IAN GILLAN BAND

Deep Purple-departed Ian Gillian gathered a whole bunch of A-level all-stars to make a fairly decent jazz-infused rock 'n' roll album.

1. "Clear Air Turbulence" (7:35) atmospheric opening with butterfly-flutes suddenly burst forward with a somewhat- funky bass-led rock motif over which Ian sings (with some growling poorly-effected vocals). Reminds me of one of Jean-Luc PONTY's hyperdrive songs from the same era. Around 2:30 it suddenly slows way down for a different motif. Bass and drums are quite impressive in this section with nice electric piano support. (13.25/15)

2. "Five Moons" (7:30) solo flute opens this before Fender Rhodes takes over. Ian's treated, John Anderson-like singing joins the electric piano before the end of the first minute. At the two minute mark the full band joins in with a bombastic burst of sound but then calms back down to Fender and voice after only 25-seconds. Too bad for Ian's effected voice cuz I can't really get a sense if he's a good singer (his melodic choices are nothing to write home about). The bass is about the only element of this song that is not rock--that is kind of jazzy--though maybe the dreamy Fender Rhodes qualifies at times. It's a voice like Steve Hillage uses on his first couple solo albums. (12.875/15)

3. "Money Lender" (5:38) purely a rock song with Ian going off with some raunchy stereotypic rock singing. The music is also pure two-chord rock though horn section and jazzy bass somehow work into the song's foundation. It sounds a bit like GRAND FUNK RAILROAD with Mel Shacher in the lead. The secondary motif in the third minute is pleasant and melodic in a pop-jazz way. The rest is pretentious (unless, I suppose, you take stock of the message of his lyrics). (8.6666667/10)

4. "Over The Hill" (7:14) nice Cauca-funky bass, drums, and rhythm guitar within a driving rock-vocaled song. Some of the best musicianship of the album. Great keyboard solo in the fourth and fifth minutes. Too bad about the vocal. The moslty-instrumental second half of the song contains some great music but then Ian's "Smoke on the Water" vocal rejoins. (13.375/15)

5. "Goodhand Liza" (5:24) hand percussion opens this one for 30-seconds before bass and drums join in--voice at 0:45. Whole-group vocals join in with keys and rhythm guitar over the cruisin' conga play giving it a kind of STYX or feel. Interesting and not bad instrumental passage in the fourth minute before John Gustafson starts a STANLEY CLARKE/ RTF-like bass chord sequence at 4:00. Off set by cat-like synth sounds, John's bass and Mark Nauseef's play out to the end. (8.66667/10)

6. "Angel Manchenio" (5:17) almost a variation of QUEEN's "Another One Bites the Dust." Nice guitar and keyboard performances. The work of the steady, fast-drivin' rhythm section eventually hypnotizes the listener into liking it--as well as the THIN LIZZY-like twin-melody-making of the guitar and Fender Rhodes. (8.75/10)

Total Time: 38:38

Despite jazz elements (mostly coming from the wonderfully-talented bass player, John Gustafson), this is not Jazz-Rock Fusion, not even jazz-rock; it's just rock 'n' roll. Why the guys decided to allow their identity to be lead by their singer (who, I'm sure, had little to do with the writing of the album's music) I do not know. I guess the dude had star power-- "name recognition" as they say.

B/four stars; a nice addition to any rock-oriented prog lover's music collection.

This is an interesting one, following his departure from the mighty Purple, uncle Gillan decided to get away from the harder edged rock, and try his luck with the more sophisticated "jazzy" approach. Most Gillan & Purple fans were cut a'bit off-guard with his venture into the fusion territory. After releasing "Child in Time" (1976); "Clear Air Turbulence" (1977) & "Scarabus" (1977). It was time to return to the famous venue and record a few shows. The latest incarnation of this release (2007) sports a total of 10 tracks. It features the full setlist including "My Baby Loves Me", which had been omitted from the previous releases.

As far as the performance is concerned, it is great! The recording quality, not so much. Even the re-issued version sounds a little muddy, but all in all worth a listen. Some of the most memorable moments for me personally are the somewhat longer, and shall we say "jazzier" versions of: "Money Lender", "Child In Time" but especially the Purple classic "Smoke On The Water" which clocks just under 10 minutes!

