ZAO - 1975 - Shekina

ZAO

1975

Shekina

01. Joyl (3:52)

02. Yen-Lang (8:07)

03. Zohar (10:54)

04. Metatron (8:15)

05. Zita (4:34)

06. Bakus (5:12)

- Yochok'o Seffer / saxes, clarinets, vocals

- François "Faton" Cahen / keyboards

- Gérard Prévost Electric / bass

- Jean-My Truong / drums

- Pierre "TV Boum" Guignon / percussion

- Michèle Margand / violin

- Marie-Françoise Viaud / violin

- Françoise Douchet / viola

- Claudine Lassere / cello

I guess I shouldn't be so shocked at how good this album is, I mean Seffer and Cahen were a big part of MAGMA's early sound, and the first two ZAO records blew me away. I really am starting to adore this band. ZAO had to replace Joel Dugrenot on bass as he left to join CLEARLIGHT. So the deep vocal melodies he provided on "Osiris" would be missing on this one, leaving Seffer's higher pitched vocal melodies as the only vocals on this album. And really those vocals are the only link to the Zeuhl sound that is left. Not content to just repeat themselves there are some chamber-rock passages, as well as some dark, atmospheric soundscapes to go along with the Jazz melodies that are at times Zeuhl flavoured. For this record only they added a female string quartet named THE QUARTUOR MARGAND. This made ZAO an eight piece band and gave them more options when it came to the sound they wanted to create. The pictures in the liner notes are a real treat. There is a picture of all eight taken outside with most of them wearing coats. There is another picture of the four ladies all smiling happily, and then one more of them all 8 playing their instruments. When Seffer left the band after the "Kawana" album to do his solo stuff, he did so with the help of the QUATUOR MARGAND on his first album called "Ghilgoul". By the way this album's title is in reference to the place where God's presence resides. I think it resides in this music as well.

"Joyl" hits the ground running with an uptempo melody of sax, drums and keys. It calms down quickly though with sax being the most prominant instrument. The percussion is a nice touch, and the strings make a couple of appearances. This all sounds so good ! "Yen.Lang" features the whisper of the clarinet to open. Very atmospheric as vocal sounds, keys, cymbals, bass and clarinet slowly come and go with no real melody. There is an Eastern feel to this hence the song title. This is so different from anything ZAO has done before. It's far removed from either Jazz or Zeuhl. Violin starts to rise slowly out of this soundscape 5 minutes in getting louder and louder. Drums and clarinet are added. This sounds so amazing ! It's dark and the clarinet is relentless. A real chamber rock sound.

"Zohar" is where Jean-My Truong reveals that he is one of the best drummers on the planet. The bass throbs and the sax blasts away, but it's the awe inspired drumming that is the focus. The string quartet takes over completely 2 1/2 minutes in. I'm reminded of UNIVERS ZERO 3 1/2 minutes in as it sounds quite tense. The quartet stops 5 minutes in as we get a change in climate. This time it's percussion with spacey keys. Nice. It ends with a fantastic jazzy melody that has to be heard to be believed. The sax 9 1/2 minutes in is a highlight. "Metatron" opens with vocal melodies before the song takes off with sax and keys leading the way. The bass is prominant before 2 minutes and the drums are out of control. Vocal melodies are back with bass,drums and keys.This is unreal 3 minutes in. At this point i'm sitting here shaking my head and laughing. Seffer is blasting off sax solo after sax solo. Vocal melodies dominate 7 1/2 minutes in as it gets very Zeuhl-like. "Zita" is a slow moving track with vocal melodies, strings, keys and clarinet all taking part. Well done. "Bakus" opens sounding like a GENTLE GIANT song until the vocal melodies arrive. Uptempo with some more crazy drumming. Sax and percussion after 3 minutes.

ZAO - 1974 - Osiris

ZAO

1974

Osiris

01. Shardaz (4:48)

02. Isis (9:32)

03. Reinna (4:23)

04. Yog (8:05)

05. La Rhune (4:08)

- Francois "Faton" Cahen / keyboards

- Joel "DUD" Dugrenot / bass, vocals

- Yochk'o Seffer / saxes, vocals

- Jean-My Truong / drums, percussion

- Jean-Yves Rigaud / electric violin

- Marc Chantereau / percussion

- Pierre "TY BOUM" Guignon / percussion

On ZAO's second album they have lost the stunning vocals of Mauricia Platon who has left,leaving the vocal duties to Dugrenot (bass player) who sang the low notes, and Seffer who would sing the high notes. There would be two guest percussionists in their lineup as well, and Seffer would not be playing clarinet on this one, only sax. As their liner notes state, they did not wish to have "Osiris" released on a major label and so turned to a new label called "Disjuncta" which had been created by Richard Pinhas of HELDON fame. He was a friend of Cahen and a cousin of MAGMA's singer Stella Vander. Thanks to Pinhas' hard work "Osiris" outsold their debut "Z=7L". One year later the label went bankrupt unfortunately and "Osiris" was deleted. Thankyou "Musea" for reissueing this amazing recording.

