JAN AKKERMAN & KAZ LUX: ELI

One of my all-time favorite albums, ELI has stayed on my regular playlist since I purchased it in the 1970s as a "cut out." My chief regret about this album is its length: it's too short. The atmospheric mood set by the majority of this lush, beautiful music is too soon over. "WIngs of Strings," "Eli" and of course the inimitable though VERY often imitated "Naked Actress" ("I once watched a fly die," "Eli, Please," and "Puh-FACshun" have been non sequitur epithets of mine since 1979) are mood masterpieces. Great R&B-like female b/vox, great melodramatic half-spoken lyrics' by Kaz, and, of course, the amazing guitar talent of one of the planet's all-time greatest, here, at his peak powers. Even the low points of this LP/CD are interesting, quirky, oft-times humorous, always out there. A wonderful if brief adventure into a kind of smokey psychedelic backworld. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. Kaz will entertain you, but Jan's effortless virtuosity will move your soul.