The third, and last, Ian Gillan band album comes with some changes. According to guitarist Ray Fenwick Gillan was interested in getting back to a more "basic" sound, trying to skip the more jazzy and experimental elements. In other words, to give what the Deep Purple fans were expecting from him since the beginning: hard rock, shorter songs and a more melodic approach. And Scarabus is quite a big step towards that. Of course the Jazz-rock/fusion is still very well present, but the tunes are indeed much shorter, so the room for experimentation is also cut short. In the end the result is an interesting hard rock/fusion/funk hybrid. Quite good, I must say, but it would be better if the Ian Gillan band had given a little more space for soloing in a couple of tunes at least.

Listening to the album today it is clear that this kind of arrangement would not work for the period: with the rising of The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and the success of other Deep Purple off-shots who jumped into the bandwagon like Rainbow and Whitesnake, Gillan was playing something that the new audience would not relate to. Either he would assume the cult following direction of previous Clear Air Turbulence showed or he should get another band together and play the kind fo music he was famous for. He obviously chose the latter and The Ian Gillan Band was no more.

Scarabus is an interesting album, quite transitional, with several good songs and, although ramped by the shorter running time of the songs, impeccable performances by all involved, specially the brilliant keyboardist Colin Towns. More rocking than their previous efforts, this CD has many memorable moments that should not be overlooked. It was a nice surprise, although one can only imagine how far they would have gone had they followed the paths Clear Air Turbulence opened.

Rating: 3,5 stars.

Clear Air Turbulence' was the second album from the fledgling Ian Gillan Band, the one where Ian made a concerted effort to move away from being just as the singer in a hard rock band. This was the one where jazz and funk made it's way to the forefront ? and it is probably the addition of one Colin Towns who brought this element in with him. But 'CAT' isn't the album I'm reviewing here, or is it? This is the album as it was originally mixed, before Ian decided that he wasn't happy with it and took it back to Kingsway Recorders. Instead of releasing it and going on tour, Ian cancelled the gigs and the album wasn't released until April 1977 ? a different beast to the one now in the player. Somewhat unusually for Angel Air, this is a reissue of one of their own albums, as it originally came out in 1997 but here it contains there extra songs and an interview with Ray Fenwick.

This is an album that is quite experimental in nature, but what is never in doubt is that at this point Ian was still in his prime, with some great vocals and don't be in doubt, there are some fine songs on here. "Money Lender" has a funk and rock style with some great horns and percussion. This outfit was really tight and while it may not be one that Purple fans will readily pick up, this is a strong release. Mind you, the live version of "Smoke" does show that Ray could distort it and crank it up with the best of them. www.angelair.co.uk.

Originally appeared in Feedback #79, June 2004

Well this was interesting. Ian Gillan the voice that roared for DEEP PURPLE decided to record some music that was quite different from what we were used to hearing from him. As Tom Ozric states, this is a hybrid of Rock and Progressive Jazz. It took quite a few listenes for me to even like it because it reminded me of the late seventies so much. I've grown to appreciate it though for what it is and feel it's a low 4 star offering.

"Clean Air Turbulence" opens with the synths creating some atmosphere then it kicks in before a minute with vocals. The bass and drums are very active. It settles after 2 1/2 minutes and we get some guitar 3 1/2 minutes in. This reminds me of STEELY DAN. It kicks back in at 6 minutes with horns helping out. "Five Moons" opens with flute and atmosphere as the wind blows. Mellow keys take over as reserved vocals join in. It kicks in at 2 minutes but it's brief although the contrasts will continue. A relaxed sax solo after 5 minutes. Excellent tune. "Money Lender" sounds like LYNYRD SKYNYRD until the horns blast away but then it's back to that Southern Rock flavour. The vocals get theatrical at times. A Jazzy vibe follows then it kicks back in before 4 minutes.

"Over The Hill" has prominant drums to start as vocals and more join in. Some screams before 2 1/2 minutes. A nice instrumental section a minute later. Some vocal expressions after 5 minutes too. "Goodhand Liza" opens with percussion and it never stops. Vocals before a minute. Cool song. "Angel Manchenio" opens with atmosphere and intricate sounds. A change before 2 1/2 minutes with vocals. This reminds me of STEELY DAN again. Another change after 4 minutes with floating organ and intricate sounds. It then picks up.

This has really grown on me after the original shock of my first listen. For Jazz / Rock fans.

