JAZZ ROCK/FUSION

This recording was released 40 years ago! It will soon have a new remastered release later this year as a 6CD, 2DVD box set. So, it seems only fitting that another review be added to honor this rather phenomenal piece of jazz-rock art. If anything, to alert other Bruford fans that new mixes and remasters are on the way. The boxed set will feature this recording, One Of A Kind, The Bruford Tapes and Gradually Going Tornado, along with some other select special additions. It cna be found through a web search and/or a visit to a web site having to do with a scorched outbuilding.

Previous reviews truly hit all the marks, even the not so glowing ones. I can relate to some of the misgivings, but as a whole, the compositions are about as complex as permitted in music theory textbooks. Bruford and company push the envelope in terms of rhythms and compositions.

Bruford's percussion is (ahem) flawless, The late Allan Holdsworth's guitar work is still fun to listen to, including those on-purpose notes that almost sound like errors. No such thing in Allan's delivery. The bass of Jeff Berlin is tight, on the money, and possesses phrasing that rank among the best bassists. Absolutely love Dave Stewart's keyboards and synth sounds. He's a master; as can also be appreciated in his work with Barbara Gaskin. Annette Peacock's vocals do take some adapting to, but once you gain familiarity with the music, you appreciate her style, range and presence. Then throw in Kenny Wheeler's flugelhorn for good measure and some smoothness (especially on Seems Like A Lifetime Ago Part I). With co-production by Robin Lumley, it is a conglomeration of shear mastery.

I bought this one, the first time, brand new, without any in-store listening, in 1977 on vinyl. On forst listen, it knocked my socks off. I played that album a lot through the years and nearly wore it out. Thankfully, I re-purchased it on CD 13 years later, in 1990, and once again enjoyed clear digital sound. This coming October (2017), I look forward to becoming re-familiar with this recording (and others in the box-set), some in the delights of 5.1 DTS surround. So glad that Bill Bruford encouraged a 2017 re-engineering of some representative jazz rock from forty years ago. Seems Like a Lifetime Ago! Indeed!

Another shakeup in the Return to Forever lineup, this time Al DiMeola and Lenny White departing. Chick Corea's wife Gayle Moran joins (she was previously with the second edition of Mahavishnu Orchestra for two albums), and Joe Farrell from the original 1972-73 lineup rejoins, as well as a horn section. Now this probably wasn't the wisest decision for Chick Corea to go this direction so hot on the heels of Romantic Warrior, which not only a highly regarded in RTF's and even Chick's career in general, but of the fusion genre to begin with. Upon listening to "The Musician" it's as if Chick was trying to meld the vocal style of Light as a Feather with a horn section. It's as if he was pretending his wife was Flora Purim as she attempts her vocal style. Unfortunately she's no Flora Purim, and thankfully she didn't touch on Brazilian styles of music (Bossa Nova, for example). Light as a Feather proves that vocals and jazz can go together, but then Flora Purim was suited for such, given her background as a Bossa Nova singer, and that influence was heavily felt in that album (as well as the 1972 RTF on ECM billed as a Chick Corea album) and those two albums were great and highly recommended. Here on MusicMagic it's a like a big mess. There are some pretty syrupy stuff here, for example "Hello Again". What on Earth? Pretty cheesy stuff. Or Stanley Clarke's "So Long Mickey Mouse". What on Earth? A bunch of "La la's" throughout with him attempting to do soulful vocals, and Gayle Moran being, well, Gayle Moran. On the other hand, there are some absolutely brilliant passages, some of the solos Chick Corea give are first rate, with that nice spacy keyboards and often proggy arrangement and even the horn section does some creative twists and turns as long as they aren't sounding like a Las Vegas lounge act. The last song, "The Endless Light" is perhaps the best thing on the album, overall, where the vocals and instrumentation work the best. I never could understand what the lyrics were about. Perhaps being a Scientologist would make more sense (Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, and Gayle Moran, at least, were all Scientologists). I can see why this is panned in many circles. I could have seen the potential in this album, some of those instrumental passages are as great as anything they've done before, but when the vocals kick in, it all comes crashing, and same if the horns decide to go Vegas on us. Luckily my copy is a cheap used LP, and if you need to get this, I suggest you get it cheap. It's too bad RTF ended up the way they did. I can sorta understand why Chick wanted to include vocals, since Gayle Moran already provided vocals on his two previous solo albums, My Spanish Heart and The Leprechaun, so he thought it would be great to include them on then next RTF album. For the simple fact that until this point, RTF never released a bad album (Chick Corea knew to keep the standards high on those albums) so making MusicMagic all that more disappointing. Scientology can be easy to blame. At least this was the end of RTF (although there was a live album released in 1978). So as mentioned, has its moments, but only get this on the cheap.