"Shardaz" opens with drums and sax as vocal melodies come in. Violin after a minute as the tempo picks up. The vocal melodies are prominant much like what you would hear on some MAGMA records. Piano before 3 minutes, and the bass is nice and heavy that follows. "Isis" is pastoral for 1 1/2 minutes until we get some guitar melodies that come and go as warm sax melodies play on. The drums and sound are building, and the tempo picks up 6 minutes in. Great sound ! Violin arrives a minute later. A calm takes over (that reminds me of the intro) for the final minute of the song. What a ride that was. "Reinna" features drums, bass, piano and sax while Zeuhl-like vocals arrive a minute in causing the instrumental work to take a back seat temporarily. Some great drumming and sax work follows. Piano and violin join in and we are cooking now ! Percussion too as this is quite jazzy.

"Yog" features deep vocals and piano that are contrasted with instrumental outbreaks. I love this stuff ! This is such a beautiful passage.The song takes off after 2 minutes with sax and vocal melodies taking center stage. It calms down 5 minutes in and check out the drumming after 6 minutes ! Vocal melodies end the song. "La Rhune" is a very good song with bass, percussion, drums and piano leading off before sax comes in followed by violin after 3 minutes. The bonus track is a live song that Seffer and Cahen recorded with members from Quebec artist Robert Charlebois' band who showed a great deal of interest in ZAO, and actually recorded three tracks with Seffer and Cahen in 1973. This one is called "Montreal" and it's truly an amazing live Zeuhl song at almost 12 minutes. Guest female vocals along with relentless bass and drums. Seffer especially stands out with his sax work. Cahen is incredible on the keys as well.

This is not as challenging as their debut was, but it's not inferior either. These guys (Cahen & Seffer) were a big part of MAGMA's early sound and also composed a lot of their music then as well. "Osiris" is a feast that is as satisfying for me as their debut.

Zao - 1973 - Z=7L

Zao

1973 

Z=7L

01. Marochsek (7:13)

02. Ataturc (5:49)

03. Ronach (4:39)

04. Atart (3:31)

05. La Soupe (7:20)

06. Satanyia (6:46)

- François Cahen / electric piano, piano

- Yochk'o Seffer / saxophone, clarinet

- Joël Dugreno / bass

- Jean-Yves Rigaud / electric violin

- Jean-My Truong / drums

- Mauricia Platon / vocals

ZAO was founded at the beginning of the seventies by Yochk'o "Jeff" Seffer (saxophone, clarinet) and François "Faton" Cahen (pianos), both ex-members of MAGMA's first era, that includes "Kobaïa" (1970), "1001 ° centigrades" (1971) and "Uniweria Zekt-the Unnamables" (1972).

If one regard MAGMA as the central trunk of the Zeuhl tree, ZAO would be equivalent to an early side branch very close to the stock. ZAO's music, at least at the beginning of their career, is therefore an extension of MAGMA's first era, with a light music, at times weird, with hints of jazz, contemporaneous music, Hungarian folk (Yochk'o is a native of Hungary) and obviously of Zeuhl. Nothing in common with the absolute incantatory power of "MDK" and "Kohntarkhosz" to which Yochk'o Seffer and François Cahen didn't want to contribute.

In the first album, "Z = 7L" (1973), the very complex melodic instrumental layers are enriched with the wonderful voice of Mauricia Platon (with its kobaïan accents), but unfortunately she was missing on the follow-up "Osiris" released in 1975.

ZAO will break from its Zeuhl roots and the music will lean towards some jazz-rock fusion more and more debatable and debated.

"Shekina" (1975) augmented by the presence of a string quartet and "Kawana" (1976) remain respectable albums of the French jazz-rock fusion scene but "Typhareth" (1976) recorded just after Yochk'o Seffer left the band is of little interest. ZAO will then split but the members will gather anew in 1994 with the release of "Akhenaton" (once more jazz-fusion inflected), the album that saw the band reform but without any follow-up. It seems that the band planned to reform this year (2004) with the return of Yochk'o Seffer. To be continued ? Moreover, we can note that ZAO's bassist, Joël Dugrenot, will join for a short while the French symphonic progressive band CLEARLIGHT.

