Dave Kulju – Notes in the Margin

Notes in the Margin is the second album released by US multi-instrumentalist Dave Kulju, based in Rochester (New Hampshire). After his recording debut with Electrum, Standard Deviation (2002), when the band went on hiatus he started devoting his free time to his solo career, releasing Abstract Expression in 2007, which brought him to the attention of the community of progressive rock followers.  Like Abstract Expressions – even if Kulju is in charge of the majority of the instrumentation – Notes in the Margin is not your typical, ubiquitous ‘solo-pilot’ projects made possible by modern recording technology, but features a real drummer, Frank Basile, as well as a couple of other guests. Unlike its predecessor, though, the album is not completely instrumental, and its centrepiece, the five-part epic “A Poet’s Talespin” (adapted from two poems by Australian poet Amanda Joy) features the amazing contribution of UK-based  session vocalist Annie Oya.

Three years in the making, the process lovingly detailed on Dave’s own website, Notes in the Margin is an unusually elegant, deeply literate effort that eschews any of the pretentiousness often associated with prog, and manages to emphasize emotional content without being mawkish or contrived. The striking cover, a photo taken by Kulju himself (who is a gifted photographer as well as a talented musician), immediately projects a stylish contemporary image that sharply deviates from the old prog cliché of fantasy/sci-fi themed artwork, with its still life centred around a vintage typewriter. According to the artist, the album title is a reflection on the process of making the record itself – a process involving a lot of rewriting and refinement, just like a work of literature.

For a project completely conceived in the studio, Notes in the Margin sounds remarkably organic,  multilayered though never overdone, each instrument standing out in clear detail. It comes very much across as a guitar-based album, showcasing Kulju’s fluid, clean style, inspired by the likes of David Gilmour and Andy Latimer without being derivative. Keyboards, on the other hand, are used more as a foundation than the main event, though the epic can boast of some positively gorgeous piano passages. Surprisingly, however, the real protagonist of Notes in the Margin is the bass, merging seamlessly with Frank Basile’s excellent drum work to set the pace, and stamping its own distinctive touch on the fabric of the compositions. The music flows smoothly, with enough complexity to satisfy the cravings of most prog fans, except those who are looking for innovation at all costs. Indeed, while Notes in the Margin does not offer anything startlingly new, neither does the vast majority of current releases, and the musical content here is undeniably above average.

With a practically perfect running time of about 51 minutes, no filler is needed on Notes in the Margin, and none of the tracks feels padded or stretched beyond reason. Album opener “Skating on Europa”, loosely based on the work of sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke, is a forceful yet melodic number which, in spite of its almost 10-minute duration, never outstays its welcome. Driven by thunderous yet not overwhelming drums and a sleek, dynamic bass line, it pushes Kulju’s fluid, fiery lead guitar to the forefront with exhilarating effect. In “Know Again” (the English translation of the Greek word anagnorisis, the moment of recognition for the protagonist of a Greek tragedy)  the keyboards take more of a lead role, and Ian Cameron’s contribution on acoustic and electric violin add further layers of dimension to a piece that, while not exactly jazzy, shifts subtly from a subdued tone to a sort of crescendo, slowing down again towards the end.

The album’s epic, “A Poet’s Talespin”, which (like Shadow Circus’ “Project Blue” or The Rebel Wheel’s “The Discovery of Witchcraft”, to name but two recent examples) is conceived as five separate pieces strung together by a  musical and lyrical fil rouge, rather than as a massive 30-minute behemoth. As previously hinted, it is also the only composition featuring Annie Oya’s lovely vocals, soothing and melodious yet devoid of that cloying sweetness all too frequent in female prog singers. Introduced by a gorgeous classical piano piece, the romantic, mid-paced (and very aptly titled) “Soft Collisions” develops into a number of subtle complexity where the vocals are complemented by Kulju’s superb guitar and bass work and the recurring presence of the piano. “The Bridge” treads spacey territory, with a subdued, more acoustic bent; while the symphonic, keyboard-driven “I Write” is brimming with gentle sadness, and “In the Shadows” closes the epic with an instrumental reprise of the main theme, rendered in spacious, atmospheric tones reminiscent of Pink Floyd. The album is wrapped up by two instrumentals – the highly dynamic, riff-based “Get the Hell Off My Lawn”, bringing to mind Rush compositions such as “Leave That Thing Alone”, with bass and guitar working together to create intense textures; and the short, somber keyboard piece “Counted the Stars”, named after a phrase in an Anne Sexton poem that was the earliest inspiration for the epic.

With superb production values and sterling sound quality, Notes in the Margin is indeed an excellent release, worthy of the attention of even the more demanding prog listeners. It is a pity that – like most studio-only projects – it will probably flow under the radar of many fans in favour of more extensively publicized albums. A labour of love in every sense of the term, classy and literate yet full of endearing warmth, this is a must for everyone who loves melodic, guitar-oriented progressive rock. It would be a boon if, one day, Dave managed to put a band together and perform his music on stage, in spite of all the well-documented difficulties that plague those artists looking for live outlets for their work.

Tracklist:

1. Skating on Europa 9:35
2. Know Again 6:26
3. A Poet’s Talespin I: Half-Slept Moments 1:56
4. A Poet’s Talespin II: Soft Collisions 8:28
5. A Poet’s Talespin III: The Bridge 7:55
6. A Poet’s Talespin IV: I Write 5:01
7. A Poet’s Talespin V: In the Shadows 6:17
8. Get the Hell off my Lawn 4:20
9. Counted the Stars 1:18

Line-up:

Dave Kulju – electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, guitar synthesizer, sound effects and programming
Frank Basile – drums

With:
Annie Oya – vocals (3)
Ian Cameron – electric and acoustic violins (2)

Links:

http://www.davekmusic.com/

http://www.littleglasspen.com/

Syrinx

Dan: Hello Syrinx, thanks for doing this interview. How are you doing?

Benjamin: Very well, thank you!

Dan: From what I understand the band took its name from the Greek Myth of a nymph who was turned into reeds to escape from the god Pan’s amorous clutches (to put it mildly). Apparently Pan turned the reeds into a pan flute once he discovered what had happened. This certainly explains your beautifully haunting use of flutes! Are you guys a fan of Greek myth? Do you find it inspirational?

Philippe: Syrinx is the name given by Ancient Greeks to an entity – or a nymph – who existed long before them, and who was given several names in other civilisations. She is among the more than twenty nymphs serving Artemis (who will later be named Diane by the Romans). According to the Greeks, being the Music Godess is one of Artemis’ attributes. Syrinx’s talent allows her to impress upon us by means of vibrations yielded by the harmony of sounds. She is somewhat our muse, our source of inspiration.

Dan: Let’s talk abstract philosophy for a moment. Your first album is titled “Reification”, meaning “to bring into being or make concrete”, i.e., to make an idea physical. This is a perfect title for music in general, in my opinion: music is simply that, taking the idea of a sound and making it real. Yet at the same time, it remains an idea because it cannot be touched, even if it undeniably exists. Thus the title of your second album, “Qualia”, which is Latin for “What sort”. In my interpretation, you’re saying you’re bringing something abstract to concretion, yet its state is still impossible to define. Tell me your thoughts on this.

Dave: You are right of course, Reification could apply to any album, or any creation. Behind our trilogy (Reification, Qualia, and Exaptation) lies the connections between ideas and the fabrication of reality, and the fascinating process of the mind’s world leaking into reality. This is more applied philosophy if you wish . Concretely, it is always a struggle when it comes to finding a title for an album. As for the music, we try to avoid things that would connect too much the project with routine experience. We wish the music to be an adventure, and what’s best than providing titles for which no one has experiences (well, we did not), and for which one will be free to draw his/her personal landscape? Anyway, we were happy with Reification and Qualia, as they properly convey these perhaps unsettling feelings. Indeed, we see the album (and first song of the album) Reification as Syrinx’ message breaking into our reality. You can take that literally if you believe in a higher hierarchy of things and beings (very present in the mythical and esoteric texts that can be related to Syrinx, and on which we dwell on many titles in Reification), or as a pragmatic view of causes (mind’s state) and effects (a mp3 of Syrinx in your player . The album Qualia is about one’s mind’s states, and as you say, the maybe intrinsic impossibility to define properly what goes through the filter of our mind. None of us has a philosophical degree, so we may use slightly inappropriately these concepts, but they are interesting nonetheless. In Qualia, we interpret several texts/sources as the subjective view of other human beings (at different epochs) confronted to Syrinx, or to the spirit’s world. We may say that the trilogy is our own concretisation of a myth that evaded differently many people over the ages. Exaptation is the last piece of Syrinx’ message. It will partly concede that, all things considered, music, art, life… keeps repeating itself over and over. But this is not all, because as you go through, you change things around as much as they change you. In the process, the complexity of you “thinking the world” increases. Sometimes, it is for nothing, but more often it may bring you to a further level of understanding (you never know beforehand). That’s the spirit of our metamorphic music, that you can take as far as you wish to.

