UPRIGHT

Upright were originally formed in 1996 but soon broke up. Seven years later bassist Eric Martin decided to put the band back together, and although two of the original line-up were unable to rejoin, suitable replacements were soon found. 'Opinion' is their debut album, and is definitely within the genre favoured by Unicorn Records, namely jazz with a hint of prog about it. This is an instrumental album yet even though all of the music has been composed by Eric, it isn't as bass- led as one might imagine. The sax is as often the lead as the guitar, with the keyboards generally playing a secondary role. However, although there is no doubting the musicianship of those involved I did find that my attention was soon wondering. This is background music, or music that should be in smoky club. Production is good, but this is not likely to be an album that I often return to. For more details, www.unicornrecords.com.

Originally appeared in Feedback #79, June 2004