SUMMER SESSIONS VOL. 3

The Summer Sessions are something special. Far from being aimless jams, these are multi-layered compositions which reward repeated listening. The sound textures are drawn from the 60's and 70's, the most vital era of rock. Each Volume has its own character. While Volume 1 reminds us of Black Sabbath at their most progressive, Volume 2 adds an ecstatic layer of saxophone, making the competing melodies mindblowing. At times, it reminds one of Miles Davis' Electric band around the Jack Johnson era. Volume 3, I would argue, is the most thematically cohesive of the set. All of the compositions seems to be different variations on a basic melodic structure. The opening section of "Manifestations of Summer," "Lonely Traveller," is perhaps the most beautiful moment in the whole Summer Sessions. A poignant guitar riff interplays with a mellotron flute in a breathtaking melodic counterpoint that makes you think this is a lost Jefferson Airplane masterpiece, or perhaps an alternate reality in which Tony Iommi has joined the Moody Blues.

The lack of vocals on these recordings contributes to their fascination. They are sufficiently abstract to draw the listener into their mystery, and yet they "rock" in a way that brings the body into the listening experience.

I give this volume, and the whole set, five stars, because no one has done anything like this, and this is a significant and widely overlooked contribution to progressive music.