Dan: I clearly got carried away with those last two questions, but I certainly love both Greek myth and philosophy… Anyway, something simpler: how and when did the band form? Tell me something about how this occurred.

Dave: Syrinx really started in 1999. About the meeting… several guys in a room sharing some common interest, the will to try something different. To end up in the same room, that’s the tricky part maybe: call it destiny, sheer luck, Syrinx’s will, chaos, or good planning ahead After that, all you need is to let the music flow.

Dan: The music Syrinx makes is a delicate yet tumultuous blend of many different styles of progressive rock, and certainly plenty of other things. The end result is somewhat chaotic yet incredibly refined heavy jazz fusion. What are some of the influences of the band members that conspire together to create this musical blend?

Benjamin: The music in this project is directly connected with what Syrinx inspires us. But of course each one of us has his own references and influences: it goes from 70s progressive rock to classical music, pop music (a little!), traditional music… The musical ideas come easily and we have many “fragments” available, but putting all of them together, in order to obtain something that sounds cohesive to us, and performing it asks us a lot of work. Thus, we take a long time between each album, but it is the necessary time to make them as we want them.

Sam: We simply try to create music of our own, so we can’t really speak about “influences”. We all are very open minded concerning music (Inspiration doesn’t belong to a specific genre) so once again, humbly, we’re striving to be ourselves…

Dan: Tell me about some of the equipment you use for recording and playing live (if you do that).

Sam: the first demo has been recorded on a 16 tracks Roland digital recorder, the first album on a 24 tracks direct to disc (Roland VS2480), and the second album on 2 coupled VS 2480 and a computer. The main concern is the gigantic number of elements Philippe is playing on (drums). Luckily, we own the recording equipment (thanks mum!) which allows us to take as long as it takes to get things “right” on the album. Songs are very complex and we all are very compulsive concerning getting the best of ourselves. Recording is often where our wishes crashes into reality!

Benjamin: It takes years between each album, and in the meantime, audio equipments evolve a lot. So far, we did everything with our own equipment. We record every part separately, and sometimes, alone. The mixing has been done through a pair of Roland VS-2480, but we have to discuss this point anew for the next album! For the keyboards, I find virtual synths to be very useful to get richer sounds and for a better blend into the mix, but to play live I prefer to rely on “solid” keys only!

Dan: I believe you mentioned to me that you have a third album in the works – anything to say about that?

Sam: Due to personal commitments, we haven’t been able to play much in 2009/2010. Luckily, things have changed and now, ⅔ of “Exaptation” is now written. We’ll use voices a bit more on this album. As we are becoming somewhat better musicians and better human beings, this album will hopefully reflect more beauty. Complex beauty as always! As a matter of fact, I think we’re just happy to play music that is far from everything else that can be heard. We’re “different”, and that’s a big achievement I think in the present days.

Dan: Ever been offered to play at any major prog rock festivals? I’d love to see you guys in the States sometime, perhaps at NEARFest.

Benjamin: To be honest, we’d love to play live… but when you play such an “introspective” music in France, there are not so many opportunities! For other countries, it’s in general rarely possible to get a proper financial support despite the best will of some organisers. So we just decided some time ago not to lose money to play! For the time being, we spend all our efforts on writing and recording.

Sam: We played once in Paris for the Tritonales. We had to declined another invitation for the Prog’sud festival (France) due to the fact that the drum set was to big (true story). We would love to play in festivals, but as a sub-sub-sub genre of the “progressive” scene, we’re not organisers’ main priority I guess…

Dave: More to the point these last years, our lives were busy enough and our bank accounts empty enough to prevent us touring around the world! But this may change in the future, who knows? I’d love to share more of Syrinx’ music live, and playing at NEARfest would be great!

Dan: I think I’m out of questions, anything more to say?

Syrinx: Thank you for your interest in the band, thank you for all the Syrinx followers out there: “Elevez-vous au dessus de tout temps, devenez Aeon”!!

Copernicus – Cipher and Decipher

The thirteenth album by New York-based performer-poet Copernicus (aka Joseph Smalkovski), and the third released by MoonJune Records (which is going to reissue the artist’s whole catalogue), Cipher and Decipher is definitely not your average ‘progressive rock’ album, ambitious but ultimately accessible. In fact, is one of those records for which the expression ‘acquired taste’ seems to be tailor-made, and which is at the same time easy and difficult to describe: easy if you want to simplify matters, and say that it is based around a somewhat loopy guy’s ranting and raving over a rather free-form musical background; difficult if you want, instead, to avoid platitudes and offer would-be listeners a more in-depth, nuanced analysis.

Needless to say, even from a quick perusing of the release notes it should be clear that Cipher and Decipher is not for the faint-hearted, or those who like carefully structured music, engaging melodies and conventional singing. This is the archetypal underground production, a marriage of music and poetry steeped in the American beat tradition, dripping with existential ennui and metaphysical musings, in which the music often feels like an afterthought, often sharply diverging from the vocal parts in a sort of schizophrenic effect. Clocking in at slightly under 70 minutes, and barely offering any respite from Copernicus’ over-the-top vocal exertions, it sounds more than a bit daunting (even for a forward-thinking label like MoonJune) and as such quite unlikely to appeal to casual or mainstream-oriented listeners.

And yet, in spite of all these drawbacks, Cipher and Decipher exerts a weird sort of attraction. After a while everything seems to click and, so to speak, begins to make sense. Even as Copernicus’ voice may rub you the wrong way, and make you wish he limited himself to publishing books of poetry like most other people would do, the music perversely sucks you in, and you may find yourself actually enjoying the experience – almost in spite of yourself. At times Copernicus’ secular-preacher recitation blends with the music, at others the two go their separate ways, in a somewhat frustrating fashion. He roars, cajoles, whines, chants, emotes like a Shakespearian actor, leaving very little breathing space to the listener, repeating the key words around which his whole work seems to revolve with a sort of incantatory effect, often augmented by the loose yet oddly mesmerizing nature of the musical accompaniment.

Regarding the concept on which Cipher and Decipher is based, my readers will be able to find all the background information they need in the links I have provided at the end of the review – as well as in the album’s very thorough liner notes. While other reviewers have dedicated at least some space to the album’s lyrical content, I would rather concentrate on the musical aspect, even if I realize it is far from easy to divorce the two. Generally, I do not particularly care for nihilism, and have to admit not being too interested in speculations about the nature of the universe, though neither aspect disturbs me as other kinds of content (i.e. overtly racist lyrics) would. My main interest here is the music, and this is why I would rather avoid launching in any detailed analysis of Copernicus’ message which is much better presented elsewhere.

When listening to Cipher and Decipher, it is important to bear in mind that the music and the vocals often seem to be at odds with each other instead of working together, as would happen in more mainstream recordings. This means that special attention to the musical part is required, and it obviously helps if you like almost completely unscripted music as opposed to the carefully constructed patterns of most conventional progressive rock. Provided by a veritable orchestra of 15 outstanding musicians (including 4 guitarists and almost a full horn section) led by long-time Copernicus associates, expatriate Irishmen Pierce Turner and Larry Kirwan (the latter, together with Thomas Hamlin and Fred Parcells, a member of Celtic-inspired band Black 47), the musical accompaniment to Copernicus’ proclamations is a wildly eclectic mix of influences ranging from experimental free-jazz to early Pink Floyd-style psychedelia.

Organ-drenched opener “Into the Subatomic” immediately sets the scene, both musically and lyrically, followed by the lovely but somber “Free at Last!”, the most genuinely Pinkfloydian number on offer, embellished by some noteworthy acoustic and electric guitar work; while “Mud Becomes Mind” sports a cheery, Afro-Brazilian vibe. The disc’s central section owes quite a lot to free-jazz, rather gloomy in “I Don’t Believe” with its lonesome-sounding trumpet, sparse yet upbeat in “Matter Is Energy”. On the other hand, “Comprehensible” superimposes an overt homage to Pink Floyd, with Larry Kirwan repeating “set the controls further out of the sun” (a paraphrase of the title of one of their most iconic early compositions) to the somewhat chaotic free-jazz template, and “Infinite Strength” (based on Van Morrison’s celebrated “Gloria”) sounds like something out of the Blues Brothers soundtrack – making you want to dance in spite of Copernicus’ weighty proclamations. More Latin influences surface in the funky “Step Out of Your Body”, and the references to Iraq and Afghanistan in “No One Can Win” are aptly punctuated by Middle Eastern echoes conjured by flute and strings. The album climaxes with the sonic and verbal apocalypse of the aptly-titled “The Cauldron”, a 15-minute, voice-driven space jam.