Wonder where I was with this one! I guess it had more to do with the fear of some Whitesnake clone creeping in through the Deep Purple door and never gave this a proper chance at all. It turns out that the content of this remarkable album lies in conspiring against the obvious and search out new musical horizons , strangely for Ian the Howler he opted for a jazz-rock format , more like Colosseum II than anything else .He chose to surround himself with some powerful second tier musical talents such as the devilish bass-meister and party-monster John Gustafson (ex-Quartermass and Roxy Music, among many others) , the delectable guitarist Ray Fenwick who crossed paths with Traffic cop Steve Winwood in Spencer Davis Group and Elf's Mark Nauseef who never quite showed this much yank flexible polyrythm on the Dio band's albums. The tunes are fringe progressive rock due to unknown Colin Towns keyboard and flute presence.

While the title track rolls along like a fizzling livewire , spewing out frizzy axe splashes and fussy singing by the Montreux man , welded together by some solid bass and drum work, the sloppy "Five Moons" is just an excuse for a savage sax blowout from Phil Kersie . "Money Lender" is more like Spooky Tooth-like in structure, Ian screeching (Goodness is he ever good at that, like only he can), funky clavinet punching through the brass backdrop, trumpets ablaze. The results are satisfying only because the track has been fleshed out by some zany soloing. "Over the Hill" stretches out further the basics, a fine Fenwick "Look, I can play like Carlos Santana" series of licks and then of course, you have Gillan "Look, I can shriek like Carlos Santana can play guitar", then toss in a slippery synth solo from the urbane Mister Towns (oooo, nasty pun!), some impromptu drum solo riffing from the Yank as well as some silly bass swirls and abrasive guitar ramblings that ultimately explode into a maddening solo. And what do you get? A cool song. Darn, I mentioned the Latino guitar phenomenon and ........TADDAAH on "Goodhand Liza", the band proposes something akin to the Journey debut album, when Gregg Rollie was still in charge and still carrying the Santana aroma with him , building a brash, spicy and polyrhythmic stew led by Gustafson's hectic bass . "Angel Marchenio" has a dreamy, funky tempo that provides a fine platform for a good story (his blood brothership with a Spanish gypsy dancer) and another thoroughly enjoyable instrumental expansion. I am glad that I finally got this and also ashamed it took me so long to get it.

Fully concur with the illustrious signora Raff, the title cut and Over the Hill are superb slices of just plain good music. But the rest is high quality funky music nevertheless.

Oh, one of the weirdest cover artworks ever which explains my >

4 Jewish bumblebee spaceships

"Child in Time" is the debut full-length studio album by UK hard rock/jazz rock/fusion act Ian Gillan Band. The album was released through Polydor/Oyster in July 1976. As the bandname suggests Ian Gillan Band is led by former Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan. Ian Gillan left Deep Purple and ultimately the music industry in 1973 to pursue a business career, but he wasn´t very successful at that and in 1975 he decided to put together a band and make a comeback. He put together a band of seasoned musicians. Among others his former Deep Purple colleague Roger Glover (synthesizer, kalimba and vocals), former Quatermass bassist/vocalist John Gustafson and former Elf drummer Mark Nauseef. The band was originally called Shand Grenade but the band soon decided for a name change to Ian Gillan Band. I guess they felt that Ian Gillan´s name could attract some attention to the new band and they were probably right.

The music on the album is bluesy hard rock with soul elements and occasional jazz- rock/fusion rythms. They would explore the latter element much further on their next release but on "Child in Time" it´s only hinted at. The songs are well performed and the album is well produced but there´s not much bite in the songs. This is certainly not in the vein of the more raw and hard rocking early seventies Deep Purple releases. "Child in Time" is generally a much more polished and tame affair. Even the cover of the Deep Purple classic "Child in Time" comes off a bit too nice. But as I said this is a professional piece of work and an overall decent album, which has it´s moments. It just doesn´t make my blood boil and therefore I´d say a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is fair.

