HERE COMES THE CRAZY MAN!

Belgian composer, pianist and keyboardist, brother of well-known singer Kris De Bruyne.Koen De Bruyne had his own, unfortunately short, stint in the field of Jazz, Fusion and Funk with a line-up he gathered around mid-70's and featured Placebo's Richard Rousselet on trumpet, Yvan De Souter on bass and Jean Pierre Onraedt on drums.He also used trumpeter Gerard Sabbe, Patricia Maessen on voices, Adelson Defrise on flute and Firmin Timmermans on bongos for his sole album ''Here comes the crazy man!'', recorded at the Studio Madeleine in Brussels and released in 1974 on the Vogue label.

With three pieces of PLACEBO in the line-up the sound here is somewhere between Jazz Rock and Funk with some strong Fusion interactions, making up for a pleasant atmosphere, relying much on the double horns of Sabbe and Rousselet and marked by De Bruyne's keyboard and piano parts.There are some straight links to Jazz with piano and bass in evidence, sometimes without any supporting personel, but there are also some impressive parts with beautiful changes from piano-based to synth-drenched jazzy experiments.Heavy trumpet lines and soft grooves combine for a quite 60's-flavored Psych Jazz, while the addition of Maessen's voice in ''Pathetic dreams'' delivers some ethereal tunes in the vein of compatriots COS.Some moments in here sound a bit directionless and the mood is sometimes a bit softer than expected, but there are decent ideas on jazzy executions, highlighted by some great bass parts and De Bruyne's omnipresent piano.The synth-based passages are likely the ones closer to Jazz Fusion, having a neurotic and dynamic sound and maybe their use should have been more pronounced.''Unanswered questions'' features also the psychedelic flute work of Adelson Defrise, offering another charming variation of De Bruyne's sound.

The following year De Bruyne became a member of the short-lived Jazz Funk act Mad Unity and, of course, he was a regular contributor in the works of his brother Kris.In 1978 he composed the soundtrack of the film by Jan Gruyaert ''In Kluis''.Sadly he passed away shortly after the album's release.

Ethereal and very jazzy album of funky and Fusion ideas.Maybe too mellow in certain parts, but still well-played and warmly recommended.