UNDER THE SUN

Jazz bands are always tricky for me to review because I always feel intimidated by the fact that I've only heard "jazz-rock" albums and have little education with the traditional jazz history. But Ian Carr's Nucleus is certainly an enjoyable and accessible way for a jazz-rock noob to dip their toe. The line-up of this group seemed to be ever changing and this particular album lists nine musicians of credit. It was recorded in London in March 1974 and was supposed to reflect on themes of the outdoors. "In Procession" features a consistent bass groove with Gordon Beck playing something noted as "ring modulated" piano against Carr's horn. "The Addison Trip" has a bit of that funky '70s tv show theme song vibe to it. Solid bass solos are laid over dual percussion, bongos and hand percussions with some wordless vocals by Keiran White, doing a "whoa..whoa.." thing. "Pastoral Graffiti" is fabulous stuff with Bob Bertles laying a sweet, melodic flute solo atop laid back bass guitar and soft cymbals, before some horns come in at the fringes. This track really evokes the imagery of the cover photography, feeling like a warm, rainy summer afternoon. My only complaint is that it ends far too soon at 3 ½ minutes. "New Life" is mostly a wicked guitar solo over some incredibly colorful drumming.this track cooks. It settles briefly in the middle before bringing Carr's trumpet into the mix, then the drumming starts to heat up again. "Theme 1: Sarsaparilla" is a real blast out the gate with lively trumpet dueling with saxophone to a driving bass line. Later Gordon Beck delivers a piano solo before Carr and Bertles just go completely nuts again, some horn jamming to behold for sure. "Theme 2: Feast Alfresco" begins with dark and smoky trumpet over great bass, slow speed. Bertles gets a crack at the sax here too but here they are separate and not dueling each other. Then we have a wah-wah'd guitar solo over e-piano before a nice melodic ending. "Theme 3: Rites of Man" is a long and moody piece of horn over an "endlessly repeated ostinato pattern" as the booklet describes it. It goes on to share a great story about the track: Carr was sitting on a bus in Germany when a man came over to him and said "Mr. Carr, I want to thank you for that wonderful piece, Rites of Man. It's done wonders for our marriage." You'll understand when you hear the track which works to some great jamming. All in all this is a wonderful instrumental jazz album I would recommend to anyone interested in jazz-rock. My first Ian Carr album and I'm quite pleased with it.