NANU URWERK released this lone album back in 1978 and most detect a Canterbury vibe because this is a fairly subtle style of Jazz with plenty of flute, sax and trombone besides the usual instruments. There's no guitar but the electric piano and bass are what impress me the most about this album and thankfully those two instruments dominate. There are some vocals and vocal melodies but for the most part this is an instrumental album. I'm surprised that it took me four listens to even start liking this recording but again it's fairly laid back overall and it took some time for it's subtleties to rise to the top for me. I so enjoy the overall mood of this record. And there is that Krautrock spirit at times but for me this is a Jazz/ Rock record.

"Hier Und Jetzt, Jungs" is a top three for me. Talk about subtle, this one starts out with cymbals and some relaxed beats along with electric piano and bass. What a beautiful melody right here, just gorgeous. Percussion comes to the fore after 5 minutes as the bass and electric piano continue. Drums are back after 7 minutes. "Ungrad" is a short 2 1/2 minute song that starts with a horn, piano and more before the flute arrives around a minute then it settles back. I like this a lot with the atmosphere adding to my enjoyment. So much going on late.

"Die Holzauber" is another top three tune for me. Drums, electric piano, bass and atmosphere to start. I like the mood here as it starts to pick up before a minute and vocal melodies join in. So good! Spoken words replace the vocal melodies as the bass becomes more prominent. This has a determined sound to it. Vocal melodies are back before 3 1/2 minutes. Sax replaces them before 4 minutes changing the dynamic somewhat. Catchy stuff. Vocal melodies are back late to end it.

"Give It A Try" might be a short song but it's my final top three. Vocal melodies and piano lead the way to begin with but soon he's singing. I just really enjoy this one. "Nanu" is the longest track at 12 1/2 minutes. It sounds like wind chimes and e-piano to start as the bass joins in. Eventually pulsating keys lead the way with bass and percussion-like sounds. I like the bass 4 1/2 minutes in and that atmosphere bringing Krautrock to mind. The tempo picks up a minute later as drums come to the fore and the pulsating keys continue. Flute 6 minutes in. So good! It's building as the bass returns. Soon it settles to a smooth sound as the sax and flute take turns leading the rest of the way.

"Zhawoh" has a jazzy start with e-piano, a beat and bass. There's a kind of lame melody to my ears that arrives but that changes when it quickly gets fuller. This happens again later on. "Der Illusionist-Der Clown" is pretty much trombone and piano throughout.

A solid 4 stars in my opinion with some real high points, and really it's only the way it ends with the last two tracks that makes me settle on four stars and nothing higher. No Funk here either which is surprising for a late seventies release.