Who ever though that Ian Gillan after departure from Deep Purple in 1973 will form couple of years later a jazz rock/fusion band, when his roots, musicaly speaking, were entirely in hard rock zone, it was just an unexpected move from him. The resulty is Ian Gillan Band who manage to release 3 albums, the second one named Clear air turbulence being the best for sure from the all 3. Originaly released in spring of 1977 with a solid line up like predecesos , musicians coming from diffrent already well known prog and rock bands like bassist John Gustafson from Quatermass, excellent drumer Mark Nauseef from Elf fame, etc. With this band Gillan was trying diffrent things then what he done with Deep Purple and for that matter he optained for a jazz rock almost fusion music. Even the Deep Purple influence can easely be heared in Money Lender, the rest of the album are entirely towards jazz rock even some funk parts are present with almost clear direction to Return to Forever for example . To tell the truth I was very very impressed by this album and I guess is the best Gillan evr done outside Deep Purple. The rythmic section is absolutly killer is just enough to liste to the title track, what a drumer is Nauseef, amazing, not to mention the guitar player or the angaiging and inventive keybords arrangements made in - Colin Towns . Also he left aside almost entirely his hard rocking roots only in minor parts are present as on Money lander, and he infuse progressive rock parts combined with horn section and even some flute is present in some parts, the result is pretty amazing, at least for me this combination works very well here. Not a weak moment on this album, better then the first and third, Clear air turbulence remains as one of the better albums from late '70's in jazz rock,maybe to much time over looked in comparation with other names. Gillan voice is good as ever, giving a solid vocal partiture on every piece from mellow register to the usual screm parts. Very good solid and the musicianship is top notch here. recommended, I was very pleased what I've heared.4 stars easy.

Jazzy Turbulence!

Ian Gillan, what a guy! Who the hell expected jazz fusion from a Deep Purple member? Okay, there was Tommy Bolin, but a singer? And not any singer, the one and only Ian Gillan. This is just so unexpected that it'll either please or annoy people.

Myself, I'm very pleased with this very original effort. It's not A-class jazz fusion, but all the musicians on board know how to play their instruments and Ian Gillan's vocal performance couldn't be more varied and in better shape.

Ray Fenwick, the guitarist, impersonates Ritchie's soloing in bits while John Gustafson delivers simple though funky bass lines throughout. The drumming is good and Colin Towns' keyboards are a great part of this album, delivering some ambiences as well as splendid synth solos that are not your typical Fusion synth solos.

The compositions, while not anything out-of-this world nor very complex, they hold the listeners attention with interesting change of paces and memorable solos, though it's mainly Gillan's astounding voice that takes your attention. In the title track the vocals are well in the Purple-style with power and kind-of bluesy, though in 'Money Lender', a half-rocker, half-fusion, Ian delivers one of his most impressive screams. On 'Five Moons' however, he delivers one of his most sweet and beautiful performances, definitely my favorite song from this album, since besides the vocal performance there's a really nice guitar solo and a powerful and well-fitting sax.

'Over the Hill' is as good as the title track, while 'Goodhand Liza' is rather awkward due to the percussion and how the song develops, it's the only song I would say that is uninteresting. The Ian Gillan Band leaves the best for the end though, 'Angel Manchenio' with a wonderful 2 minute instrumental introduction and the cherry on top of the cake would be the highly original synth solo from Colin.

In the end, 'Clear Air Turbulence' is an original, though by no means complex or very inventive, jazz fusion record with a splendid twist, that being having one hell of a vocalist leading the compositions.

4 stars: Highly recommended if you're a fan of Jazz Fusion and of Ian Gillan's voice.

I remember when this was first released seeing it on the record stand, brightly displayed artistic cover and yes the ex Deep Purple man with his new release. Needless to say I jumped in at the next available booth, earphones snugly in place, excited expectations and as the record shop owner went through the motions of commencing the vinyl spin I kicked back with visions of live in Japan.Visons of a sudden slap to the back of my head morelike.

Naturally I was quite shocked to hear all the brass and jazz soaked music. Probably one of my earliest experiences of jazz infused prog,maybe Cat Steven's Foreigner the first or Osibisa, but the title track was extremely satisfying music to hear that left me wanting more of the same. " Five Moons" followed and this is also a great song but after that my attention span started to wane. Most prog heads will agree that awesome prog is that good that even a shopping mall fire alarm would not get your attention or even a beautiful woman. But the second side of Clear Air Turbulence left me looking elsewhere and it's shortcommings whilst still very good like " Over The Hill" it just did not deliver the same set of consistency. The dangers of Vinyl I guess and an excuse to look around. Needless to say I did not buy the album but was glad to tape it from a friend and have enjoyed it over the years. It does show Ian Gillan at his diverse best, it also shows that collaborations as far back as 1977 with the likes of Ray Fenwick make one realize how gifted these musicians were.A very good album. Three and a half stars.