DJABE

The Man Of A Thousand Faces

Steve Hackett is the man behind the greatest Genesis records, known for their brilliant solos and his beautiful, atmospheric guitars. His solo career is truly amazing, with records that rank among the best of all time, such as Voyage of the Acolyte and Spectral Mornings.

Talking about him in a place like this may seem redundant or even irrelevant, but it's good to clarify certain aspects: Steve Hackett's career practically stagnated after the 1980 album Defector. After that, he released very little?or almost nothing?until the mid-'90s, when he began to squeeze the juice out of his work with Genesis. Those amazing reworkings took him to the Olympus of music, resurrecting his career. His quality as a composer is undeniable, and his guitar playing is truly exceptional. Along with Steve Howe and Robert Fripp, Hackett is one of the most creative guitarists of the golden age of progressive music and a pioneer of a unique sound and style.

Hackett has always leaned toward experimentation and innovation, so his latest work with DJABE comes as no surprise.

DJABE is a Hungarian jazz-fusion band formed in 1995 by bass guitarist Tamás Barabás and composer/percussionist Attila Égerházi. Their music blends jazz, progressive rock, and world music, often featuring complex rhythms, rich melodies, and atmospheric soundscapes. The band's name, DJABE, comes from an African Ashanti word meaning "freedom." Over the years, DJABE has worked with several notable musicians.

Freya Arctic Jam: This album is beautiful?a musical odyssey through landscapes and moments that unfold with each chord, with each sound. Now, if we consider it prog, it has elements here and there, but not much. It's like a Hackett album, except this time he has donned a costume and transformed into Pat Metheny. DJABE, for their part, doesn't sound like DJABE either. Despite being an exceptional album, it feels like an indulgent exercise in late '80s jazz fusion.

This is not the first collaboration between these two musicians, but it is the one where Steve Hackett is least noticeable and, as I said before, he shifts roles.

Personally, I think this album, beyond its intrinsic beauty, loses strength as the minutes pass. Despite being extraordinary, it becomes stagnant and weak at times. However, whenever it falls into those gaps, the music flows again?like an iceberg slowly beginning to liquefy.

But, this album has its own thing. It's not exactly a masterpiece, but it's a fusion album with Steve Hackett playing; that's as progressive as it gets. But as a jazz fusion album, it's extraordinary, very much in the Pat Metheny vein, but with that European taste. A great show for lovers of good music.

Virtuoso Hungarian jazz musicians who have chosen the commercial- and audience-friendly kind of Jazz-Rock Fusion are given an injection of proggy creativity by the all-time master of prog guitar, Steve Hackett.

1. "In the Silence" (8:27) such wonderful bass play--here functioning as pretty much the lead melody-making instrument. Very smooth and melodic music. The song opens with water/harbor sounds while fretless bass, synth strings washes, and drums slowly enter and establish a pretty, mellow Smooth Jazz groove over/within which Tamás Barabás' remarkable bass and Attila Égerházi spacious guitar play off one another. Brief vocal introduction, bass and guitar interplay, piano solo in the third minute precede a Weather Report- and Strunz and Farah/Acoustic Alchemy/Govi-like World Music/Smooth Jazz fusion passage with flugelhorn leading the way. Bass and guitar take the next solos with synths, piano, and drums holding down the sed Maestro Steve Hackett's unquestionable presence bursts forth at 5:21. The man can still cook--can still sound fresh and innovative. Amazing. A very easy-to-listen-to, enjoyable song that brings very little new or exciting to the World Fusion or Smooth Jazz table (other than Tamás Barabás' sumptuous bass play). (17.75/20)

2. "Freya" (5:26) more Florida-easy Yacht Rock with solid performances and gentle jazz-pop sound palette and soothing APP/Ambrosia-like group/choral vocals. The highlight for me are 1) the soothing melodies, 2) the winning solos of Zoltán Bubenyák on electric piano and Áron Koós-Hutás on flugelhorn. Why Steve's (amazing) electric guitar solo in the fifth minute occupies such a muted/repressed sound I can only imagine: it's as if they made every effort to remove any and all high end from his sound--even the high-octave notes feel severely muted. (8.875/10)