To me, No Mystery is a bit of an oddity in the RTF catalog. It's clear on side one (the first five cuts, if you own the CD) the band was exploring funk, with a little disco thrown in. It's still unmistakably fusion, though, so if you like fusion, it shouldn't bother you too much, but maybe for the more prog inclined, it might, although Al DiMeola's "Flight of the Newborn" is the most proggy thing on side one, more resembling something off Al's late '70s material (the more proggy stuff, not the flamenco stuff) from Land of the Midnight Sun or Elegant Gypsy. "Excerpt From the First Movement of Heavy Metal" gets me scratching my head. What's metal about this? Of course I understand Chick Corea and the boys would never play heavy metal, but what about the rest of the First Movement, and perhaps several other movements? Was there supposed to be a Heavy Metal Suite? Regardless, it's more of the funky stuff the guys were exploring on that side. I suppose it was Lenny White steering the band in a more funky direction as a lot of it brings to mind his first solo album Venusian Summer, released later the same year (1975). Side two is a different story. Here they're going for a much more prog-oriented direction. To my ears they actually sound like Romantic Warrior sessions, even though this predates that album by a year, but it's clear as a bell where they were already heading on this side. The music is much more complex, there's almost Gentle Giant-like moves at times. All this culminates with the two part "Celebration Suite". Side two is very much worth it for the proggers, especially if they enjoy Romantic Warrior. I can see while why this album still gets favorable reviews, it's not as highly regarded as the other three with Lenny White (Al DiMeola wasn't on Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy). Mainly because the funky material they do here may not appeal to every proghead, and that disco on "Jungle Waterfall" may make many wonder if they sold out. Luckily they didn't, and that was their only disco song here. For the more prog inclined, listen to side two, it's amazing stuff, foreseeing what they'll be doing on Romantic Warrior. Side one is still quite enjoyable, but less complex and less prog. Still worth getting.

KROKOFANT are a young trio out of Norway consisting of drums, sax and guitar. This is album number two for the boys who play a heavy, avant style of Jazz that is both improvized and structured. The debut simply blew me away with how insane it could be at times. I actually gave it a spin earlier this week to compare the two albums and found the debut to be much more extreme with more guitar. Now normally I'd prefer the more tamer sound of "II" but man the debut had me actually laughing out loud at times with how "out there" it got. I mean the guitar, sax and drums all go beyond where most bands would fear to tread, if they could even play the kind of complex music that this band offers.

"C.O.T.A." hits the ground running with honking sax and drums. Soon a sax melody arrives that I'm not that into. Contrasts continue until just before 3 1/2 minutes when it calms right down with drums only then some bluesy guitar arrives that soon changes to a complex style as the drums pound away. The sax is back before 6 1/2 minutes replacing the guitar to the end.

"Sail Ahead" is another uptempo number with sax and drums leading the way. It settles just before 2 minutes then the sax turns dissonant after 3 1/2 minutes. Sax only a minute later but not for long as the drums come rumbling in. "Nieu" opens with the guitar and sax ripping it up. A very interesting sound here as it is very avant sounding. The sax becomes melodic after 1 1/2 minutes as the guitar is replaced by the drums. Some crazy sax before 5 1/2 minutes.

"The Ship" is led by sax and drums to begin with and the sax gets pretty creative at times. A calm before 5 minutes with drums only then the guitar starts to solo. Just a shred-fest after 6 minutes then the sax is back late. "Snake Dog" is my favourite song on here. I just like that intro with guitar and drums that is repeated throughout. It's contrasted with a section that includes dissonant sax and those passages dominate. Guitar, sax and drums all let their hair down after 4 minutes. What a display! Themes are repeated.

"Watchtower" is uptempo with sax and drums to start. It settles after a minute as the guitar replaces the sax. And the guitar is just bonkers here as he lights up the soundscape until the sax returns after 4 minutes.

I feel the same way about their debut as I do KAYO DOT's "Choirs Of The Eye". I'm just not worthy to hear such complexity and "out there" music and no it's not all good(haha). But this sophomore album while tamer is still very avant and difficult but I'm just not nearly as impressed. So 3 stars it is.

4.5 stars. The only thing keeping me from hitting the 5 star button is that funk fuelled opening track, the second is funky too but a much better tune. The rest is incredible to my ears so yes this is a top 15 album for me for 1975 right now. Lenny White is such a talented man and during a break from RETURN TO FOREVER he brought in some amazing musicians to record this his first solo album. I love that Patrick Gleeson from those "Mwandishi" albums is here along with many known names like Larry Young, Al DiMeola, Larry Coryell, David Sacious and more. That album cover would be perfect if the girl with the horns wasn't there. The title implies a Venus-like Summer I believe.

"Chicken-Fried Steak" is indeed funky with White adding clavinet to his drum duties. Some expressive guitar here as well. Catchy stuff and check out the organ from Jimmy Smith around 3 1/2 minutes. "Away Go Troubles Down The Drain" is also funky but the attraction for me here is the abundance of intricate sounds. Just a pleasure to really listen to this one even if I feel the remainder of this album is better. Sancious adds organ and synths to this one and we also get some guitar after a minute.

