DEFINITIVEMENT BLEUS

French ensemble NOETRA was first and foremost the creative vehicle of composer and guitarist Jean Lapouge. Active in various line-ups in the late 1970's and early 1980's, Noetra was the band that almost made it. ECM were initially interested in signing them, but as more material was produced the interest declined, and while the band did carry on until 1985 they never managed to release anything when active. Enter Musea Records, which some years later managed to convince Lapouge that the material recorded back then was worth releasing on CD. At the time of writing the end result of this process has been that material for three full length productions have been salvaged from Lapouge's archives.

Noetra's second full length album, assembled and released 8 years after their belated debut effort, documents their repertoire as a jazz rock unit quite nicely. A subtle chamber rock orientation does remain, but rhythms, arrangements and instrument motifs are first and foremost geared towards jazz rock on this occasion. And as it turns out, Noetra was easily just as skilled in that department as they were when focusing on compositions with closer ties to chamber music. An album well worth checking out if jazz rock is your thing, and in particular if you also have a soft spot for chamber rock.