As the previous paragraphs clearly illustrate, Cipher and Decipher is a very peculiar effort, targeted to adventurous listeners, and likely to send the more conservative set of prog fans running for the exits. This is not background music, and is definitely not relaxing – on the contrary, it can easily become a tad wearying, especially on account of Copernicus’ very idiosyncratic vocal delivery and apocalyptic lyrics. The album’s running time can also be an issue, so those who find it hard to concentrate for long might want to avoid tackling it in one go. However, its somewhat sneaky allure may well win over those who are not afraid to get acquainted with less predictable approaches to progressive music.

Tracklist:

1. Into the Subatomic (5:21)
2. Free at Last! (5:17)
3. Mud Becomes Mind (5:14)
4. I Don’t Believe (5:53)
5. Matter Is Energy (4:55)
6. Comprehensible (6:38)
7. Infinite Strength (8:05)
8. Where No One Can Win (8:05)
9. Step Out of Your Body (5:12)
10. The Cauldron (15:18)

Line-up:

Copernicus – poetry, lead vocals, keyboards
Pierce Turner – musical director, piano, Hammond organ, percussion, backing vocals
Larry Kirwan – electric guitar, vocals
Mike Fazio – electric guitar
Bob Hoffnar – steel guitar
Raimundo Penaforte – viola, acoustic guitar, cavaquinho, percussion, vocals
Cesar Aragundi – electric and acoustic guitar
Fred Parcells – trombone
Rob Thomas – violin
Matty Fillou – tenor saxophone, percussion
Marvin Wright – bass guitar, electric guitar, percussion
George Rush – tuba, contrabass, bass guitar
Thomas Hamlin – drums, percussion
Mark Brotter – drums, percussion

Links:

http://www.copernicusonline.net

http://www.moonjune.com

Marbin – Breaking the Cycle

Marbin’s eponymous debut came to my attention towards the end of 2009, soon after its release. Even if the duo formed by two young, talented Israeli-born musicians who had recently moved to Chicago was an unknown quantity to me and most other reviewers, the album’s endearingly naïve artwork and intriguing musical offer were enough to warrant closer scrutiny. With a name cleverly fashioned out of the surnames of the two artists (Danny MARkovitch and Dani RaBIN), Marbin made their debut on the US music scene with an album full of intriguing melodies crafted with ony two instruments – Rabin’s guitar and Markovitch’s saxophone – characterised by an ethereal, almost brittle quality, reminiscent of the delicacy of Far Eastern art, complex yet at the same time not too taxing for the listener.

The year 2010 marked a veritable quantum leap for Marbin (very active on the live front in the Chicago area), when they came under the radar of MoonJune Records’ mainman Leonardo Pavkovic, a man with a keen eye for new acts of outstanding quality. Promptly snapped up by the New York-based label, Marbin – who in the meantime had become a real band, with the addition of  Pat Metheny alumni Steve Rodby (bass) and Paul Wertico (drums) – released their second album at the beginning of 2011.

Breaking the Cycle is indeed an impressive effort, which sees the band build upon the foundation laid by their debut, while fine-tuning their sound and adding layers of complexity, though without making things unnecessarily convoluted. Indeed, rather interestingly, a fellow reviewer used the term ‘easy listening’ in connection to the album –  a definition that may conjure images of that openly commercial subgenre known as smooth jazz. However, while Breaking the Cycle does have plenty of smoothness and melody, I would certainly never call it background music. The presence of a full-blown rhythm section has given a boost to the ambient-tinged, chamber-like atmosphere of the debut, and some of the tracks display a more than satisfying level of energy and dynamics, all the while keeping true to the deeper nature of their sound.

Clocking in at slightly over 40 minutes, Breaking the Cycle immediately appears as a supremely sophisticated effort, starting from the striking cover artwork whose mix of the industrial (the bridge on the front cover) and the natural (the elephant on the back cover) seems to reflect the nature of the music itself. While the majority of the tracks lean towards the slower, more atmospheric side of things, delivered in a rather short, somewhat compact format, the album is bookended by two numbers that differ quite sharply from the rest, as well as from each other. Opener “Loopy” is the closest Marbin get to a ‘conventional’ jazz-fusion sound, almost 6 minutes of sax and guitar emoting over an exhilarating jungle beat laid down by Wertico’s drums and percussion that gives a first taste of the seamless interplay between the instruments. On the other hand, the medieval-tinged, acoustic folk ballad “Winds of Grace”, masterfully interpreted by guest singer Daniel White (who also wrote the lyrics), though apparently out of place in the context of the album,  is imbued with a feeling of nostalgia and loss suggested by several other tracks.

Indeed, the three numbers that form the central section of the album might almost be considered as parts of a single suite, since they are characterized by a wistful, romantic (though anything but cheesy) mood. An extended sax solo is the real showstopper in “Outdoor Revolution”, while wordless vocalizing enhances the country-tinged acoustic guitar in “Western Sky”. “Burning Match” seems to reflect its title almost perfectly, its smouldering atmosphere touched with a hint of sadness, the yearning tone of the sax suggesting the end of a love affair. A strong visual element is evoked throughout the album: “Old Silhouette” creates a faintly mysterious picture, yet full of subtle warmth intensified by the slow, deep movement of the percussion; while the sweet, soothing chanting in “Mom’s Song”, combined with the gentleness of the guitar, brought to my mind images of a beach at sunset. In sharp contrast, “Bar Stomp” delivers exactly what the title promises – a bluesy, electrified romp with Rabin’s guitar taking centre stage, bolstered by an imposing percussive apparatus involving the presence of three drummers (Wertico plus guests Makaya McCraven and Jamey Haddad), and spiced up with a hint of cinematic tension.

The final remarks I made in my review of Boris Savoldelli’s Biocosmopolitan may also apply to Breaking the Cycle. Oozing sheer class, with outstanding performances all round, yet plenty of warmth and accessibility (unlike a lot of hyper-technical albums), this is a release that has the potential to appeal to anyone who loves good music and does not care about sticking a label on anything they hear. Judging from the positive reactions to this album, Marbin are definitely going to be another asset for the ever-reliable MoonJune Records.

Tracklist:

1. Loopy (5.59)
2. A Serious Man (3.49)
3. Mom’s Song (2.05)
4. Bar Stomp (3.04)
5. Outdoor Revolution (3.08)
6. Western Sky (2.12)
7. Burning Match (5.11)
8. Claire’s Indigo (2.11)
9. Snufkin (2.48)
10. Old Silhouette (4.12)
11. Winds of Grace (8.39)

Line-up:

Dani Rabin – guitar
Danny Markovitch – saxophone
Steve Rodby – bass
Paul Wertico – drums, percussion (1, 8 )

With:
Jamey Haddad – percussion (2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10)
Matt Davidson – vocals (3, 6)
Leslie Beukelman – vocals (3, 6)
Makaya McCraven – drums (4)
Daniel White – lyrics, vocals (11)

Links:

http://www.marbinmusic.com

http://www.moonjune.com

Le Orme – La Via Della Seta

After quite a long break (7 years) from recording studio material, Le Orme is back! Although this band’s pinnacle took place in 1971-1974 period, last few records were quite promising so I had rather big expectations about “La Via Della Seta”. And I wasn’t disappointed at all! At first I have to take note of line-up changes compared with their previous album. Long time leader of Le Orme – Aldo Tagliapietra and second keyboardist/violinist Andrea Bassato left the band. Replacement for this loss is Fabio Trentini, who plays bass, acoustic guitar and sitar, while the lead vocal duties were taken over by Jimmy Spitaleri (from Metamorfosi fame). Additionally this trio + vocalist formation is supported by guitarist William Dotto and keyboardist Federico Gava. All in all drummer Michi Dei Rossi remains as the only original member of the band, but don’t worry, spirit of Le Orme is still here and surprisingly it’s even more evident than during last few years of this group’s existence! I’m especially fond of Michele Bon’s development who gradually becomes more and more prominent member and his highly symphonic organ/synthesizers/piano passages can be easily compared with Tony Pagliuca’s (original keyboardist) grandiose style.