"The Venusian Summer" is a top three tune for me. The first of two sections that make up this track are filled with synths as four guys all play them and we also get sequencers and then piano late from Lenny. It's surprisingly spacey and dark. The latter is surprising given the title of the song. The second part of the song sounds completely different as we get this great sounding atmosphere as intricate sounds come and go. So good! Piano after 6 minutes followed by flute.

"Prelude To Rainbow Delta" is a short intro track to the next song. This has spacey synths and some percussion as it builds to a powerful sound full of atmosphere. It blends into "Mating Drive" a top three tune for me. It's sparse and atmospheric at first, spacey and dark. Soon it kicks in to an uptempo groove just before a minute. The lead guitar from Raymond Gomez shines here, Larry Young adds organ. Gomez is on fire before 3 minutes as he lights it up, nice bass as well. Organ to the fore after 4 minutes then it's the guitar's turn 5 1/2 minutes in. Check out the drumming to end this smoldering song. Nice.

"Prince Of The Sea" is my favourite song on here and a perfect closer. I love the guitar and here Al DiMeola and Larry Coryell put on quite the show, like a duel of sorts trading solos. Atmosphere and the sound of sea gulls to start. Soon synths I believe, then some piano and flugelhorn are added as it stays relaxed and mellow. A beat kicks in before 3 1/2 minutes along with guitar. It takes a minute but soon the guitars start to dominate. They are trading solos before 9 1/2 minutes. Oh my! It becomes a shred-fest. Nice. Sea gulls are back before 11 1/2 minutes to end it.

An incredible album that doesn't start off that well but just seems to get better as it plays out. Highly recommended to fans of Jazz/ Fusion out there. One of the classics.

Review originally posted at www.therocktologist.com

I first met Nicolas Meier's music when Leonardo Pavkovic from Moonjune Records sent me the album Chasing Tales, which Meier did with Peter Oxley, since then, I realized how good, experimental and classy this Swiss guitar-man is.

His playing can cover a wide variety of sounds and genres, since you will find jazz, rock, blues, Spanish and even some world music, so once you hear his compositions you may feel attracted by that diversity, and of course, you might choose your favourite Meier-style. For this album entitled "Infinity", he teams-up with two jazz monsters such as Vinnie Colaiuta and Jimmy Haslip, as well as some other great guest musicians. The album features 11 songs that make almost an hour of great instrumental music.

"The Eye of Horus" is the opening track, a wonderful piece of music that has a jazzy-feeling wonderfully complemented by some violins. "Still Beautiful" is a much calmer composition, relaxing and delicious., here the acoustic guitar is what makes us fly. "Riversides" has a kind of oriental feeling and a repetitive rhythm, but it is a wonderful track because little by little the musicians bring more and new figures, faster notes and let us feel we are walking into a vertiginous road. Great!

"Yemin" shows off Meier's skills with acoustic guitar, he has soft and delicate fingers that produce wonderful sounds so one can feel pleased while listening to him. Of course the musicians help a lot, bass, drums and violin are all played exceptionally good. "Legend" is a song Meier dedicates to Jeff Beck, that legendary man who Nicolas has been playing with for some years. It is nice to say that the compositions of this album were created while Meier was travelling around the world with his different projects, being Jeff Beck's band one of them. The interplay between musicians here is great, all of them shine and create together a truly solid piece of jazzy-oriental- spanish track.

"Tales" shows cadence on its sound within a jazzy atmosphere. Electric and acoustic guitars are greatly played here, while Haslip makes magic with his bass lines and Colaiuta shows how monstrous he is with drums. "Rose on Water" is the shortest track, a soft classical oriented track with violin as main instrument. It leads to "Flying Spirits" which starts with a soft rhythm but all of a sudden it brings faster violin sounds reminding me a bit of Mahavishnu Orchestra and some jazz fusion giants. The nuances made by guitar are beautiful and all the changes created here let us know how great composer Meier is.