As others have mentioned Cahen and Seffer left MAGMA because Vander was now in control of the musical direction that MAGMA would take, instead of it being a band effort as on the first two albums. Seffer and Cahen's last recording with MAGMA would be under the name of UNIVERSIA ZEKT. It's interesting that MAGMA's next album ("MDK") after these two left would emphasize female vocals, because ZAO's first recording that would come out the same year (only sooner) would also emphasize a female vocalist.Two very different records mind you. I think the vocals here and on "MDK" are what will make or break the two albums for you, because they are so prominant. The female vocalist Zao hired was a much in demand backing vocalist named Mauricia Platon, who is nothing short of incredible. Seffer being Hungarian badly wanted a violinist for this project,so they hired Jean-Yves Rigaud. Jean-My Truong was added as the drummer, he had played in a band with Seffer before Seffer had joined MAGMA. Joel Dugrenot was added as the guitarist. The album cover was painted by Seffer.

"Marochsek" starts off rather ominously before Mauricia yells "Zao !" and then goes off into some unique vocal melodies. Unfortunately this would be the only studio record she would record with the band. Keys, bass, sax and drums fill out the sound. Some good guitar after 4 minutes. She is amazing 5 1/2 minutes in with liquid sounding keys to follow. "Ataturc" has a nice jazzy soundscape with vocal melodies. The tempos shift and violin comes in. Vocals stop as the song calms down. The drums, bass and piano become prominant before violin comes back. Vocals are back before 5 minutes. "Ronach" is all about her vocals that sound like another instrument. They are very high pitched at times. In "Atart" it's like Mauricia is competing with the sax and she is definitely holding her own. The bass is relentless. Great tune.

"La Soupe" has a nice little intro before i'm blown away by not only her vocals, but the bass and drums. This is killer ! Some beautiful horn / vocal interplay before we get a sax solo. 3 minutes in the violin comes in. Great sound ! Then some ripping guitar as drums pound. The song calms down as only bass can be heard at first. Vocals are next, then a full sound. "Satanyia" features violin, vocal, bass and drum sounds but not much of a melody until after a minute. Her vocals are deeper here with a fantastic melody to follow. The tempo and mood continues to change. Themes are repeated including her deep vocals. Her vocals are so good 6 minutes in as the drums pound.

Weidorje - 1978 - Weidorje

Weidorje

1978

Weidorje

01. Elohim's Voyage (16:31)

02. Vilna (12:19)

03. Booldemug (7:10)

Bonus tracks:

04. Rondeau (live) (8:48)

05. Kolinda (live) (12:27)

- Bernard Paganotti / bass, vocals

- Patrick Gauthier / keyboards

- Michel Ettori / guitar

- Kirt Rust / drums

- Alain Guillard / saxophone

- Yvon Guillard / trumpet, vocals

- Jean-Phillipe Goude / keyboards

WEIDORJE, formed in 1977 by two ex-MAGMA members, Bernard Paganotti and Patrick Gauthier (also keyboardist for HELDON, a group that featured Richard Pinhas) is one of Zheul's children, probably the most faithful and the closest musically and spiritually to MAGMA. One can find a mythology close to MAGMA's one : "the wait of a flying saucer that would come one morning take us with its new values, sane and safe".

WEIDORJE means "celestial wheel". This word appears for the very first time in MAGMA's album "Üdü Wüdü" in the form of a short track (4:30) composed by Paganotti and Blasquiz, the latter being the second master brain in MAGMA, along with Vander (Blasquiz achieved by the way WEIDORJE's cover art).

For some people, WEIDORJE would be a follower to "Üdü Wüdü", Bernard Paganotti forming his band just after MAGMA released this album. First and only album released in 1978, "Weidorje", even if some new stuff was ready for a second album. But following difficulties to find a producer, WEIDORJE disbanded, although they were popular with the French audience. Initially constituted with three long tracks : "Elohim's Voyage", "Vilna" and "Booldemug" on the Ep released for Cobra, two new tracks "Rondeau" and "Kolinda" appeared on the CD reedition by Musea in 1992 (these two tracks were released live with a bad sound but the bass solo is wonderful, waving between jazz-fusion and Zheul accents).

The spirit of WEIDORJE will remain in the first solo albums of some of its members :

- Patrick Gauthier "Bébé Godzilla" (1981) : Christian Vander appears on one track

- PAGA (B. Paganotti) "Paga" (1985)

- J-P Goude "Drones" (1980)

As with most of productions by ex-MAGMA members, the music will be less Zheul-oriented and leanings rather towards jazz-rock, fusion or electronic music.

Weidorje's self-titled and only EP (now consisting of two live tracks, on the Musea CD reissue), released in 1978, is certainly a treat for Magma fans. Especially those who like Bernard Paganotti's bass playing and the Üdü Wüdü" (Jannick Top & Paganotti on bass) sound. Unlike many listeners and fans of Zeuhl music, I came across Weirdorje before Magma. However, I believe this album is much easier on the ears than some Magma albums, so it was indeed a good choice for me to begin my Zeuhl journey. The music is mostly instrumental and the voices that are present (supplied by Bernard Paganotti and Yvon Guillard) is mainly scat, so it leaves my ears free to listen to the wonderful music being played. The really exciting factor about Zeuhl is the fuzz-bass. Bernard Paganotti is a master of the style (along with Jannick Top and non-Zeuhl musician Hugh Hopper), so naturally when I first heard this album, I was immediately struck by the thumping bass. Of course, there is more to Weidorje than just the fuzz-bass, because another former Magma personality is present on this album in the name of Patrick Gauthier. He and Jean-Philippe Goude (both on keyboards) add some very dark and gloomy polyrhythmic sounds which add superb atmosphere and rhythm, as does Michel Ettori on guitar who plays along with Paganotti's bass lines in many places.