Let’s proceed to description of 12 tracks included on the disk:

1. “L’alba di Eurasia” – album begins with a BOOM! Very pompous, but energetic keyboards intro which sadly lasts only 30 seconds. After that music suddenly slows down and we can listen to soft acoustic guitar melodies. Very melancholic.

2. “Il Romanzo di Alessandro ” – more dynamic instrumental with floating synthesizers, organ & surprisingly hard edged electric guitar leads/solos. William Dotto is only a guest here, but his guitar playin” is very elaborated and makes this track to sound slightly different than your usual Le Orme’s staff.

3. “Verso Sud” – first song featuring Jimmy Spitaleri is a beautiful ballad very much in the band’s 70s material. You can be easily confused whether it’s Jimmy’s or Aldo’s voice here, they are both quite similar. However Spitaleri seems to have slightly stronger singing style, especially compared with Tagliapietra’s last few offerings. Anyway good song with nice piano and electric guitar background.

4. “Mondi Che si Cercano” – sounds like instrumental continuation of the previous track. It’s a very melodic showcase of all musicians skills, but Bon’s organ and Dotto’s guitar work is the most significant. While highly symphonic piano-only ending (Bon or Gava?) shows the sheer beauty of this instrument.

5. “Verso Sud (Ripresa)” – reprise of “Verso Sud” song with melancholic Jimmy Spitaleri’s vocals.

6. “Una Donna” – my favorite part of the album! Up-beat song driven by rockin” guitar, piano & organ riffs. Spitaleri’s voice perfectly suits this kind of Metamorfosi-like material. The best fragment of “Una Donna” is of course flashy Hammond solo in the vain of Pagliuca’s work on “Collage” album from early 70s. Fantastic!

7. “29457, L’asteroide di Marco Polo” – continuation of previous track is an instrumental filled with more energetic guitar, organ and Moog synthesizer freak-outs. Sadly it’s very short and ends too abruptly.

8. “Serinde” – rather uneven instrumental dominated by too repetitive synthesizer flights. Sounds too modern and “non-leormish” for me.

9. “Incontro dei Popoli” – gorgeous ballad led by folky acoustic guitar, flute-like synthesizer & passionate Jimmy’s vocal. Truly analog Moog patterns are also superb here.

10. “La Prima Melodia” – decent symphonic prog song with nice melody, floating synthesizers, organ background and good vocal sections. Enjoyable guitar and piano solos near the end. Nothing outstanding or original but still OK.

11. “Xi’an – Venezia – Roma” – marvelous instrumental which presents us sheer beauty of vintage keyboards. Tons of classical influenced Grand piano, roaring Hammond organ runs and high-pitched Moog synthesizer solos. One of my my most beloved parts of “La Via Della Seta”.

12. “La via della seta” – the longest song of this album can be described as symphonic- prog power ballad driven by Spitaleri’s magnificent vocal, military-style drumming and (a bit too repetitive in fact) Hammond organ theme. All in all it’s a rather catchy and ear-pleasing closing number.

“La Via Della Seta” is a very solid come back record which should satisfy all new and old fans of the band. Lovers of RPI music deeply rooted in 70s are highly advised to check this out ”cause style presented on the latest Le Orme’s release clearly evokes such classic formations like Metamorfosi, Murple, PFM, Il Rovescio Della Medaglia or Il Paese Dei Balocchi and at most Le Orme’s own splendid past (especially such albums like “Uomo Di Pezza”, “Felona E Sorona” and the most guitar oriented “Smogmagica”). It’s good to know that Le Orme remains a top notch Italian prog-rock band, while other legends like Metamorfosi, Murple and Il Rovescio Della Medaglia so far where unable to pull off equally good material in XXI century.

Best tracks: “Una Donna” and “Xi’an – Venezia – Roma”

Tracklist:

1. L’alba di Eurasia (2:03)
2. Il romanzo di Alessandro (2:56)
3. Verso Sud (3:14)
4. Mondi che si Cercano (3:16)
5. Verso Sud (Ripresa) (1:21)
6. Una Donna (1:38)
7. 29457, l’asteroide di Marco Polo (1:08)
8. Serinde (4:25)
9. Incontro dei Popoli (4:55)
10. La Prima Melodia (5:33)
11. Xi’an – Venezia – Roma (4:36)
12. La Via Della Deta (6:05)

Line-up:

* Michi Dei Rossi / drums, tubular bells, Glockenspiel, cymbals, Bhayan
* Michele Bon / Hsammond C3 organ, piano, synthesizers, keboards, back vocals
* Fabio Trentini / bass, bass pedals, acoustic guitars, ducimer, electric sitar, back vocals
Featuring:
* Jimmy Spitaleri / lead vocals
* William Dotto / electric guitar
* Federico Gava / piano, synthesizers, keyboards

Links:

http://www.le-orme.com/
http://www.leorme-officialfanclub.com/
www.myspace.com/felonaesorona

Nuova Era – Nuova Era

Nuova Era is definitely my favorite band from so-called second wave of Italian symphonic rock scene. Compared with other formations included in this category, they started career pretty early and recorded first album in 1988 (“L’ultimo Viaggio”) when retro-prog was definitely still very unfashionable. Until 1995 Nuova Era released another 3 studio albums and then they called it a day in 1997. Thankfully in XXI century band’s leader Walter Pini (keyboardist) decided to resurrect Nuova Era moniker together with two new musicians: Guglielmo Mariotti & Davide Guidoni, who were previously playing’ in prog-rock trio Taproban.

In 2010 Nuova Era prepared self-titled compilation which includes 3 tracks recorded by this new line-up (and originally placed on Colossus Projects’ “The Divine Comedy” albums), 3 demos/remakes recorded by previous incarnations of the band and 3 live versions of Nuova Era’s early material (concert from 1989). Maybe this description doesn’t promise anything spectacular, but I can assure you that “Nuova Era” offers much more than it seems.

1. “Lasciate Ogni Speranza…Voi Ch’entrate” – albums kicks off from a high note! Opening composition (originally included on “Dante’s Inferno: The Divine Comedy Part I” box-set) is the heaviest thing I’ve ever heard being played by this band. Walter Pini’s blasting Hammond organ and Moog battles are truly magnificent, but I’d like to especially mention extremely catchy Grand piano passages which work very well above those thrilling mellotron eruptions. All in all of those keyboards instruments create unbelievable suspense & truly horrifying tension like from a horror movie (it was meant to describe hell after all!). Emerson inspired organ solo in the middle is also terrifying, but saxophone (played by guesting Alessandro Papotto) freak-outs near the end are too noisy and distractful for me (but it’s only small complaint).

2. “Canto VII” – similar in tone with the previous track, “Canto VII” (originally included on “Dante’s Purgatorio: The Divine Comedy Part II” box-set) is another highly enjoyable piece of music. Maybe even slightly darker and more sinister sounding. Extremely melodic, up-tempo piano and organ passages are the main entertaining factor here, but I also have to mention double electric guitar attack (Guglielmo Mariotti & guest Salvo Lazzara) which sounds truly crazy (some distorted, dis-harmonic effects but everything restrained, no heavy metal here . Anyway once again I have to praise Pini for his extraordinary, perfectly arranged organ solo here!

3. “Canto II” – last instrumental recorded by new line-up (originally placed on “Dante’s Paradiso: The Divine Comedy Part II” box-set) is the mellowest and probably the weakest one compared with preceding bombastic killers. But do not misunderstand me, “Canto II” is still great. This time except his usual organ, Moog, piano and mellotron, Walter adds also clavinet (harpsichord?) to the mix.

4. “Dopo L’infinito (Remake Version)” – 1997 remake version of Nuova Era’s suite (original placed on “Dopo L’infinito’, 1989) is surprisingly superior to its original! It’s a shame that this line-up wasn’t able to release any albums back in 90s ‘cos especially Riccardo Vello’s voice is truly remarkable. While Alex Camaiti sang very good in all first 3 LPs of the band, I have to admit that Vello’s vocal skills are even better. Anyway as I said this version of “Dopo L’infinito” sounds better than original (which I also love of course!) not only because of different singing style but mainly because of much more advanced equipment used in 90s by Walter Pini. While in 80s he still had to use digital keyboard emulating organ sounds (not so bad, but far from “real thing”), here he already owned real Hammond and it makes a difference! Organ runs sound really mean and gritty on remake version, and there are much more of them. Moog, mellotron and this incredibly catchy clavinet sound perfect too. While the whole structure of the epic isn’t so much different, vintage gear & more capable vocals helped a lot to enhance it. However lack of electric guitarist in this line-up maybe a mistake for lovers of original version. Anyway “Dopo L’infinito” remains a wonderful symphonic prog-rock suite equally influenced by RPI scene as well as British classics as ELP or Yes.

