SYMBIOSIS

3.5 stars. Simon Phillips like fellow drummer Steve Smith was playing in a popular band a the time but wanted to record a Jazz/Fusion album his first love. Simon was in TOTO when he recorded this back in 1995, while Steve was in JOURNEY when he recorded his first Jazz/Fusion album in 1983. Simon is from the UK and has played with so many well known bands and he was a high in demand session drummer too. He played with 801 and I'd mention that live one they did in 1976 as a recommendation. He played on JUDAS PRIEST's "Sin After Sin" in 1977, THE MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP's debut in 1980, joined TOTO in 1992 then recorded an album in this Jazz style while in a band called PROTOCOL which isn't as good as this one in my opinion. Ray Russell plays guitar on both.

Not surprisingly we get a couple of TOTO members helping out on bass and percussion. The latter played in an American band called NEW SUN. Shiela E. adds timbales on here and there are 9 musicians involved in total in the making of this record. I feel that this is a 3.5 star album but am rounding up because I so enjoy listening to Simon's drumming and the bass which sounds amazing and there are 3 bass players on here. The issues for me are the smooth sax, in fact I saw a smooth Jazz tag on this one from another site. I can get past it because there is so much that I like about this album but yeah 3.5 stars is right for me.

Top two would include the title track with Shiela E. opening with the timbales along with percussion for a cool sounding start. It ends this way too on this 9 minute opener. I like how the keyboardist creates atmosphere on here. Guitar is lighting it up after 4 1/2 minutes. Soprano sax is often the lead instrument here. I think "Isis" is my favourite though. The guitar, sax and atmosphere and it's a relaxed tune at over 8 minutes in length but it works for me. Again the bass and drums sound so good on this album along with the overall sound quality. "Biplane To Bermuda" is pretty cool at over 9 minutes with all the beats along with the bass. This is an album on the border but I'm welcoming it to my Jazz related section, congrats! Haha.