TONTON MACOUTE

One of the most interesting minor bands of 70s British prog, Tonton Macoute released a very good debut album, sometimes even excellent. The music is jazz - blues pleasant and melodic, very far from the intricate complexity of other exponents of the genre, with the add of some other stylistic influences: their style reminds me other bands such as Affinity, Raw Material, Traffic, Caravan, but even at Camel of "Rain Dances". The most notable thing is the delicacy of their way to play jazz, far away from the "harshness" of bands like Catapilla, Manavishnu Orchestra or Colosseum. Unfortunately, the collapse of the record label Neon ended the career of the band that will not be able to complete the recording of their second album.

The opening track Just Like Stone has a delicate instrumental organ introduction, close to the style of Caravan. After a section sung by many voices, there's an instrumental central part with a sudden change of pace and many flute solos. Don't Make Me Cry, perhaps the best track on the album, begins with an organ riff and stunning sax solos; then, a most relaxing section, with flute and piano solos. Flying South In Winter, has an exotic atmosphere and clearly looks like a piece of East of Eden purified from any kind of roughness, with beautiful interweaving by sax, flute and organ. In You Make My Jelly Roll the great fluidity and lightness of the instrumental passages is really amazing; the vocals is also sublime and very catchy. Natural High, divided into two parts, is perhaps the most experimental track of the album. In the first part, after a very melodic vocals, continuous rhythmic variations lead to a more symphonic final; the second part is a complex jazz improvisation on a theme built with vocalize, piano and wind instruments.

The weak point of the album is the short Dreams: it seems a Moody Blues or Barclay James Harvest song, definitely out of context and with rough guitar parts.

Highly recommended, not only to lovers of jazz-rock, but to all fans of progressive rock. Between four and five stars, my final rating is 8/10.

Best song: Don't Make Me Cry

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