5. “Io E Il Tempo (Demo Version)” – demo of “Io E Il Tempo” suite (its final version was released in 1992 on “Io E Il Tempo” album) isn’t much different from album’s final version and I don’t see too much sense in including it on this compilation, but for newcomers it’s surely another highlight here. Tons of analog keyboards, fuzzed guitars in the background and often screamy vocals, all of it and much more is here for you!

6. “L’ultimo Viaggio (Swing Version)” – short excerpt from “L’ultimo Viaggio” mini epic (originally on “L’ultimo Viaggio”, 1988) re-recorded as some kind of swing/light-jazz instrumental. Sounds odd, but in fact it’s really entertaining. Walter’s piano is very joyful and up-tempo all the way through, but my favorite part is harmonium solo, not an usual instrument in prog-rock world.

7. “Cattivi Pensieri (Live Version)” – live recordings unfortunately don’t sound too good here. Most of the time mix is just too noisy, synthesizers too loud and high-pitched, while the guitar is too heavy and almost overshadows Pini’s keyboard work. But I suppose all of these flaws are caused by poor recording devices used on this particular concert. Anyway “Cattivi Pensieri” live sounds much more metallic than original placed on band’s debut. Sound quality is muddled, by you can clearly hear Alex Camaiti’s hard edged guitar riffing. It’s not that bad, but prefer original by far.

8. “La Tua Morte Parla (Live Version)” – I didn’t like original version included on Nuova Era’s debut and I don’t like it here even more. Such raw-sounding version of this over-experimental track is big tast of patience even for such long-time prog-rock lovers like me. 10-minutes of very noisy half-baked solos, sound effects, rough vocals and non-melodic synth passages. Was it unsuccessful attempt on Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso or King Crimson style of prog? I don’t know, but I’m sure that it’s just not the style of these guys, they should stick to mix of melodic RPI and ELPish keyboard-driven symphonic music as they usually do. BTW, why did they directly steal sound collage “E5150″ recorded by Black Sabbath and incorporate as intro to “La Tua Morte Parla”? It really sound almost the same!

9. “Epilogo (Live Version)” – my favorite live recording. Not as noisy as previous two. “Epilogo” is a well-written prog song, led by passionate vocals and atmospheric organ waves. Guitar/synthesizer interludes in the second part of the song sounds very interesting for me too.

“Nuova Era” compilation can be considered as a very good album for people who wish to start exploring this band’s music. I’m sure that it will give them quite clear presentation of Nuova Era’s style and convince them to check their studio releases as well. In general it’s recommended for Italian prog-rock fans and keyboard-drenched symphonic prog aficionados who also like such bands like ELP, Trace or Refugee. If you like this music you should also check another band from Italy called Taproban. There are many similarities between Nuova Era and Taproban.

Best tracks: “Lasciate Ogni Speranza…Voi Ch’entrate”, “Canto VII” & “Dopo L’infinito (Remake Version)”

Tracklisting:

1. Lasciate Ogni Speranza…Voi Ch’entrate (Inferno) (6:17)
2. Canto VII (Purgatorio) (6:41)
3. Canto II (Paradiso) (6:22)
4. Dopo L’infinito (Remake Version) (17:45)
5. Io E Il Tempo (Demo Version) (14:28)
6. L’ultimo Viaggio (Swing Version) (3:54)
7. Cattivi Pensieri (Live Version) (6:33)
8. La Tua Morte Parla (Live Version) (10:33)
9. Epilogo (Live Version) (3:04)

Line-up:

* Walter Pini / Hammond organ, piano & synthesizers (all tracks)
* Guglielmo Mariotti / bass (tracks 1-3), guitar (tracks 2-3)
* Davide Guidoni / drums (tracks 1-3)
* Riccardo Vello / vocals (track 4)
* Claudio Rovai / bass (track 4)
* Alex Camaiti / vocals & guitar (tracks 5 & 7-9)
* Enrico Giordani / bass (tracks 5 – 9)
* Gianluca Lavacchi / drums (tracks 4-9)
* Ivan Pini / words (tracks 4-5)
+ Alessandro Papotto / saxophone (track 1)
* Salvo Lazzara / electric guitar (track 2)

Links:

http://utenti.multimania.it/walterpini/

http://www.myspace.com/walterpini/

A Journey Through Fusion Part Two: The First Generation

While in my last article on jazz fusion I discussed the “father” of jazz fusion, Mr. Miles Dewey Davis, in this one I will be going over the next step in the logical progression – those fusion bands that immediately preceded him. In a way to simulate the growth of the style across the early 70’s, this article series has an increasing number of artists. The previous simply discussed Davis, and this one discusses seven (including a few albums and bands related to the main bands being discussed). The articles that will come later will have many more bands, so fret not. The bands being included here were made up of members, or at least guided strongly by members who were part of the sessions that crafted In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, and many of the other albums discussed in the previous article.

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Weather Report

Weather Report was led primarily by Joe Zawinul, a Viennese native. Mr Zawinul, assisting Miles, composed much of the music on In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew before parting ways with him to form his own band. This implies two things, one of which is true and one of which is false. The first thing, which is true, is pretty obvious: the guy is a master composer, and quite capable of coming up with great stuff. The second thing is: well, doesn’t Weather Report’s music sound like In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew then? Of course not! This is jazz we’re talking about! Anything that sounds like anything else is instantly labeled as derivative crap. Weather Report’s music went through three distinct eras of good music, and then possibly a few more or something. For the purposes of this article, the band skipped five years after 1977 and then NEVER PRODUCED ANYTHING ELSE! You may feel free to look those albums up on your own and disagree with me, but I don’t like them and I don’t see them as relevant to this article.

Before I mention the eras, I’ll just point out that there were a TON of members of Weather Report other than Joe Zawinul, many of whom may have been equally, or in fact more important than him at certain points. Because of how frequently the lineup tended to change, I’m not really going to get into this, but I will point out that some incredibly talented musicians passed through the band and composed here: Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson, Miroslav Vitous, and many more people.

Weather Report’s first era consisted of their selftitled 1971 album Weather Report and the awesomely titled I Sing the Body Electric. This era was marked by a high degree of avant-garde experimentation. I’m not talking yodeling or aggressive dissonance, but rather elements of free jazz and the like. For this reason these two albums are not my favorite, but I’m sure there are some of you who would enjoy them. Enter with caution, for as I said, they are HIGHLY experimental.

Weather Report’s second era is much more enjoyable than the first. This encompasses Sweetnighter, Mysterious Traveller, and Tail Spinnin’. These albums go in a much more funk-fusion direction, which is a welcome reprieve from the annoying avant-garde stuff from before, in my opinion. This music, while excellent, isn’t quite on the same level as what would come just after. It’s sort of a transitional stage, though a rather sudden one as there are no hints of the previous era in the music contained here. The transition lies in the increasing inclusion of funk and African elements, such as on the track “Nubian Sundance” from Mysterious Traveller.

The final era worth mentioning basically consists of Black Market and Heavy Weather. The former is much preferable to the latter, and is definitely one of the finest fusion albums of the early era, if not of all time. The playing and compositionship are remarkable, and the style presented is simply much more innovative than the music shown on the past three albums. It’s a sort of “afro-funk-fusion”, with a heavy emphasis on the syrupy fender rhodes of Mr. Joe Zawinul.

Weather Report is probably the most accessible of the bands presented in this article (and possibly in the entire series), and for that reason I find them a bit boring at times. I feel like because of their relative lack of innovation (at least compared to Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra) they were left behind as an inspiration to future composers in favor of the energy of the other two. However – till excellent, still recommended.

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Herbie Hancock

I’m going to come right out and say that I find Herbie the least interesting of all of the groups mentioned in this article. He has a few really great albums, though some of them are not relevant to the history of jazz fusion. He seems to be incredibly highly regarded at places like ProgArchives, though I’m not entirely sure why. I certainly don’t hate his music, but it just seems dull in a way.

Hancock is, like all of the others, very talented and naturally played on a few of the Davis albums presented in the previous article. Unlike all of the others, he decided to work most closely with Davis’ experimental style, though went in a slightly more ambient, keyboard-driven direction. He produced three albums in the early 70’s in the style that I’m talking about: Mwandishi, Crossings, and Sextant. They’re all incredibly pleasant, to be sure, but I don’t get the same sort of manic energy that I do from Davis. They aren’t dull though, and I do enjoy them on occasion. I suppose I’m not the person
to ask if you want suggestions on Herbie’s earlier fusion material.

