Chris Hinze Combination - 1973 - Mission Suite

Chris Hinze Combination

1973

Mission Suite

01. Di-da-de-lu-da (8:08)
02. Mission Suite (14:50)
03. Deliverance (11:20)
04. The Ballad (3:49)
05. Bamboo Funk (5:26)

Cees See / guest, percussion
Wim Van Der Beek / percussion
Henny Vonk / vocals, percussion
Chris Hinze / piccolo flute, flute, alto flute
Gerry Brown / drums
John Lee / bass, electric bass
Rob Van De Broeck / electric piano
Sigi Schwab / guitar, guest, twelve-String guitar, electric guitar

Recorded by MPS at the Cornett (note: a typo on all releases) Studio, Köln.

As my obscure fusion binge of '73 is finally reaching its end it's time to see what came on top. There're are a several more works in this field left to explore and some I will, but the others I'm either unable to find or choose to stay away for any number of reasons. This one here stood out immediately, and after repeated listens I'm still fairly impressed with its contents.

The opener is a marriage between energized jazz-rock, zeuhlish ambience found on Fœtus and progressive funk of its time at the end. It's not my favorite cut on it, but you can already hear the tightness of the rhythm section, harmonic intensity and restless swings of tonality that differentiate this from your average jazz-rock of the time. The real meat is situated at the middle of the album, particularly the long zoned out jazz improvisations of ""Mission Suite" and "Deliverance".

The first one is carried throughout its fifteen minute span by the distinctive double bass lines of John Lee who really is one of the superstars of the entire album and reflects some of Miroslav Vitous' aesthetic in his musicianship. Once the odd meter is established Hinze goes on frenzied attack with his flute(mostly sounds like alto, though don't quote me on that), but he never becomes comfortable in any setting, avoiding the dreaded 70's auto-pilot mode where someone is soloing over a pedestrian groove over a prolonged time. With the occasional tempo/harmony modulation he urges the supporting cast to guide him to fresh ground for the collective solo effect like Weather Report used to when it was still interesting. After thunderous poly-rhythms, rapturous flute effort and arcane harmonies by Rhodes they end contrasting a neurotic bass solo against obscure Rhodes wizardry similar to Joe Zawinul. After which a celestial scat section gradually evolves with the flute and a surprisingly catchy and melodic Latin melody abruptly pops out of Hinze's reed and the track soon ends. Fantastic, as far as I'm concerned!

The grizzled fuzz bass that introduces us to "Deliverance" resonates some of the aggressive feel and punchy dynamics they use in the beginning of the track. The middle section is a blend of neutral to downright mellow sounding fusion and passive-aggressive glides in scales and rhythms. Whereas the third half of the track is again carried by the Rhodes towards another oddball of vocalizations not far off from some zeuhl records. It follows the same anxious and perfectionist approach that permeates the record which refuses to accept static and one-dimensional delivery. I think the definitive version of this track is on its cousin album Infinite Jones which I will be trying to dissect next. Chris Hinze himself penned a few tracks and played flute on it and John Lee on bass here is one of the main writers of that great work.

A catchy Rhodes ostinato, wordless vocals and some weird keyboards lead us into the short, almost spiritual-jazz sounding " The Ballad" which might have Hinze's best melody on the entire album. A truly spell-binding, orgasmic convergence of notes and instruments in the middle of it! I just wish it was double the length of it. As the title of the track "Bamboo Funk" suggests you can accept someone blowing a bamboo flute over a funk beat. Sigi Schwab, who contributed to some of Embryo's albums is also fretting some of his stringed instruments on this one. A decent track, but with its middling, mellow melodies and static nature it feels more like an anticlimax than the opposite, especially considering what preceded it.

A rich album that offers a lot to the attentive listener. I can hear some zeuhl vibes and early Weather Report here, but usually the musicians are talented enough to make the influence less obvious through the out of the box approach to the chosen aesthetic. This band manages to find the link between the abstract and more obvious lines that I think Weather Report never managed to do on their debut album. Really great stuff.

Dutch flautist Chris Hinze was far more than just your usual jazz flute player. Especially on Mission Suite which can be considered the perfect marriage of jazz improvisation, especially in the stand up bass and drum work, combined with strong rock elements, such as electric guitar and the Rhodes sounds. Through it all, Hinze wails almost non stop on a variety of flutes. As good as the best Bjorn J:Son Lindh in this genre - even better actually.