3. "Stone Age Tea" (6:47) funky slap bass allows synths and guitars to shine. Nice drumming clinic from Attila Égerházi. This music reminds me of someone else from the 1980s or 1990s--like Rick Braun or Boney James. I like this Smooth World Music Jazz music quite a bit. I still wonder about the sound engineering choices: so much compression! Flugelhorn, volume-pedal-controlled electric guitar, acoustic guitars provide the highlights up top while Tamás and Péter keep the low end masterfully in control. (Another masterful performance and solo from Péter.) (13.5/15)

4. "Whispers of the Woods" (8:34) Those plugged in acoustic guitars sound so much like the cabana/lounge music I was exposed to in my various vacation trips to Florida in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s and 2000s that I find myself mesmerized into reveries of those balmy breezy days and nights--which is nice--BUT this is not the kind of prog or Jazz-Rock Fusion that I hold up as the highest examples of our genre and sub-genres. It's commercial-oriented and audience-pleasing fare that sounds as if talents like those in Allan Holdsworth bands or in the SONAR variations were suddenly brainwashed into playing pacifying Easy Listening music. (17.5/20)

5. "Sliding Trees" (9:18) great music to play in the background while eating a meal in a romantic Italian restaurant. Steve Hackett's harmonica performance leaves one wondering, Why? Easy Listening Adult Contemporary Smooth Jazz at its finest, no more, no less. Refreshing, inventive prog rock? I don't think so. The rhythm track feels sequenced: generated or programmed by computer. There is little creative input much less improvisation anywhere in the song. (17.125/20)

6. "The Lost Ship" (6:07) this one sounds a bit like Bill Bruford's first couple of EARTHWORKS albums. Keyboards provide the introductory melodies before Steve Hackett's guitar steps in to expand upon them. Synth takes over in the second half of the second minute as Tamás entertains from below with his slap bass. Steve gets the next solo, spanning about 30 seconds, before Áron gets a turn to finish the fourth minute. Steve's solo gets to STEVE VAI turf in the final minute with all kinds of cool note bending and slurring and Tamás really puts on a show toward the end there. Now this is real Jazz-Rock FusionEasily my favorite song on the album. (9.125/10)

7. "A Storm is Brewing" (10:27) great music to play in the background while on a romantic winter weekend: curled up with your one true love on the couch (or on the floor on a luxuriant animal fur) in front of a fire in the stone hearth or fireplace in the cozy rustic cabin you've rented. Easy Listening Adult Contemporary Smooth Jazz at its finest, no more, no less. Refreshing, inventive prog rock? I don't think so. (17.5/20)

Total time: 53:06

The musicianship on this album is so good. They've come up with many great earworm melodies--some in the solos, some in the main motifs and coming from support instruments--to provide an overall very enjoyable listening experience (even if it is high quality Smooth Jazz) and some iconic Steve Hackett solos (How does he keep inventing new ones after 55 years?)

B/four stars; a very nice, smooth, enjoyable romp through some Smooth Textured, masterfully-performed yet somewhat questionably-engineered Smooth Jazz.

The ongoing relationship between the Genesis maestro and prolific Hungarian legends Djabe continues, seemingly a prefect partnership musically, as well as Steve's obvious personal love for Hungarian culture. Combining modern jazz sensibilities within expansive musical channels that wander way beyond the mundane is in itself a major accomplishment, but when interfaced with Steve Hackett's magical guitar, the creative flower blooms like a paradise garden. With Tamàs Barabàs leaning on his florescent bass guitar, in unison with the syncopation marshalled by Peter Kaszàs , the keyboards can now run rampant, and Zoltàn Bubenyàk does so with shimmering class, while Aron Koos-Hutàs adds flugelhorn and trumpet to the arrangements, as well as taking center stage when called upon. Attila Égerhàzi maintains his compositional guidance and having Hackett's incredible tone as a cavalry charge must be quite the experience. The Hungarians surely enjoy performing all the classic Genesis and Steve's solo material just as much as Hackett seems having a blast playing the Magyar material. What we call a perfect partnership with zero downside, only mutual respect and constant enjoyment in each others company. The music is always a challenge to describe, a hybrid jazz, rock, African and Hungarian folk, at times ambient, meditative and progressive as well.