The opening track, Elohim's Voyage starts off, as one would suspect, with a crunching bass sound but soon Gauthier's keyboard adds a chilling touch. The main rhythmic charge then begins, with the aforementioned scat vocals, the slowly increasing heavier drumming and then the guitar. This assault continues on throughout the 16 minutes but with added surprises, such as Alain Guillard's avant-garde saxophone. Approaching the halfway mark, the band are in full flow and then everything slows down once more yet the track keeps together solidly. With four minutes to go, the tune reprises with trumpet and saxophone accompaniment. This reflects classic Magma but feels darker and more disturbing, and is a strong track to start precedings. Vilna is the strongest track of the album, beginning with a catchy keyboard riff that leads on until Paganotti's bass. Vilna is not as heavy as Elohim's Voyage, yet is just as catchy (if not more so), continuing on in true Zeuhl-style with a relentlessness of rhythmic sound. This is another difficult track to describe, so I shall leave it for the listener. Originally, the album would have finished with Booldemug, a softer track that reminds sometimes of Third era Soft Machine (though Hugh Hopper's bass never got this fuzzy!). This is jazzier than the previous tracks - bordering on jazz rock/fusion - featuring much more saxophone and guitar and is a welcome break from what has gone before, making the band sound more diverse than one would initially expect. It is also here that you realise how much the keyboards dominate Weidorje's sound without overwhelming the rest. Ettori also unleashes his guitar skills here, so listen out, as his playing is exceptional. As previously stated, French label Musea released Weidorje in 1992 with bonus tracks. Unfortunately the cuts here are aurally inferior to the studio ones heard previously. Thankfully, the music is just as great and proves they could perform live as well. Rondeau sounds ethnic and medieval in places, dominated by the keyboards. Due to the sound quality, the bass is not so strong in the mix but doesn't lessen the charm of this cut. Expect the same kind of catchiness as previous tracks just more sedated and laid-back, and listen out halfway through as there is some rather nice jazzy moments thanks to the trumpet and guitar. A studio version of this selection would have sounded marvelous, so it is a shame they never released another album. Kolinda mostly consists of an astounding bass solo by Bernard Paganotti. The track starts off with yet more memorable rhythms and when the solo begins, it often reminds quite a bit of the late Berry Oakley, Jr.'s (Allman Brothers' Band) playing style which when I first heard it, came as a very pleasant surprise.

Despite their use of catchy rhythms, Weidorje never get dull or boring, continuously and subtly changing things. The changes are often so subtle, you do not notice them. I have listened to the album many times and I always forget there is a trumpet and saxophone used as they are used scarcely, yet without them, the tracks would sound completely different. I have given this album a 5/5 (4.8) rating, even with the poorly recorded bonus tracks, because an album of this quality does not come about very often. This is a gem of a record and is still an essential release for those who have discovered Magma, or who want to discover Magma in the future and a great introductory level album if not always the easiest of listens.

Paga Group - 1988 - Haunted

Paga Group 

1988

Haunted

01. Haunted (10:17)

02. In a Spiral (8:19)

03. Memorial (6:03)

04. Kings for a Day (11:32)

05. Rainy Days, Lonely Nights (4:19)

06. Shortcut (2:25)

-Bernard Paganotti / bass, vocals

-Bertrand Lajudie / keyboards

-Claude Salmieri / drums, percussion

-Klaus Blasquiz / vocals, percussion

-Ronald Mehu / choruses

Paga was the 80's vessel for former Magma members Bernard Paganotti and Klaus Blasquiz to flex their remaining Zeuhl muscles in public, alongside periodic bouts of some less exhilarating AOR impulses. In the time since their 1985 debut outing, they've jettisoned the sax player and swapped drummers, but the results deliver a similar mixture of overtly Zeuhl (and thus overtly satisfying) prog gestures alongside the aforementioned AOR-esque exploits, but with the former fortunately outweighing the latter. New to the mix this time 'round is a bit of 80's King Crimson influence that meshes tidily enough into their praxis and seems almost a given for those flying prog flags around that time.

