, maybe the music goes towards Passport influnce in places, but to me is little less intrsting the on Passport same period. Anyway some great musicians here, all memebers being in or later one joining good bands from progressive rock/ jazz fusion realm like Volker Kriegel on keyboards, Dave King later on with Snowball, Curt Cress from intialy in Orange Peel and going through Passport to Atlantis, so a bunch of great skilfull musicians, unfortunatly is not enough to be only skilful as individual is needed to work like a unit to come with something special, this album is only ok, not a bad one but sometime is to releaxed and safe jazz fusion. If the rest of the album were sounding like opening track Cyclone then for sure would be much better, that piece kick ass, the rest are only good nothing really impresive moments are present. A forgotten album, maybe with the re issue on CD they will get more attention. 3 stars for this release.

The debut album from one of the '70s best drummers is an undemanding but energetic collection of instrumental Jazz-Funk not far removed from the Fusion grooves of PASSPORT, in which Cress was still a member at the time. As with his parent band, the influence of WEATHER REPORT looms large, but here the playing leans more gently on the crutch of virtuosity, opting instead for a simpler, sunny vibe with lots of infectious jamming.

CCC practiced a slightly condensed variation of the classic Passport style, which even at its height (circa "Cross-Collateral", released the same year as this effort) was never very complex. Trade the Space Rock synths and sequencers for common electric pianos and a Hohner Clavinet, eliminate the distinctive Wandrey's Studio cover art, and Passport might have looked something like this, moving gracefully from the strutting '70s funkathons of "From the Back" and the cryptically titled "451271" to the bluesy "Shuffle on Out", arranged in a nimble rhythmic count of fifteen.

The album misses the dynamic saxophone of Passport's main man Klaus Doldinger, but the flugelhorn in the song "Fields" was a nice addition, alongside the more prominent electric guitars (Volker Kriegel was an adept pupil in the John McLaughlin school of performance). The drumming of course is impeccable throughout, played as always with deceptively simple yet sophisticated ease, occasionally giving way to a brief, frenzied storm of pure Fusion pyrotechnics, in the appropriately titled "Cyclone" and later during "Movin' Right Along".

The material may be lightweight, but this is an album that would sit comfortably on a shelf alongside the early solo efforts of BILL BRUFORD, and it's hard to imagine a higher compliment. Three solid stars.