"In the Silence " opens the curtain on a cinematographic groove, where cool synthesizer plateaus, freezing bass fjords, and wind-blown guitar gales , together revealing an arctic feel. The Barabàs bass is particularly chatty, the pure crystalline piano notes evoking snowflakes melting on warm cheeks, the flugelhorn blaring gently like whales in the distant ocean. The jazzy guitar phrasings are masterfully restrained by Attila, letting Steve do his thing later on, where golden streaks of sunshiny bliss overtakes the arrangement, a sassy trumpet maintaining the tempo. The bouncy "Freya" evokes the Norse myth of a goddess that can master love, beauty, fertility, war, magic and death. Not sure modern women would be able or willing to take on that many tasks but who knows, with all the superwomen around ? With hushed vocals, this piece aims for a more laid-back, accessible romp, with Hackett shooting off a few bursts from his trusted electric guitar. Things revert to the sonic imagery that makes up the bulk of this 'arctic jam', a subdued trumpet recalling the very distant past, as "Stone Age Tea" should be a reference to the bubbling brew emanating from both Aron's wind instruments, Peter's primitive percussives and the slithering lead guitar slicing though the floating leaves. The finale is quite the blowout! A warning that precedes the incredible next four tracks that take this to an entirely other level.

Ambient jazz is where we can hear the "Whispers of The Woods", a polyrhythmic travelogue with thrilling drum parts that show off incredible dexterity and feeling, a strong piano in tow and a sudden frolicking transition into a lighter realm, almost playfully so. This is the ideal moment for Attila and Steve to exchange fretboard phrasings, each easily identifiable and both brilliantly interlaced, a definite moody and atmospheric highlight on this album. Hackett gets to indulge himself in a performance that exhibits his creative soloing as opposed to being a bandleader, a consummate master in full control of his muse, and a timeless adventure for us in the audience. At times, I even thought I was listening to Al DiMeola, another jazz-rock icon that can really dazzle. This stunning piece has all the ingredients for perpetual fame, a modern jazz classic, if there ever was one.

Reflective, ponderous and romantic, the 9 minute + "Sliding Trees" keeps the inventive side in full flight, a serene modulation with Hackett's harmonica causing the most initial damage, a rubbery fretless bass foray for the ages shaking off the branches and the shivering electric guitar somersaulting into celestial overtones, in almost Santana-esque caravanserai fashion, the sensual trumpet caressing the senses, the tactile piano rippling gently over the skin, utterly relaxing and yet evocative of some internal voyaging. Hackett's second solo reaffirms the Carlos feel, repeated by a slick synthesizer flurry that boldly assumes its place. Darn, this is so good!

With a funky slap bass , "The Lost Ship" floats along willy-nilly as the trilling electric guitar phrasing sends out distress messages, compounded by a nervy synthesizer alarm, though no band members seem to abandon ship. With all hands-on board, the drums are pugnaciously abundant, the pace hurried and frantic, the blistering guitar in your face and the Barabàs solo beyond anything heard in decades, the vessel floundering and sinking fast.

The epic finale and longest track here, "A Storm is Brewing" may be the nail in the proverbial coffin, as it simply encompasses all the details expressed above and then some. The languorous tempo, the Égerhàzi guitar in full flight that foreshadows the arrival of the greying clouds with liquid fervor, the swirling synthesizer gusts, piano droplets crashing down on the rocks, the plaintive shudder of Hackett's drenching guitar, and a melancholic bluesy trumpet bidding farewell , I can only surrender to the fact that this is majestic music at its highest level.

Djabe are without question a global leader in modern jazz, owning all the attributes that make their music such a breath of freshness, a panacea for the soul . 5 polar marmalades

This album features the live continuation of what once was a great jam session, involving both great artists, the hungarian jazz-fusion band and the English prog-rock iconic guitarist, an encounter derived from mutual interest and admiration. Enjoyable as it was the result in its own terms, that venture wasn't in the same vein of Steve's general work, but rather followed the lines of Djabe's sound, adding his re-invention as a brand new fusion guitarist. Long relaxed fusion compositions from the band, fantastic mesmerizing trumpet solos, and Mr. Hackett's new persona crossing a new boundary. Precisely that's the tone prevailing in the first four tracks of the present recording. In the fifth and sixth tracks, Steve's voice and a more recognizable guitar tone emerge, conducting the proceedings towards a more familiar territory, not very dissimilar of Hackett's solo stuff, but enriched with the jazzy sounds of the band. The blend of trumpet and voice sounds particularly fortunate to my ears.

And yes, they pay a (re) visit to Genesis back catalogue too. A fusion-like Genesis of sorts, which certainly cannot take the place of the original, but I don't dislike either. If you can accept an instrumental-only take on Firth of Fifth, then pass and enjoy the show.