Paga Group - 1982 - Paga

Paga Group

1982

Paga

01. Talk Back (7:40)

02. Mitchinoku (7:50)

03. Show Town (5:00)

04. Une Parcelle d'Urantia (12:53)

05. Final d'Urantia (1:44)

-Bernard Paganotti / bass, Chapman Stick, Rhodes, cabassa, Simmons, P.P.G., vocals

-Claude Salmieri / drums, Simmons

-Patrick Gauthier / acoustic piano, Moog, P.P.G., vocals

-Carol Rowley / vocals

-Maria Popkiewicz / vocals

-Christian Leroux / guitars

-Yvon Guillard / trumpet

-Alain Guillard / saxophone, flute

-Koyko Okumura / vocals

-Chizuru Hosoya / vocals

-Kirt Rust / drums

-Jean-Phillipe Goude / Rhodes

Out of the ashes of WEIDORJE arose PAGA.

Although the first of the Paganotti albums is listed as BERNARD PAGANOTTI's "Paga" and the subsequent "Haunted" and "Gnosis" are listed under the different project name of PAGA GROUP, the three are sometimes referred to under the label PAGA and are seen as a trilogy, but PAGA is sometimes seen as a continuation of WEIDORJE (which would sort of make it a quadrilogy). After the bassist and composer Bernard Paganotti had worked with MAGMA (1976 -77 albums) and formed WEIDORJE (album release - 1978) for a sole effort with the keyboardist Patrick Gauthier, who had been keyboardist with MAGMA (and HELDON), he composed and released an album utilising fellow WEIDORJE founder, Gauthier. This album was released as BERNARD PAGANOTTI - "Paga" (1985). Other WEIDORJE alumni also contributed to the project, including the legendary Jean Phillipe-Goude, Allain and Yvon Guillard, as well as Kirt Rust.

fter "Paga," the project led to PAGA GROUP. PAGA GROUP released two albums, "Haunted" (1988) and "Gnosis" (1993). Not only is PAGA GROUP a continuation of the original "Paga" album project, but the PAGA project is a kind of continuation of WEIDORJE. It is a reunion of members, as has been noted, and the "Paga" albums two best compositions, as I hear it, and these are teriffic, are "Mitchinoku" and "Une Parcelle d'Urantia." These tracks were essentially Paganotti compositions intended for WEIDORJE, but they had never been released or fully realised. Paganotti's bass-work dominates, and the sound carries over from WEIDORJE. Both share a similar jazzy Zeuhl approach as well as instrumental technique, but the "Paga" album may be seen to suffer from New Wave leanings as well as jazz-lite elements; nevertheless, I believe it to be a fine, rewarding and exciting album to seek out. On another note: Zeuhler Laurent Thibault, the first bassist for MAGMA, who then joined MOVING GELATINE PLATES, and then went "solo," co-produced Paganotti's "Paga" album.

The "Paga" project reunion albums (PAGA GROUP) become more jazzy and less Zeuhl. although there is a clear continuation of sound. Whilst they are jazz-lite at times, "Haunted" is, I think, more of a jazz/rock fusion than Zuehl album; however, it is still informed by Zeuhl (Zeuhl elements run through it). With "Gnosis" the trend away from Zeuhl continues. It becomes more acoustic and into lighter, smoother jazz territory, but all three are very accomplished and enjoyable efforts for me. The PAGA players are all in fine form. The "Paga" album (the first) is highly recommended to WEIDORJE fans, both as a worthwhile album to hear in its own right, but also as a companion piece to "Weidorje." "Haunted" will still appeal to appreciators of Zeuhl, and is also recommended to Fusion fans. I would recommend "Gnosis" to those who are more into Jazz-Fusion and need not appreciate Zeuhl. Due to the obvious Zeuhl connections, the Zeuhl category seems the best place to highlight this project.

This is a MONSTER album by MONSTER Bass player Bernard Paganotti. Lovers of Bass Guitar, keep an eye out for this one !! BP onced passed through MAGMA, lending his virtuosic Bass skills to help create a phenomenal Live album (also odd tracks on various albums). Zheul Bass playing is in a league of its own, plenty of distortion and complex riffing, often sounding humanly impossible. Moving on, he formed 'WEIDORJE', releasing another heavily Bass oriented classic. It's not all just about the Bass Guitar, though. Keyboards play an important role, frantic Drum-work in an effort to keep the flow of the relentless compositions going smoothly, guitars and brass instruments included to expand the sound and enhance the shape of the final product. In 1985, Paganotti had assembled a new band featuring old friend Patrick Gauthier on Keys and a superb drummer by the name of Claude Salmieri. He even got his old band Weidorje together for a lengthy epic, resulting in this album 'Paga', released on a small, private label, 'Cream Records', and every bit as engaging as his previous work, and a valuable contribution to 'Zheul' prog. The opening song 'Talk Back' is a funky, up-beat number utilising many techniques of Bass playing, and an incredible Fretless Bass solo. Bernard handles the lead vocals (he makes a decent singer) and includes some female back-up singers. This one is sung in English. The production has great depth and clarity, and Salmieri proves to be a worthy Drummer. 'Mitchinoku' is a driving, Zheul track sung in Japanese (I guess) and features his wife, Naoko Paganotti. The final section is a triumphant piece with a catchy melody. Side 2 kicks off with a New-Wave influenced song, 'Show Town', sung in English again and features a deep, rumbling Bass-line. The near-13 minute 'Une Parcelle D'urantia' features old band-mates from Weidorje, and is an absolutely amazing track. From humble beginnings, the track moves through many sections, with the Bass being the focal-point, and drummer Kirt Rust puts in a mammoth effort on Drums - he seems to have improved technically from his earlier days. The Guillard brothers adding Flute, Trumpet and Sax to the brooding middle section, where complex interplay takes place between the female vox, Gauthier's Piano and the wind instruments, afterwards returning to earlier melodies and finishing with a storming riff. Fully breath-taking. The album finishes off with a very short piece, but it sounds complete, it's complex and incredibly dramatic.