Otherwise, his next era consisted of some pretty good funk-fusion in the form of Headhunters, Thrust, and Machild. Headhunters is one of the highest-regarded fusion albums of all time for some reason. It’s pretty good, but no Black Market… When I said before that Hancock is talented, I meant it – but I’ll also say that I think he’s incredibly overrated. Headhunters probably only got the fame it did because he was already famous. I didn’t mean to turn this section of the article into an indictment against Hancock, so I will say that these albums are definitely worth checking out if you want some high quality funk fusion that doesn’t rub the funk in your face.

Hancock is probably less important to the further development of fusion than even Weather Report. Few bands would seek to emulate his sweeping soundscape fusion style, though many would undoubtedly seek inspiration from Headhunters. He is still worth discussing and even checking out, however, but I would only recommend you do so if you’re a fan of the other bands being discussed here. That said, check out Maiden Voyage if you’re into “pure jazz”.

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Mahavishnu Orchestra

If Weather Report was a crunchy, syrupy sweet baklava fresh from an Athenian kitchen, Mahavishnu Orchestra is a rare, bloody porterhouse steak straight from a dingy kitchen off of a Texas highway in cattle country. This is the kind of steak you rip into with a giant serrated knife and sate your carnal needs over an hour of ferocious chewing. Mahavishnu Orchestra was refined, with a funky bass and controlled Fender Rhodes as its main features. Mahavishnu Orchestra is a chaotic, fiery devil replete with guitar, keyboard, and violin interplay juxtaposed together on top of what is perhaps the most intense drumming the world has ever seen. Now don’t get ahead of me, because there’s nothing avant-garde about Mahavishnu Orchestra. The sound was still completely new to jazz, but it wasn’t all that different from things that had been heard before in other places.

Mahavishnu Orchestra was led by the guitarist John McLaughlin – perhaps the person who played on more Miles Davis fusion albums than anyone other than Davis himself. He even had a track named after him on Bitches Brew (the favor was returned in kind on a McLaughlin solo album). Like Zawinul, the music here is completely different from anything Davis made. What Davis’ disciples ended up learning is not a new style of jazz, but that jazz music can be played with the intensity of rock, and with rock instruments. That was the lesson McLaughlin took to heart more than any other Davis disciples. Intensity.

If there’s one 70’s jazz fusion band prog fans are going to be familiar with, it’s bound to be Mahavishnu Orchestra. This is because MO are more similar to prog (overall, though there are some exceptions), than any other jazz artists during their main era. Because this era was much more stable than Weather Report’s, I am going to mention the key players. On guitar we have John McLaughlin, on violin we have Jerry Goodman, on keys we have Jan Hammer, on bass we have Rick Laird, and on drums we have Billy Cobham. Many of these people will pop up in future articles, especially Hammer and Cobham. They are the quintet that made up Mahavishnu Orchestra as most people know it, and they created some damn good music as they did.

The albums this lineup made are three or fourfold, depending on who you ask. There’s 1971’s The Inner Mounting Flame, and there’s 1973’s Birds of Fire. Many people compare these two albums, but I find it too difficult. They are both excellent, and absolutely indispensible for any fusion collection. Between Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire we have Between Nothingness and Eternity. This was technically a live album released that has material not on any studio album… except for The Lost Trident Sessions, which was never completed, but released later in 1993. The material on Between Nothingness and Eternity is all on The Lost Trident Sessions, but altered and shortened. Both are excellent, but I would recommend the live version instead.

As stated before, this era was characterized by the interplay between John, Jerry, and Jan on strings and keys played over Rick and Billy’s rhythm section. The results are indescribable, but rest assured everything is quite intense. All of the musicians appear to be going in every direction at once, yet at the same time everything remains tight and melodious.

This era didn’t last very long. Apparently the band got a little creeped out with the “spiritual direction” McLaughlin wanted to take. I’m not here to speculate on that, and I also don’t care. Either way, he quickly reformed Mahavishnu Orchestra with an all-new lineup that included a few people I don’t know anything about, as well as violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. This lineup would release two albums – both at least pretty good, though one much better than the other.

They were called Apocalypse and Visions of an Emerald Beyond. The former almost seems to go in a symphonic prog direction. It’s very weird, yet at the same time rather highly rated around the internet. I’m not a huge fan, but I’m ok with recommending it. Just keep in mind it isn’t anything like any other MO albums. Visions of an Emerald Beyond, on the other hand, is rather similar to the first era, just with the difference of having the same, strangely symphonic lineup as Apocalypse. The result is a hybrid blend of the two eras that ends up pretty damn great, if I may say so. It doesn’t have the aggressive interplay, but it sure does have a bite. It also has some chanting, and that’s pretty cool too.

I would highly recommend Mahavishnu Orchestra to anyone. They are intense, melodious, crazy, yet calculatingly sane. They are of special importance to prog rock fans because they’ve influenced so many people and bands. I’m not going to name names, but they know who they are. Certainly get The Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire. If you like those check out Visions of an Emerald Beyond and Between Nothingness and Eternity. There are some albums that were released after Visions, but they were made on an entirely unrelated lineup and I’ve read that they’re complete crap and I’ve never bothered to see if that’s true or not.

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Honorable Mention

McLaughlin, like so many of his contemporaries, was incredibly active in the 70’s. He ended up releasing a great deal of non-MO fusion albums that are certainly worth checking out. They aren’t much like MO, and in fact they generally aren’t much like anyone else’s fusion either. I would highly recommend his early albums Extrapolation and Devotion, but especially the latter. Additionally, McLaughlin has released a few new fusion albums in very recent years. The style is almost a bit like MO, but entirely different at the same time. There’s a lot of Indian influence in these albums (which MO touched upon but Shakti embodied). The albums are Industrial Zen, Floating Point, and To the One. Highly recommended all, but start with Mahavishu Orchestra.

But wait, there’s more! McLaughlin had yet another band in the 70’s that I mentioned in the previous paragraph. This was Shakti, and unlike Mahavishnu Orchestra, which sought in some ways to play elements of Indian classical music inside of jazz, this group sought to play jazz inside of Indian classical music. I’m not sure if this is technically fusion. I’m not really sure what it is, actually, but it’s pretty damn good. Check out Shakti with John McLaughlin, A Handful of Beauty, and Natural Elements if you want to know more.

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Return to Forever

Weather Report is a crunchy sweet baklava, Mahavishnu Orchestra is a bloody steal, and Return to Forever is a swimming pool of maple syrup floating in the outer reaches of the solar system. Astral, cosmic, beautiful. Can you all tell that Return to Forever is one of my favorite bands of all time?

Return to Forever had two distinct eras, the latter of which had no overall theme to it. The first era released two albums, the selftitled Return to Forever and then Light as a Feather, which contains Chick Corea’s jazz standard Spain. This era almost isn’t jazz fusion. It’s more like Cuban-Brazilian proto-fusion, or something like that. Call it what you want, this era’s two albums contain some startlingly beautiful music, characterized by Corea’s Fender Rhodes and Joe Farrel’s flute. Unfortunately there are some vocals by a woman named Flora Purim. She has a nice voice, but I can’t stand vocals in jazz (or even in other kinds of music, for the most part). Thankfully she doesn’t sing very much, and you get to hear more Fender Rhodes and flutes than anything else. Overall, the music is very calming and astral, but at moments it picks up and soars to the heavens, as Chick Corea’s music tends to do.

After Light as a Feather, Corea decided to go full-blown fusion, and created a quartet. He got rid of the wind instruments, percussion, and vocals, and added a drummer (Lenny White) and electric guitarist (Bill Connors). The only member other than himself to stay was young bassist Stanley Clarke. This lineup released the amazing Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy in 1973. Like Light as a Feather, Hymn included what would become another of Corea’s famous jazz standards – this time the super awesome Senor Mouse. Corea borrowed some of Mahavishnu Orchestra’s intensity for this new take on fusion, and scrapped the old calmness entirely. The soaring astralness (is that even a word?) remained, but it took on whole new dimensions. It was achieved not via the interplay between flute and keyboards, but rather with the whole band acting as a complete unit. There doesn’t need to be talk of interplay anymore – everything simply fit.

Bill Connors’ tenure with Return to Forever was not destined to be. He quit pretty quick and was replaced by a fresh young talent named Al Di Meola. The man is pretty famous now, but he got his start here. He quickly showed that he was more than capable of living up to Bill Connors’ skill, and he would remain until Return to Forever disbanded. Thus, the lineup was solidified.