"Serene" as the title suggests, is a laid-back piece with a 4/4 rhythm but with a beautiful and relaxing sound, one can close the eyes and feel incredibly satisfied. "Kismet" is an extraordinary composition that evokes oriental lands, I love how it has both fast and slow moments, vertiginous and delicates, it is one of my favourite songs here. The album finishes with "JB Top" which is the rockiest and heaviest of them all, in fact, the sound is so different from the previous tracks that one could think it would not fit in here, however, it is a nice surprise and I believe it was a wonderful chose for a closing track.

If you still don't know Nicolas Meier's work, you should change it immediately. Highly recommended!

Enjoy it!

Review originally posted at www.therocktologist.com

Oh, what a wonderful album!

Tohpati is one of those Indonesian guitar-Gods I've recently discovered thanks to Leonardo Pavkovic from Moonjune Records, and I will always be grateful for it, because the quality and sensibility of this guitar player is amazing, his music has made me fell completely satisfied and happy to be alive. This is the second band of his band in which he is the leader, but whose other members are the perfect complement that one man need. Tohpati Ethnomissión's Matah Hati is a wonderful jazz-fusion journey that any fan from this genre and some other genres such as progressive rock or folk could love.

It starts with "Janger" and since the first notes we can notice a delicious sound made by percussion and an evident Indonesian flavour. Let me tell you that this is an instrumental album, so please, be prepared to start a wonderful journey. The song is superb, with some slow passages and some explosive moments. The guitar is amazing but I love what the other musicians do, especially the man on percussion and those flute moments. Sweet! "Tanah Emas" shows the evident talent of the bass player, either with solos or as background. This tune is pretty jazzy with some western feelings, this time.

"Pelog Rock" is an amazing, vertiginous, powerful rock/jazz/fusion/prog track, it is an big proof of how those genres can live together without being forced. The song flow perfectly in spite of its different time changes, all the instruments have their shot, but of course, as one can imagine, Tohpati's powerful solos shine. A truly amazing track! With "Mata Hati" we can take a deep breath after that previous bomb-track. Here the sound is much more relaxed and even introspective, so if you wish, let the music talk and take you to calm places.

Another contrast. After that calm track, the faster sounds, the rock and jazz-fusion that make us move our heads and body return in "Berburu", a solid and delicious composition that also bring (as most of the album) some cultural references from that rich Indonesian realm. Worth mentioning the musicianship is impressive! "Rancak" has a joyful feeling that will surely put a smile on you. The 6 minutes are full of folkish tunes made by flute and acoustic guitar, which at the same time create a jazzy scheme. "Reog" is, for some strange reason, the song I less feel connected with. Maybe it is the most experimental track of the song, and it is a great one, believe me, though I could not fall in love with it. There is a very cool drums solo, though.

"Pangkur" has a one-minute soft introduction and then the song changes and becomes more aggressive. Again, a feast of fusion can be found here, amazing strings, drums and wonderful winds gathered together in order to give us a cool musical experience. The album finishes with "Amarah" which is an amazing track that has a percussion introduction that leads to an explosion of heavy guitar riffs wonderfully accompanied by a soft flute. The band chose a pretty cool heavy tune to finish the album and let us mesmerized by this fast and addictive sound.

Friends, go and listen to his record, you will not regret. Enjoy it!

Review originally posted at www.therocktologist.com

This is one of those different albums created by some magical minds that decided to gather together in order to reach complete freedom and find a complement of their tastes, in one single day at the studio. Four musicians from the Moonjune Family spent a day at Spain, united forces and decided to do this album entitled The Stone House, which consists simply in six different improvisations that were recorded one day, while playing without a script, no previous compositions nor rehearsals, so this is the result of a moment of empathy and wizardry in which guitar monsters Mark Wingfield and Markus Stauss, shared affinities with extraordinary bass player Yaron Stavi and awesome drummer Asaf Sirkis.

