VOLARÉ

How many Canterbury bands are there that have come out of the U.S.A.? I am familiar with the great band THE MUFFINS but none other except for this band. VOLARE's first recording never did get released on cd until now with this release.Interesting to note that these 5 tracks(from 1st recording) were all recorded live and the sax and cello were added later.Also we get 3 bonus tracks including "Memoirs Of A Misshapen Man" which is a song that they played live from the beginning,they had just never recorded it.This is a live version that was recorded in studio back in 1997."Oxford Don" was a song that didn't make it onto their second release "The Uncertainty Principle".This version was also recorded live in 1997 at a different studio."The Hive" was recorded specifically for this album in 1999 when they reunited briefly for some live shows. "North By Northwest" was inspired by HATFIELD AND THE NORTH.It opens rather softly with keys,light drums and cello.A full sound a minute in.The guitar is playing over the top.The tempo and mood keeps changing in this one.One minute it's a pastoral calm and the next it's a driving rhythm.Excellent tune. "Eighth Direction" is a heavier mid paced song.Quite a bit of bottom end on this one.Organ,drums and cello lead the way.Some prominant synth work 2 1/2 minutes in,but it's the drumming that impresses me the most here.Guitar and cello follow.Some great bass lines after 4 minutes.It calms right down except for the brief scorching cello. "The Broken Waltz" opens with a pleasant melody as drums and keys are joined by cello.Pulasating keys 1 1/2 minutes in come and go.Intricate sounds fill the air.The sound changes 2 1/2 minutes in as piano comes in.A full driving sound a minute later.The drums are great.It calms back down to end it. "Three O'Clock" features acoustic guitar and cello melodies.Sax comes in as well.My least favourite track.The next 2 songs are my favourite tracks. "The Odessa Steps Sequence" has such a warm organic sound of light drums,keys and bass.When the guitar along with a full sound arrive 3 minutes in it's even better.I like the synths 4 1/2 minutes in.A nice heavy sound before 7 minutes with some excellent guitar and bass. "Memories Of A Misshapen Man" is next and i love the intro.The drumming is outstanding.Synths 3 minutes in.A powerful sound follows that is closer to metal than it is to canterbury. "Oxford Don" opens with lots of atmosphere as they are creating some tension here until 1 1/2 minutes in.Then the guitar soars tastefully as keys,drums and bass play on.I like the way this guy plays drums.Nice synth solo.The song calms down 4 1/2 minutes in. "The Hive" opens with guitar leading the way as drums pound away.The guitar is beautifully played.Sax,liquid keys and throbbing bass fill out the sound.Is that mellotron 3 1/2 minutes in ? Nice. This is highly enjoyable canterbury music with top notch musicianship.

Volare's first album is solid and consistent. To a certain extent, I would agree with other reviewers that compare this album to works by jazzier Canterbury bands like Hatfield and the North and National Health. Like these bands, Volare uses light- hearted and melancholic melodies for there musical backdrop. Placed on top and juxtaposed against these are quirky rhythms and lead guitar. I could have done with less of the metallic sounding guitar leads, it seems as though they were thrown in to say "hey, we're still a rock band". A lot of the guitar leads just didn't sound like they fit. All the more understated picking/ acoustic parts on guitar are very nice and do a great job of complimenting the keyboard parts. The bass player is also the one playing sax on the album. I would have liked to see more sax weaved throughout the album, since Kessler is a fine sax player. The main reason that this album sounds like a Canterbury album (and why I like it so much) is Patrick Strawser's keyboard work. He has many similarities to Dave Stewart or Steve Miller on keys. Patrick Strawser's nimble and endearing piano work drenches almost every track; this combined with his lead syth/organ work makes him absolutely indespenscible to the sound of this album. I would also like to compliment Strawser on his choice of synth sounds; they are natural and earthy while still in keeping with a more modern sound. In my opinion, nothing ruins an album like a bunch of cold, spacey synths that are going nowhere and doing nothing rather than filling space. For some reason I always felt that Volare could have used a vocalist. I am not talking about that overbearing and pretentious singing that seems to plague a lot of newer symphonic bands, maybe just some understated vocals thrown in sparsely to hold things together. My favorite tracks on this album would have to be Abcircus, Vespers, and In Two Seconds of Time. I am giving this album 4 stars, do primarily to the heartfelt keyboard work--just listen to Strawsers Fender Rhodes part at the end of One Minute of Thought. Though Volare is disbanded, I hope to hear Patrick Strawser making more music in the future, by him or with other bands.

Absolutely fantastic album, great instrumental passages with lots of tempo changes and melodic hooks. National Health, Hatfield and the North and maybe a little bit of Gilgamesh can be heard in the music. I also hear Bruford's "One of a Kind" too. This one I played for a long time.....the Canterbury style seems over used in some reviews but fits here perfectly. Not at all "avant garde" sounding as in an RIO sense, but well played and "melodic" as in pleasing with memorable melody lines.

Debut album from this American quartet (the standard prog quartet with the bassist doubling on sax), and one of the 90's better albums in the Canterburian jazz-rock IMHO and produced by Glass Hammer alumni Babb and Schendel. With an amusing artwork, they recorded this album on the ever-essential label Laser's Edge in 97, and was very understandably well-received critically by the specialized press.

If this group is generally classified as Canterbury-an music (from Gligamesh to Hatfield to National Health and maybe a touch of Brand X), it is primarily due to their light-hearted harmonies, Strawer's particularly well-chosen keyboards sounds (often hinting at Stewart or Miller), every player's excellent skills and participating to the group's overall tightness, intricate compositions laced with original chord progressions.

One could also point to Kenso, Happy The Man or even The Muffins, but there is more than just sounding like other groups: Volaré has its own strengths and spirit as not be considered a vulgar clone band, much like Anglagard managed to recycle 70's sounds without sounding stale. Vespers and Abcircus are jazzier than most of the Kent groups ever gotten (except for maybe Gilgamesh) and some of Strawer's Mini-Moog (more Emersonian than Stewardian) and the mellotron both at the end of Blitz, are proof of this. Certainly not an album to give itself on a few listening, it is nonetheless directly accessible and with repeated listenings, this album will unfold slowly all of its treasures. Certainly one of my top 10 of that year and probably in the top 20 of the decade.

On the outside of this CD is printed the following wonderful summation. VOLARE is an instrumental quartet who blend classic prog and fusion with a distinctive Canterbury flavor. Essential for fans of NATIONAL HEALTH, HATFIELD & THE NORTH & HAPPY THE MAN. Let me build on this brief outline but suggesting that this quartet combine lovely guitar and bass expressions with keyboard and drum interplay in a highly "avante-garde"-like way. At times, I even hear the ol' mellotron adding some symphonia. It has taken me some time to get to the review of this progressive gem, but "just for the record...I'm going to put down" as a real winner and one of those recordings which will keep you amazed.