They soon recorded one of my favorite albums of all time – Where Have I Known You Before. This is Return to Forever’s most varied albums, and it is entirely different from Hymn. It starts with a very funky piece composed by Stanley Clarke, contains many light piano solo interludes, and concludes with a fifteen minute, incredibly cosmic epic titled Song to the Pharaoh Kings. This track really makes you feel like you’re swimming in a pool of maple syrup on the rings of Saturn. I don’t even know what else to say. Please do yourself a favor and listen to the entire thing on Youtube.

No Mystery came next. Highly eclectic, it was composed in plurality. Every member of the band contributed, and this was its failure. Except for some occasional accidents, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White are not good composers. Al Di Meola is an EXCELLENT composer, but he didn’t seem to give it his all on this record. He was probably saving what he could for the string of solo albums he just began to release around this time. Corea’s compositions were excellent as usual, but they were few and far between compared to other albums. It’s still a good record, but not nearly as good as the others.

The last Return to Forever album was Romantic Warrior. This album went in a similar symphonic direction as Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Apocalypse, but with much better results. No vocals this time, for one thing. For another thing, it had the same lineup as No Mystery and Where Have I known You Before. It’s almost like Corea decided to take Song to the Pharoah Kings and take it in a more symphonic direction, almost eliminating the cosmic syrup. This style worked quite well, and it ensured Return to Forever stayed fresh. However I don’t enjoy it as much as the others. The highlight of this album is again the ending track, the ten minute Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant. This features (you guessed it) a duel between Di Meola and Chick Corea, alternating mini-solos.

Return to Forever are certainly the most influential of all the main four jazz fusion groups, at least in terms of jazz fusion itself. Chick Corea’s compositions influenced an entire generation of jazz fusion musicians across the globe. In terms of prog, it is more likely that Mahavishnu Orchestra was more important, but Romantic Warrior certainly left its mark on prog as well.

To reiterate, I highly recommend Where Have I Known You Before and Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy first and foremost, in that order. Feel free to check out the first era as well, but the “real fusion” era is much more important, in my opinion. Also worth checking out, but not mentioned, is the recent reunion tour live album, Return to Forever Returns.

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Honorable Mention

Like McLaughlin, Chick Corea released countless solo albums, many of which can be put under the fusion label. He also had another band, called the Chick Corea Elektric Band. The albums from that band are heavily synthesized 80’s stuff, but there’s still some pretty good music in there if you can tolerate all the synths. Besides that, probably Chick Corea’s best solo album (in my opinion) is My Spanish Heart. This album is an hour of pure latin fusion, and it’s quite excellent. Like with McLaughlin, don’t expect it to be like his band. He separated solo from band to a strong degree. Still excellent though, and worth checking out.

So there we have it, the big four. The people who set the stage for what would come next. After this we’ll be examining the so-called “second generation”, though they only began to record a few years after these guys did. The sections in the next article will be much smaller, so don’t worry about having to read too much.

Uriah Heep – Into The Wild

Uriah Heep comes back with another studio album after extremely enjoyable “Wake The Sleeper”. While “Into The Wild” isn’t as great as I wished it to be, it’s still a very solid release which should satisfy all band’s fans. Just like preceding album it’s clearly rooted in Uriah Heep’s glorious past, so you can expect tons of Hammond organ riffs (no other keyboard here!), dazzling guitar solos and usual mix of energetic hard songs and more complex quasi-epic tracks. I’m glad that these heavy prog dinosaurs are still able to pull off such entertaining material, without selling off to modern trends.

“Into The Wild” consists of 11 new compositions:

1. “Nail on the Head” – unfortunately album begins with definitely the worst UH’s song I’ve heard from ages. Main guitar riff sounds like it was looped to playback again and again so Mick Box could go for lunch earlier! Also Bernie Shaw keeps repeating the refrain until you feel exhausted, so in general “Nail on the Head” is a very boring, repetitive experience. What a shame that they decided to promote this good album with such a turkey. Even their 80s new wave heavy metal was much better than this crap. The only redeeming factor is guitar solo in the middle which is classy as usual.

2. “I Can See You” – next track is so much better! It’s still a bit too mainstream for me, but at least it’s a memorable tune with neck-breaking tempo, heavy guitar licks and roaring organ backing. I can add that somehow it reminds me of “Devil’s Daughter” song. Anyway it’s a real start of the album for me. Let’s just forget about opening flop…

3. “Into The Wild” – my favorite track from this release. Essence of 70s style heavy prog with thundering organ/guitar delivery and dark, thrilling vocal. I love Lanzon’s Hammond B-3 solo, very energetic and very “hensleyish”. I hope it will become new UH’s concert favorite, it deserves to be placed on band’s live track-list for sure.

4. “Money Talk” – another ground-shaking number with even meaner organ riffs reminding me of Jon Lord’s work in Deep Purple. Especially last minute of the song is drenched in heavy organ spectacular madness. Only quasi-refrain “Down for the money” sounds too goofy and irrelevant here for me. The rest is splendid.

5. “I’m Ready” – Uriah Heep keep rockin’ like there’s no tomorrow in another song. Up-beat, frenetic rock’n'roller with flashy organ & fiery electric guitar tones. Brief B-3 solo part in the middle, preceded by guitar one is especially worth to be mentioned.

6. “Trail of Diamonds” – first mini-epic of this album is called “Trail of Diamonds”. First half of the song is very mellow and ballad style with Shaw’s melancholic vocal, melodic Hammond melodies and acoustic guitar licks. But at 2:20 minute Box suddenly kicks off with guitar riff…taken directly from “The Magician’s Birthday” epic! But it’s only couple of seconds and after that Uriah Heep proceeds to most energetic part of the song, which is equally good as the slow paced one. In the end musicians come back to melancholic mood with typical for them “AAAAA” chorus-like singing. In general it’s equally well-written song as “What Kind of God” from “Wake The Sleeper”, but of course it can’t be matched with such magnificent lengthy compositions from 70′ like “July Morning”, “Pilgrim” or “Paradise/The Spell”.

7. “Southern Star” – more radio-friendly mid-tempo rocker but not memorable for me at all. Standard track without anything distinguishable.

8. “Believe” – similar to previous song, typical Uriah Heep’s rocker with evident pop flavor. In general not bad but also not particularly good.

9. “Lost” – amazing heavy progressive rock track with thrilling vocal harmonies and slightly middle-east flavor melody lines. I don’t know who is the main singer on this composition but it’s definitely not Bernie (maybe it’s Lanzon?). Anyway “Lost” is a truly mean & dark-sounding song filled with gritty organ riffs. Last few seconds include spectacular, gloomy Hammond solo in the vain of Ken Hensley’s well-known performance on “Gypsy”.

10. “T-Bird Angel” – cock-rock rock’n'roller similar to band’s output from 80s period. Not my cup of tea, but not very offensive either. Some fine heavy metal guitar solos here anyway.

11. “Kiss of Freedom” – the second semi-epic of “Into The Wild” is another highlight. Atmosphere is closer to power-ballad than real prog-rock but it’s still beautiful composition. Passionate vocals, organ floods and heavenly guitar solos make it a worth-hearing experience. However the best is last 2 minutes filled with extended Hammond B-3 solo where Lanzon shows his phenomenal skills once again.

+ Bonus:

12. “Hard Way to Learn” – some editions of this CD also include additional, 12th song called “Hard Way to Learn”. In fact I’m surprised that it wasn’t included on the main album because it’s better than “Believe”, “T-Bird Angel” and especially dreadful “Nail on the Head”. Overall very nice mid-tempo rocker with stomping rhythm, catchy vocals and smokin’ organ solo.

Summarize: “Into The Wild” has bigger amount of fillers than spectacular “Wake The Sleeper” (released 3 years earlier) but it still manages to remain as a must-have album for Uriah Heep fans and general lovers of heavy prog & classic hard rock in the vain of Deep Purple, Birth Control, Jackal, Frumpy, Tyburn Tall, Amish etc.
But I have to warn you that Uriah Heep is one of my very favorite prog-rock bands (along with ELP and early Eloy) so I may slightly overrate this release.