Claude Engel - Teddy Lasry - Bernard Lubat - 1971 - More Creative Pop

Claude Engel - Teddy Lasry - Bernard Lubat
1971
More Creative Pop

01. Claude Engel - Freedom Fiesta (2:51)
02. Teddy Lasry - A Song For Leila (3:20)
03. Claude Engel - Bear's Walk (2:39)
04. Teddy Lasry - Happy Street (2:31)
05. Claude Engel - That Good Old Shuffle (2:12)
06. Teddy Lasry - Fiction Melody (2:21)
07. Bernard Lubat - Beat It Hard (2:21)
08. Claude Engel - Indian Reflexions (2:56)
09. Teddy Lasry - Yellow Mood (3:36)
10. Bernard Lubat - Dancing Penguins (2:34)
11. Claude Engel - West Coast Memories (2:23)
12. Bernard Lubat - Pop A Bossa (2:34)

laude Engel
Teddy Lasry
Bernard Lubat

This seriously fantastic library music LP intersperses cuts from early Magma members Teddy Lasry and Claude Engel alongside those of top notch jazz drummer Bernard Lubat (featured on the Laurent Petitgirard LP I posted a while back), who would himself shortly thereafter record a live album with Engel as part of the Lubat/Louiss/Engel group (soon to be posted here). As you'd expect, this being a library music album, none of what's contained here really qualifies as zeuhl, despite the pedigree. The back cover's description of the contents as "hard pop light" perhaps comes a bit closer, provided that you're definition of pop is Wolfgang Dauner's The Oimels or the soundtrack to Vampiros Lesbos. Yes, some of this is that groovily swinging, notably Engel's album opener "Freedom Fiesta". Engel also turns in two other exquisite bits here, both in a sort of poignant Alain Markusfeld cum Total Issue psych mode that's really rib-sticking. Other stellar turns here include the doomy Besombes-like acid rock blowout of Teddy Lasry's "Fiction Melody" that closes out side A and two of Lubat's cuts ("Beat It Hard" and "Dancing Penguins") which traffic in a species of jazz rock grooviness that wouldn't be out of place on one of Roberto Colombo's albums. An essential missing piece of the puzzle for this wing of the French 70's underground.

Zabu - 1972 - My Coffin's Ready

Zabu

1972

My Coffin's Ready

01. Yellow Girl 3:58

02. Doctor Moonshine 3:42

03. Coffin's Ready 8:27

04. Subversion Blues 5:26

05. Informer Blues 4:10

06. Silent Angel 5:10

07. Ice-Pick Blues 1:39

Backing Vocals – Serge Grünberg (tracks: 1, 5)

Bass – Edouard Magnani (tracks: 1, 2, 3), Richard Siltich (tracks: 6, 7)

Drums – B.B. Brutus (tracks: 7), Christian Vander (tracks: 6), Michel Santangelli (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 5)

Electric Piano – Lahouari Benne Djadi (tracks: 2, 4)

Flute, Voice [Roars Of Laughter] – Eric Langeberteaux (tracks: 4)

Guitar [Lead & Rhythm], Bells – Dominique Frideloux

Guitar [Lead, Slide, Rhythm] – Marc Perru (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6)

Lead Vocals – Zabu

Organ – Teddy Lasry (tracks: 6)

Piano – Francis Moze (tracks: 5)

Rhythm Guitar – Zabu (tracks: 3, 7)

Saxophone – Jeff Seffer (tracks: 5, 6), Teddy Lasry (tracks: 5)

Producer – Laurent Thibault

I have just come across this fine French blues album – though you wouldn’t know it’s French – performed by Lucien Zabuski who used to be the vocalist for Magma, though I think he left before their first release. Not sure; still learning.

