SÕNUM

Short-lived yet very succesful jazz/prog band of the former Soviet Union,with connections to excellent prog-folk outfit ''Ruja''.Actually KASEKE were found out of the ashes of the punk-rock band ''Propeller'',featuring mostly members of ''Ruja''.When ''Propeller''s career stopped,some of the members formed KASEKE in autumn of 1980.The original line-up lasted only for a few months,as drummer Ivo Varts left to join the Soviet Army,but the arrival of keyboardist Tony Naissoo brought dramatic changes to the band's style,as it can be heard on their EP ''Sonum'' of 1981.

''Sonum'' consists of four short tracks woth a total running time of 15 minutes,yet it is a decent sample of what KASEKE's music was all about.The main characteristic of their sound is the excellent balance of all instruments and the changing tempos.There are plenty of melodic guitars of nice inspiration by Ain Varts ,an ingredient of most of East-European jazz bands,surrounded by the beautiful keys and the electric piano parts of Naissoo.Some parts of this work remind me a lot of LEB I SOL,FERMATA and even BRAND X.There is also plenty of stops and take-offs throughout compositions,as well as plenty of room for soloing to most of the members:from the tasteful keyboards and the elaborate guitars to even to the awesome flute parts of Peeter Malkov.The overall sound is extremely well-crafted and polished and ''Sonum'' could easily please any fan of the typical late-70's/early-80's fusion/prog scene with its delicate musicianship.