Best tracks: “Into The Wild”, “Lost”, “Kiss of Freedom” & “Trail of Diamonds”

Tracklist:

1. Nail On the Head (4:16)
2. I Can See You (4:14)
3. Into the Wild (4:21)
4. Money Talk (4:44)
5. I’m Ready (4:15)
6. Trail of Diamonds (6:28)
7. Southern Star (4:26)
8. Believe (5:09)
9. Lost (4:51)
10. T-Bird Angel (4:01)
11. Kiss of Freedom (6:13)

Total Time 52:58

Line-up:

* Phil Lanzon / keyboards, vocals
* Russell Gilbrook / drums, vocals
* Bernie Shaw / lead vocals
* Mick Box / guitars, vocals
* Trevor Bolder / bass, vocals

Links:

http://www.uriah-heep.com/

http://www.myspace.com/uheep

Earthbound Papas – Octave Theory

Nobuo Uematsu is a well-known game soundtracks composer especially famous from creating music for “Final Fantasy” series. Few years ago he set his first rock ensemble called “The Black Mages” with whom he recorded 3 interesting albums filled with prog rock/metal versions of his compositions. However in 2011 Nobuo Uematsu decided to form new band called “Earthbound Papas” together with 2 friends from the previous group: Michio Okamiya & Arata Hanyuda, along with 2 new members: Tsutomu Narita & Yoshitaka Hirota.
Their first album “Octave Theory” shows many similarities with “The Black Mages” output. Music presented there is a mix of progressive metal (shredding guitar, powerful drumming), heavy prog (Hammond organ floods, sometimes singing style) and symphonic prog (operatic vocals, floating synthesizers, orchestral arrangements). Most of compositions are new versions of Nobuo’s solo material, but we can also find some absolutely new songs here.
Anyway I’m not a fan of computer games, so I’m not familiar with Nobuo’s soundtrack work. In this situation you can be sure that I’ll review this effort just like any prog-rock staff.

1. “Introduction ~Octopus Theory” – album begins with very lightweight classical music played by (synth-made?) orchestra. I wouldn’t call is symphonic prog, as I said it’s just pure classical here. After 2 minutes this introduction is over and the band “enters the stage” with energetic synths, sharp guitar & deep sounding organ runs. It’s only a pity that middle part is occupied by very annoying speaking part (everything in Japanese language of course, but it’s not a problem. This horrible voice is a problem!).

2. “Liberi Fatali (from FINAL FANTASY VIII)” – very dynamic, symphonic piece driven by extremely catchy Gothic-style choruses (in Latin language!) and powerful drums. Sounds really thrilling, goosebumps guaranteed! (OK, if you don’t like such things it will be probably very cheesy for you…) Heavy metal guitar solo and schizoid synthesizer rides are also great. It reminds me of Keith Emerson’s soundtrack for horror movie “Inferno” (“Mater Tenebrarum” part). Vocals and overall atmosphere are so similar!

3. “Advent- One-Winged Angel (from FINAL FANTASY VII Advent Children)” – another marvelous song with highly symphonic, operatic choruses, which surprisingly work very well with shredding guitar attacks, while Nobuo Uematsu fills space with virtuosic Hammond organ, church organ and synthesizer rides.

4. “Thread of Fate (from GUINSAGA)” – finally “Earthbound Papas” lets us take a deep breath after previous 3. thundering tracks. “Thread of Fate” is a slow-tempo instrumental which starts with flute, harp (?) & piano melody, but later on Michio Okamiya and his electric guitar takes control. In this track he really proves that he’s able to play very soft & melancholic, a bit like David Gilmour from Pink Floyd.

5. “Metal Hypnotized” – explosive instrumental led by spacey synthesizers, groovy bass work and crunching electric guitar. Near the end we Nobuo Uematsu plays blasting Hammond organ solo in the best tradition of Jon Lord or Vincent Crane.

6. “Eternity (from BLUE DRAGON)” – very enjoyable heavy prog song dominated by raging organ sound. I also like this slightly corny vocal, which reminds me of Hisakatsu Igarashi (from Japanese band Novela). In general “Eternity” seems to be inspired by Novela’s harder material. However middle part with fiery organ/guitar interluding solos sounds like Lord and Blackmore during their pinnacle.

7. “The Forest of a Thousand Years” – rather boring, soundtrackish instrumental with mellow pianos. violin (synth?) & guitar playin’. Nothing to remember or talking about, just relaxing filler.

8. “Bo-Kon-Ho-Ko (from LOST ODYSSEY)” – great, up-beat track with large bass sound, roaring organ runs & the most important – horror-like choruses, building threatening tension.

9. “Homecoming” – albums ends with total flop. Repetitive rhythm and annoying talking…and talking…and talking… Bleeh.

The latest project of Nobuo Uematsu and his friends, I can recommend to aficionados of progressive metal, but typical fans of Dream Theater or Symphony X can be rather disappointed, by large amount of space occupied by operatic vocals & symphonic keyboards. However people who like different kind of prog-metal, like for example Ayreon, should definitely dig it.
Symphonic style lovers can be also interested in this kind of staff, they will find many classical-inspired fragments and synth/organ work. The most similar artist I can think of would be Motoi Sakuraba. He also often plays very rockin’ soundtrack music filled with analog gear (those blistering organ solos!), but Sakuraba never used guitar so similarity isn’t so obvious here.

Anyway it’s a pity that this album will be probably discovered only by few Japanese game nerds… while it should be definitely appreciated by prog-rock nerds too .

Best tracks: “Liberi Fatali”, “Advent- One-Winged Angel” & “Metal Hypnotized”

Tracklist:

1.Introduction ~Octopus Theory (6:35)
2.Liberi Fatali (from FINAL FANTASY VIII) (4:49)
3.Advent- One-Winged Angel (from FINAL FANTASY VII Advent Children) (6:13)
4.Thread of Fate (from GUINSAGA) (5:46)
5.Metal Hypnotized (5:12)
6.Eternity (from BLUE DRAGON) (4:47)
7.The Forest of a Thousand Years (6:03)
8.Bo-Kon-Ho-Ko (from LOST ODYSSEY) (5:56)
9.Homecoming (3:35)

Line-up:

* Nobuo Uematsu – Hammond organ, keyboards
* Michio Okamiya – guitar
* Tsutomu Narita – keyboards, guitar
* Yoshitaka Hirota – bass
* Arata Hanyuda – drums

Links:

http://www.dogearrecords.com/Earthbound_Papas/index_eng.html

Roadsaw – Roadsaw

Sometimes a band needs over twenty years to release a superb, groundshaking album and that is what happened with the latest achievement of the Boston rocking ensemble, Roadsaw. Perhaps it comes from the magic that happens when a band names an album after itself, I don’t know, but in their 18-year-long career, they could produce several bigger waves with albums such as Rawk N’ Roll and See You in Hell. Signing for Small Stone Records apparently revived the band.

That production really makes a difference and Roadsaw is the best indicator for it. Lending his production skills, Sean Slade (who also worked with Radiohead and Dinosaur Jr.), together with Benny Grotto (Mad Oak studio) seals Roadsaw’s heftiest record out to date. Ian Ross, taking a lead throughout the album’s entirety with his outstanding guitar work, is not the only who enters the competition for winning a prize. On a side, the vocalist Craig Riggs absolutely crystallizes this album with his sometimes sensitive, sometimes rough voice.

There are few interesting details concerning this album and Lo-Pan’s latest achievement called Salvador (see review here). Namely, both of these two records appeared in 2011, both of them are released on Small Stone Records, both bands (albums) enjoy highly prolific stoner/riff rock and these are some of the facts that create a bond between these two recordings. Now, it’s not a smart decision to compare albums of two different bands, which as far as I know are not in any significant relationship besides being on the same label, but I couldn’t resist to set few parallels between these particular albums. At least, get the albums and find out for yourself.

Like Lo-Pan’s Salvador, Roadsaw’s self-titled presents an overwhelming soundscape, filled with energy at every turn. These guys do not calculate a lot, from the opening Dead and Buried to the closing The Thrill is Waiting, Roadsaw serves uncompromising melodic riff-led rock. The cliché formula of a classic rock approach is skillfully avoided, the songs come in a line without any feeling of fatigue, and everything goes smoothly. The album is heavily spiced by 70’s hard rock, but still sounds very fresh and modern. What appears to be one of the highlights of the recording is its radio friendliness.

2011 should certainly bring a good profit to Small Stone Records. Having three of several more albums released up to now that I have heard, reviewed and, more importantly, enjoyed (Lo-Pan’s Salvador, Tia Carrera’s Cosmic Priestess and Roadsaw’s self-titled) the label is living a golden moment in their 15 years long existence. Concerning Roadsaw, they showed that even with almost two decades in the business they can come back around and create something amazing. Hopefully, we will not wait another 18 years to hear more of Roadsaw’s magic.

Tracklist:

01. Dead and Buried

02. Weight in Cold

03. Thinking of Me

04. Long in the Tooth

05. So Low Down

06. The Getaway

07. Motel Shoot Out

08. The Thrill is Waiting

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