'Rush' opens the album, it is a 12-minute trip in which we will find from atmospheric sounds, Crimsonian-motifs and rock elements, to jazzy nuances, psych hints and of course, some electronic textures. What the four musicians use to play on their personal projects can be found here, creating a extraordinary amalgam that let us know how capable they are to adapt to each other's likes. The piece never sounds uneven, and all of the musicians have their shot at some moment; no selfishness here. 'Four Moons' is the shortest impro here. The guys delight us with a kind of atmospheric tension that naturally flows. There are some prog hints here and spacey atmospheres, but this time Wingfield's guitar is what more attracted my attention.

'Silver' is one of my preferred pieces, I like how dynamic it is and how well they get along, seems they had been working together for years, actually it sounds like a real composition, so go figure. Didn't find it east to categorize, however, I think prog rock and jazz fusion fans would be pleased with this song and album. No boundaries can be found here, all of the musicians seem to be comfortable with what they do, which is why the music has some crescendos and climax, despite being an improvisation. Amazing! 'Fjords de Catalunya' brings the words ambient and experimental to my mind. It is a softer track but a bit darker at the same time, there are some quiet moments, maybe relaxing, but ironically, maybe disturbing. I imagine the musicians having a moment of introspection, playing with eyes closed and taking a deep breath.

With 'Tarasque' drums play with several figures, producing a kind of nervous sound that is nicely contrasted by soundscapes and guitars. The bass plays some fast notes that in moments sound as nervous as the drums, like chaotic passages in which one does not know what will happen next. The last minutes are strange, some noises and the improvisation simply vanishes. The album finishes with 'Bona Nit Se'or Rovira', which happens to be the longest track. Bass and drums mark the rhythm while guitars put the riffs and the atmospheres. The minutes pass and seem to be a new chaotic passage in which all of them share heavy sounds but then, all of a sudden it calms down and starts again. Calm for some seconds but explosive for most of the moments. The musicians are having fun, playing a nice game of improvisations, but they all are responsible of giving the listener quality sounds and forms, and believe me, they know how to do it. This final track has lots of changes, but I assure your attention will never be lost.

A very good album! This is a nice way to show how 4 minds can create interesting improvisations.

Enjoy it!

I don't know why I had been resistant at Return to Forever for years. I think I do, when I was younger I thought a lot of fusion was just boring technical showoffmanship. Even when I bought Romantic Warrior (used LP at a St. Vincent de Paul) in 2006, it has some nice ideas, but then I dismissed it. Years later it really grew on me, and I noticed how much prog leaning that particular album had. Then much more recently I went for Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, and really pleasantly shocked with Light as a Feather (with the Brazlian approach thanks to Flora Purim and Airto Moreira). Now it's Where Have I known You Before. This album find Chick Corea finally incorporating synthesizers along with electric piano and clavinet. Bill Connors was now out of the picture, in comes an unknown Berklee student named Al DiMeola to fill in, and this is the classic lineup that would last for two more albums (including the ever popular Romantic Warrior). The album takes a more calm, refined approach, where Hymn if the Seventh Galaxy was pretty obviously taking on to the more raw sound of Mahavishnu Orchestra (but without violin). The "Where Have I..." title variants are basically piano interludes that go with the full-band stuff. "Vulcan Worlds" is the opening cut and what a great piece this is, especially the synth passages. Stanley Clarke did a version of it on his self-entitled second album from 1974 on Nemperor. "The Shadow of Lo" is more calm and relaxed, but there are a couple of electric piano riffs that sounded like they were taken off Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds of Fire. "Beyond the Seventh Galaxy" was an obvious sequel reference to Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, this is pretty much a straight up fusion piece you come to expect from this era, a great piece nonetheless. "Earth Juice" is an interesting one. Lenny White does that disco hi-hat thing, and Al DiMeola gives a nice rock feel to the guitar. The overuse of hi-hat may turn off many, because it became such a bad disco cliche that it became one of the reasons for the bad name of disco (of course having the campy Village People in the late '70s didn't help matters any). In 1974 that hi-hat approach had luckily not been done to death, and there's too much of a rock attitude to be actually disco. You can't get Studio 54 dancing with this piece (and beside Studio 54 didn't even exist in '74). "Song to the Pharaoh Kings" is over 14 minutes and what a wonderful piece. Of the RTF albums I have, I will have to say this is by far my favorite. Great stuff that I can recommend to all fusion fans.