For the vocal think Edgar Broughton and you’d have a perfect reference point for the sound in its growl and emotion. The songs are basically a rock blues with some soulful singing, but also generic rather than original – not that this matters at all because that is what you should expect and want if listening to this: and Zabu’s vocal is superb in that style already noted.

Track five Silent Angel is a delightful exception, a jazz number enlivened by the saxophone playing and Zabu’s more expressive vocal, here sounding like Roger Chapman. The French band is excellent [and if you want the full cast list, check it out here], but it is the sax soloing that plays wonderfully off the voice, though I’m not sure if the lead is Teddy Lasry or Yochk’o Seffer [and there is a Laurent Grangier who plays too], and I like the guitar work woven amongst the saxophone, presumably played by Dominique Frideloux.

Sixth Subversion Blues is another song sticking its head above the rest, a gothic/horror riff [you just recognise it, don’t you?] and the manic shrieks and ringing bell add a further sense of menace – a song that really must be used is any one of the zombie films/series so popular at the moment: The Waking Dead meets Zabu.

The album closes on a punk amalgam of country and rock, Yellow Girl, the opening bluegrass fiddle disappearing as a sound as quickly as it has started. What a tease.

Francis Moze - 1982 - Naissance

Francis Moze

1982

Naissance

01. Jocelyn

02. Sophia

03. Chanson Pour Les Enfants

04. Mort D'un Homme

05. Naissance

06. Attention

Bass Guitar [Fretless],Piano, Clavinet Composed By – Francis Moze

Drums – Marc Hazon

Guitar – Marc Ducret

Percussion – Max Façon

Piano, Synthesizer – Andy Emler

Francis Moze is one of many ex-Magma alumni to have pursued a short career in the fusion field. Perhaps the most overt of these attempts was the collaboration of Lockwood, Top, Vander & Widemann, and their 1981 album so subtlety entitled "Fusion". It's not overly surprising, given that Magma were at heart a jazz group right from the beginning. However by the time of "Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh", the band had become so creative, it spawned an entire music movement that still survives today: Zeuhl.

Moze was a veteran of the early Magma lineups, and later turned up on a couple of the more fusion oriented Gong ensembles. Thus his one sole album flew under the radar, unlike his bass playing brethren such as Paganotti and Top. The album really gains momentum as it goes. Personally I'm a big fan of the McCoy Tyner styled staccato piano, and Moze's band utilizes this technique to great effect, propelling the music forward at an exciting rate. Very nice record from perhaps a surprising source.

Laurent Thibault - 1979 - Mais On Ne Peut Pas Rever Tout Les Temps

Laurent Thibault

1979

Mais On Ne Peut Pas Rever Tout Les Temps

01. Oree - 11:30

02. Aquadingen - 4:25

03. La Caravane De L'Oubli - 7:07

04. Mais On Ne Peut Pas Rêver Tout Le Temps - 8:19

Laurent Thibault / bass, guitars, vocals

Francis Moze / fretless bass

Dominique Bouvier / drums

Jacqueline Thibault / keyboards

Serge Derrien / vocals, flute

Lisa Bois / vocals

Amanda Parsons / soprano vocal

David Rose / violins

Richard Raux / reita (Indian flute), tenor sax

Guy Renaudin / soprano sax

After producing MAGMA's "Attahk" album Laurent Thibault decided to make his own solo album. He got help from Lisa Bois who sang on the MAGMA album he had just produced, as well as former MAGMA members Francis Moze and Richard Raux. Interesting that Laurent was the original bass player for MAGMA prior to their first album release, and was replaced on bass by Francis Moze. Lionel Ledissez helps on vocal melodies, he was the singer for ERGO SUM who were the first band Laurent signed to his then record label. Interesting that Lionel helped out on vocals with UNIVERSIA ZEKT who also put out an album on Laurent's label back then. That band of course was pretty much MAGMA under a different name in order that they could release on Laurent's label(see my review for that album for full explanation). Amanda Parsons lends her beautiful vocal melodies to the first track. She of course sang with HATFIELD AND THE NORTH and NATIONAL HEALTH. Laurent met her through Francis Moze who in turn had met her in the UK when he was with GONG. The music itself does not have an obvious Zeuhl flavour, but we do get a taste of it along with Arabic, Indian, African, Folk and Jazz all blended together. I have to say that the music here far surpassed my expectations.

"Oree" opens with a pastoral setting as gentle guitar and Amanda's soprano vocal melodies create paradise for the ears. Cymbals then light drums and keys are added to the melody. Laurent's wife Jacqueline plays the keys. Lisa adds her vocal melodies to Amandas' and violin comes in. Flute after 5 minutes. The tempo picks up a minute later with drums outfront. This is a beautiful passage. Lionel, Amanda and Lisa sing together in this Indian inspired passage that follows. The bass is fat and the music is uptempo. Suddenly it calms right down to the original melody with flute, gentle guitar, keys and violin all eventually taking part. Liquid keys after 10 minutes. The song ends with Laurent's 8 year old daughter playing a toy piano(can you say dissonant). That was actually the same toy piano David Bowie played on the original version of "China Girl" by IGGY POP on his "The Idiot" album that was recorded at Laurent's studio.