A very polished and well sounding jam session, fruit of the encounter of both great artists, the hungarian jazz-fusion band and the english prog-rock iconic guitarist, a very fortunate occasion (derived from mutual interest and admiration), which took place in an unparalleled natural environment on the Mediterranean Sea.

Enjoyable as it is the result in its own terms, one should not expect here another record in the same vein of Steve's general work, but rather be prepared for his immersion in Djabe's sound, and his re-invention as a brand new fusion guitarist. Long relaxed jazzy compositions from the band, fantastic mesmerizing trumpet solos, and Mr. Hackett's new persona crossing a new boundary.

The Jazz/Rock fusion band "Djabe" takes its name from the Akan people of Ghana's language. The word means "freedom". This band plays a mix of jazz and Hungarian/African music. They have worked with Steve Hackett on previous collaborations, including the album "Back to Sardinia" which was released in December of 2019. In the case of this album, which is unique from the collaboration's previous albums, Djabe recorded at the church of Nostra Signore di Tergu. Steve Hackett's schedule made it impossible to join them there, so he recorded his parts separately from Budapest and they were later added to the recordings.

The album starts off smooth and slow as the soft guitar, rolling bass and splashes of muted trumpet, along with airy vocals make you feel like you are alone on a sandy beach watching the waves roll in and you can almost picture yourself standing at the point of view of the album cover. The atmospheric guitar provides the detail needed for the music, playing with a melody and improvising around that. After the title track, "Lonely Cactus" follows with the same atmosphere as the previous track. However, there are some obvious traditional Hungarian elements brought into the music. Steve's guitar also shifts to a more aggressive sound and later in the track, the mute is taken off of the trumpet. "Happy Tergu" focuses more on the trumpet and features a lively rhythm that also brings more of the African element into the picture. "Lake By the Sea" continues with the smooth jazz sound with more interplay between the guitar and trumpet and some nice keyboard textures.

At this point, the length of the tracks gets longer as they approach 10 minutes, and the album begins to allow the musicians to have time in the spotlight, and you get the feeling things are loosening up as the music becomes a bit more freestyle and improvisational. In "Girl in the Palau Woods", the trumpet passes to the guitar which in turn passes to the keys and then back to the guitar, and at this point, the intensity builds and builds to a surprisingly heavy jam that stands out even more against the previous mellow-ness of the album. It all comes back together as the soft, airy vocals tie it back to the album again. "Walking Around" follows, and more western elements get added in as the guitar recalls the sound of a western movie soundtrack and the music softly meanders along freely. The track continues this way until past the midway point, where again intensity build at a lower level than the previous track, but allows for Hackett's solo work to come in.

"Flying Kites" returns to the more melodic based sound, but allows the band's guitarist to show off this time. After this solo, Hackett provides his own solo, and then the piano gets to have some time alone, and then later backs up the muted trumpet. The sound remains calm and smooth through this track. "Purple Dream" is a short, atmospheric piece. "Dancing in a Jar" provides another highlight for the album as it relies more on traditional elements and retains a nice riff that backs up mysterious sounding bass and brass. This track is the only one that Hackett does not participate in, allowing for a nice and unique sounding track to stand out on the album. The track has a nice Hungarian beauty to it all, and I swear there are flutes and clarinet in there, or at least some kind of reed instrument.

"Cinquecento Fragole" stretches out it's run-time to again allow for more interplay and improvisation among the musicians, Hackett's soloing standing out again, but still not taking it all over completely. Halfway through, the music shifts as all the instruments stop and allow the piano to play alone in a freestyle jazz solo with only occasional cymbal rolls backing it up. At 7 minutes, the full band kicks back in to finish with a trumpet solo followed by a short drum solo and then a more wild jazz climax. "Bottles in the Water" is a short track sandwiched in between the two long tracks with wave and seagull effects that ties in the last track "Floating Boat". This finishes the album the way it begins, with a smooth and floating jazz sound, but in this case it allows for more freestyle playing, and again the instruments all get a chance to have their say. It all ends with some banter between Hackett and the band.

