DJABE & STEVE HACKETT: FREYA - ARCTIC JAM

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.

Social review comments

Review related links

• Send comments to BrufordFreak
• Report this review (#3166703)
• Buy DJABE music online with PA partners
• Show all DJABE MP3/Stream
• Go to DJABE page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Djabe & Steve Hackett: Freya - Arctic Jam page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for DJABE related discussions