BUMP 'N' GRIND

Fourth and last album for JH, and apparently it was commonly agreed that this was to be the make or break album. The usual trio (armed with two ex-crimson drummer as Ian Wallace joined-up Giles) intended as concept was the lives of the ladies in a cabaret, but apparently the concept diverged into a complete extravaganza with tons of extra musicians once the label got excited about the project and over- did their part with a luxurious sleeve.

Starting on seagulls and piano into I Could Be Your Orchestra or its string-overloaded follow-up Spaghetti Sunshine, this album seems to be filled to the brim with the whole kettle of prog clichés, but then again, this might be a proghead's easiest way to get into JH. Classically trained Brian Chatton, constantly pushed by his buddy Keith Emerson, he obviously explodes into this album (he hadn't written anything on FAB, then did his bit in RF), but here seems to take on the lion's share in terms of songwriting

Again, when these big projects get on a roll, with the label's consent, it's usually the opposite returns that comes back in return. In the same genre than Bump And Grind, I can think of Audience's Lunch (mega project that broke the band up) and Stackridge's Mr Mick (also a mega project, but apparently botched up by the record company for not releasing the tracks correctly and consequently broke up the band), and indeed Jackson ended up broke with a group whose forces fled them. Swiss wizz Patrick Moraz would then step in and save the day for Jackson .