This is a nice album which mostly centers on a smooth jazz sound with occasional wilder outburst in a few tracks and a nice tradeoff of some melodic based tracks and others that are more freestyle, but overall, the main mood is smooth and flowing jazz. Hackett's addition to the music is excellent and give it more power, and the addition of the one track without Hackett allows for the band to shine and show off it's unique sound. Even though there are some of the traditional folk-ish elements evident at times, it is one thing that tends to lack a bit in this album, and that is missed, however, it is still enjoyable and relaxing. It can work well as background music or for serious, more concentrated listening, though some might find it isn't quite variable enough. However, it is still an excellent album and is also another album where we can admire Steve Hackett's talent, yet he never tries to outshine the band either, but becomes one with them.

Last Train To Budapest

Djabe is a Jazz-Rock/World-Fusion band from Hungary that on several occasions have collaborated with Steve Hackett of Genesis fame. Being a huge fan of Hackett, I was curious to hear his collaborations with this obscure Hungarian group which I first did on the live concert DVD called Sipi Benefit Concert which I reviewed some four years ago. In The Footsteps Of Attila And Genghis is my second encounter with Djabe. This too is a live recording which again features Steve Hackett performing on stage with the band. What especially caught my attention this time was not only Hackett's participation in the proceedings, but the presence of several familiar Hackett numbers in the set list including two from his Genesis days.

After an opening Djabe number we are first treated to Steve's amazing trademark guitar solo from Firth Of Fifth. A couple of further good Jazz-Rock numbers follow before we Hacketteers get to hear another familiar piece in The Steppes originally from Steve's fourth solo album Defector. This oriental-sounding number is perfect for Djabe and is enhanced with trumpet and violin to great effect. What comes next is admittedly not much to my liking, a percussion solo that goes on for much too long for my taste and tends to get very boring. Some of the other numbers as well are too long for their own good and involves too much improvisation. But also some nice, memorable moments, especially if Jazz-Rock and World-Fusion is your thing. In my case, it is not really my cup of tea, but I enjoy it in limited doses.

The second disc of this double live album also contains two Hackett numbers in Last Train To Istanbul from Steve's recent solo album Out Of The Tunnel's Mouth and the Genesis piece In That Quiet Earth. The former features Steve on lead vocals and works very well here as it also (like the instrumental The Steppes) has an oriental sound that is perfect for Djabe. In That Quiet Earth is another of Steve's trademark pieces and is performed here in a slightly jazzed-up version featuring trumpet.

Compared to the aforementioned DVD Sipi Benefit Concert, In The Footsteps Of Attila And Genghis is clearly a lot more interesting for fans of Steve Hackett. Unlike on the DVD there are no acoustic Hackett performances on this album, but a lot more of familiar Hackett stuff which makes this a lot more interesting for a Steve Hackett fanatic like me.

Hackett is back in Hungary

You might perhaps be surprised to see me reviewing a release by an (from a Prog perspective at least, obscure) Hungarian Jazz-Rock/World-Fusion group. But the explanation is very simple: Steve Hackett participates in this live concert by Djabe and Steve is one of my biggest heroes, so I became interested. This nicely packaged double DVD set can be purchased from the former Genesis guitarist's official website, which is what I did. The content is a full live concert by Djabe with guests in front of a local audience. The whole event is held in honour of a former member of the band, András Sipos, who sadly passed away shortly before.

This unique (I have never heard/seen anything like it anyway) band is clearly very talented and everything here, from the actual performance to the stage setting, lighting, filming, recording, editing, production, packaging, etc. is very professional. In short, this is a professional product. As the band is playing in their home country, the in-between- songs-banter (including a long introduction of Steve) is in Hungarian and I must confess that I don't understand a single word of it! The liner notes in the booklet, however, as well as the DVD menus are thankfully in (both Hungarian and in) English. Steve joins the band about half-way through the first half of the show and adds his very distinctive electric guitar sound on top of what is otherwise a predominantly acoustic band. The many instruments played include trumpet, violin, flutes, sax, piano and dulcimer. The Rock element is ensured by the presence of guitars, electric bass and Rock drums. As always, Steve is dressed in black trousers and a black t-shirt and he is wearing his sunglasses as he walks on the stage! After one song playing his electric guitar with the band, the band leaves Steve alone on the stage to perform an acoustic medley featuring bits and pieces that those who have followed Steve's career will certainly recognize a few including a few by a certain famous band culminating in the timeless classic Horizons.

