MINOKE?

An Electric Fusion combo, found in November 2000 in Japan by a core of four musicians: Yasushi Kawaguchi on fretless bass/Chapman stick, Katsunori Takahashi on drums, Kosei Kayama on saxes and Kunihiko Sekido on keyboards.In 2003 they released a self-produced mini-album, ''Taneshina'', followed by series of live performances in their homecountry.In 2007 the band received the support of Poseidon's sublabel Vital Records and comes up with a full-length album, ''Sangaky''.Keisuke Hashimoto appears as a guest on trumpet and flugelhorn.

The style of Minoke? sits somewhere between RIO and Fusion with the progressive influences being very discreet in specific tracks, but again no trouble, because the music performances ranges from cool to even fascinating, led by a consistent rhythm section and some nice workouts on wind instruments, leading to several interplays, where melody is still present next to the chaotic lines of a Jazz-oriented group.The music alternates between semi-improvised pieces, down-to-earth Fusion executions with occasional melodic touches and some well-performed RIO-styled moments with great work on sax and trumpet.Piano is often a steady supporter and Sekido's moves come now and then in the forefront.The tracks are dense and virtuosic with the typical, jazzy flexibility, seemingly leading to nowhere, but at the very end all pieces sound as they have been taken care to the last detail.Bits from SOFT MACHINE, JULVERNE and PASSPORT are all over the place.The beautiful, laid-back passages with the sensitive sax soloing allow the music to take some deep breathes and then another scratching, electric trip into the world of Jazz Fusion begins over a neurotic performance on saxes and trumpet.

Propably not tightly linked to the prog principles, but this is a pretty nice effort of electric Jazz Fusion with an impressive balance and strong individual executions.Warmly recommended to all fans of the style.

This is a mini-album from Japan, only 28 minutes long. I did look on their web site to see what I could find about them but as there is no English version I didn't get very far. Four musicians (bass/drums/sax /keys), they are moving within different styles of jazz and while some of it is a bit too far out for my taste, there are times when they really lock together and produce music that is really very good indeed. There is a definite understanding of the concept of less being more, and it is not unusual to find sections of song where only one or two are playing, while the others just wait their turn to make an impact. It is an interesting album but as to whether it is worth attempting to get this from Japan I am not sure, but if you enjoy jazz with strong melody from keyboards and sax then this is worth looking out for. More details at www.musicterm.jp/poseidon/.

Japanese band MINOKE was formed back in 2000, and have been an active live and recording entity ever since. They made their full length album debut in 2007, and "PPACK" from 2011 is their second production, and was jointly released by Poseidon Records in Japan and Musea Records for worldwide distribution.

While those who really don't like jazz probably won't be attracted to this production, open-minded jazz and art rock fans alike should find plenty to enjoy on Minoke's latest studio production. This is uplifting and energetic fusion that ventures out from a jazz context into the art rock realm in an elegant and refined manner, a high quality production through and through, with two magically enticing opening numbers as the start of an intriguing journey.