After Steve's medley, the band returns and Steve once again shifts to electric guitar. The music during this part of the show is very soothing and tranquil. Steve "colours" the sound with his floating guitar solos. After one more song Steve leaves the stage and lets the band carry on without him. The relaxing mood continues, however, until the closing of the first half of the show. Steve returns to the stage several more times during the second part of the show. His participation is often rather discrete here in order not to overshadow any of the many other instrumentalists on stage. For some songs there are more than ten people on the stage simultaneously! Occasionally, however, Steve bursts to the front of the sound with his expressive and distinctive guitar sound. Only towards the very end of the concert does Steve let it rip. It is also here that some of the very best songs enter.

As you can imagine this music is partly quite chaotic given the sheer amount of instruments and the strong tendency towards improvisation. This is extremely eclectic music, but as you might have inferred by now, this is by no means Prog.

There is one particularly interesting number where everyone on stage (including Mr. Hackett!) plays so called anklungs - a Southeast Asian instrument made out of two bamboo tubes attached to a frame. The base of the frame is held and shaken rapidly from side to side causing a rapidly repeating note to sound. Apparently, each of the angklung performers will play just one note and together complete melodies are produced!

In the bonus documentary there is a short interview with Steve filmed on a beach in Malaysia(!) as well as interviews with some of the members of Djabe commenting on, among many other things, the involvement of Steve. There is also footage of Steve performing the classic Firth Of Fifth solo together with some members from Djabe at some outdoor concert!

While this is certainly a fun concert film, I must say that this is far from essential stuff from a Prog perspective. It is tempting to give this a slightly higher rating, but to be perfectly honest, even for a Steve Hackett fanatic such as myself, this DVD is of only minor interest. This is particularly so given the existence of several absolutely excellent DVDs featuring Steve playing live with his own band (several of them also filmed in Hungary incidentally!). This Djabe concert is therefore probably best reserved for those fans and collectors with a very special interest.

Interesting, but probably not every Prog fans cup of tea

I liked Djabe's debut and early albums as one of the best examples of successful mix of very professional jazz fusion with tasteful world music elements.Step by step their music changed, and ten years after their debut they recorded "Message From The Road", solid report from their US/European tour of 2006.

It is a double album,first disc is CD and the second is dualdisc.The CD side of the dualdisc contains the Part II of the concert, meanwhile the DVD side offers the whole live material in surround 5.1 DTS and dolby digital.In the DVD as extra features can be found a radio interview originally broadcasted in Berlin in German and English language. The DVD also contains a 71 minutes road movie recorded during the tour with much live footage.A 32 pages colour booklet completes the Djabe tour documentations, gives a range view of great moments of the road life.

So, perfect package for fans. Now about music.

After three first very acoustic and colourful studio albums ( two first were great jazz fusion with some world elements, and third was more focused on world fusion music, in jazz arrangements), from 2001 they changed their music and sound radically. Now their music is based on keyboards with full-bodied rounded sound, pleasant, but far less inventive. During that time they changed two vocalists ( Herczeg Judit and moroccan Saïd Tichiti ) and stayed without vocal at all. Guest musicians as British sax player Ben Castle and ex-Genesis gutarist Steve Hackett participated on studio recordings, but didn't take a part in live tour.

So, at this album, based mainly on their last studio work "Slices Of Life"(2005) we have well balanced and pleasant pop-jazz-fusion with some world elements. Still enough professional musicianship,but very safe and not inspired.Quality easy listening,I can say. Not bad but far from their early beauty. And even being live recording, sounds very calculated.

Better go for first two albums and you will be surprised how good they were!

Fourth Djabe studio album bring many changes to their music again. Vocalist was changed ( to guest one Moroccan Saïd Tichiti), British sax player Ben Castle participated on album as guest as well, but most important, total music sound became different.

If two first albums contained aerial jazz fusion with world elements, and third album was mostly world fusion, fourth one contains very rich mix of jazz fusion and symphonic rock. In some songs you can hear almost pure symphonic prog, another are jazz fusion in key of Machavishnu Orchestra, and some compositions are made under heavy influence of Gong's "Zero To Infinity" (2000) album with soft melodic music, filled with sax solos.

All sound became more modern, clear acoustic or early albums changed to synth filled rich sound. World elements are everywhere but in very controlled quantities ( including oriental vocal).

Album is more mature and should attract wider circle of listeners, but I am missing fresh air of early albums in many moments. Anyway, very strong work.