"Aquadingen" starts so calmly and builds with drums and bass leading the way. A full sound 2 minutes in with crazy vocals from Serge Derrien. It settles back down a minute later as we get sax, odd metered drumming, violin and animal sounds. This sounds amazing by the way. "La Caravane De L'Oubli" has a strong Arabic flavour. It opens with a catchy melody with drums leading the way. The sound is building until we get female vocals taken from a religious record of Laurent's of a muezzin calling for evening prayer. "Mais On Ne Peut Pas Tout Le Temps" opens with a dark mood as drums beat away. It calms down as female vocal melodies and the sound of water can be heard. Children are heard playing before the pace picks up. Check out the fretless bass of Moze ! Drums lead the way as the dark mood returns with vocal melodies. Sax comes in as the melody temporarily stops then returns just as fast. Derrien comes in yelling and laughing as that fantastic dark melody continues. Incredible song. The first and the last songs are truly genius.

This is a spellbinding release that I can't say enough good things about. A must have.

Hozan Yamamoto & Masabumi Kikuchi - 1970 - Ginkai

Hozan Yamamoto & Masabumi Kikuchi

1970 

Ginkai

01. Prologue

02. Silver World

03. Stone Garden Of Ryoan Temple

04. A Heavy Shower

05. Sawanose

06. Epilogue

Bass – Gary Peacock

Drums – Hiroshi Murakami

Engineer – Norio Yoshizawa

Piano – Masabumi Kikuchi

Shakuhachi [Bamboo-Flute] – Hozan Yamamoto

Recorded October 15 & 20, 1970

A brilliant album by Hozan Yamamoto – a flute player with a great ear for mixing traditional sounds and modern jazz! The set's a suite of sorts – performed by a cool quartet with Yamamoto on bamboo flute, plus Masabumi Kikuchi on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Hiroshi Murakami on drums – all with a rich sense of poetry and feeling, that newly expressive sound that Japanese jazz hit as the 70s approached! Yamamoto's flute work alone is worth the price of admission – but alongside Kikuchi's well-timed (and toned) piano lines, and Peacock's roundly sensitive bass, the instrument is even more brilliant – heard on tracks that include "Silver World", "Stone Garden Of Ryoan Temple", "A Heavy Shower", and "Sawanose".

Hozan Yamamoto is a great bamboo flute player; his skill on the flute is bar none. No wonder he's the most forefront aspect of this record; the flute really helps give this an atmosphere that gives off vibes of ancient Japanese history and mythology to me. I just love how mystical the atmosphere is; it's very relaxing, yet also full of wonder and curiosity, too. It's also a really unique thing to hear on a jazz record; very rarely do I hear wind instruments that aren't saxophones on any jazz record.

Doesn't mean the other players are bad, too; Gary Peacock and Hiroshi Murakami do a fine job on the rhythm section. bringing a more jazzy sound to this record. As does pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, who's the real genius behind this record. He often writes the majority of the songs with the Yo scale, which is one of the two pentatonic scales that's found in Japanese Classical genres like Shomyo and Gagaku and also in Japanese Folk Music. It has no minor notes, unlike the In scale, which is the other pentatonic scale used in much Japanese Classical and Folk Music except Gagaku. The lack of writing in the In scale likely helped Kikuchi in creating a record that showcases a very celestial-like, soothing atmosphere similar to some of the more spiritual jazz records that I've heard from artists like John and Alice Coltrane, for example. I'm glad Kikuchi did that, too, for a big use of the In scale would've made this record slightly unpleasant and unfitting for the lightness that this record is full of.

As great of a bamboo player as Yamamoto is, it's Kikuchi's writing that really helped make this one of the great Post Bop records for me. Of course, I'm a sucker for Post Bop, which is possibly my favorite Jazz sub-genre, but even so, I highly recommend this album not just to Post Bop fans, but to fans of Jazz music who want a unique, infrequently used sound. It's a very gorgeous, restful record.

Hozan Yamamoto & Tadao Sawai - 1969 - A New Sound From The Japanese Bach Scene

Hozan Yamamoto & Tadao Sawai

1969

A New Sound From The Japanese Bach Scene

01. Toccata And Fugue In D Minor

02. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring

03. Prelude No.1 

04. Fugue No.1 (From The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I)

05. Sleepers, Wake!

06. Polonaise (From Orchestral Suite No.2)

07. Bourree I (From English Suite No.2)

08. Two - Part Invention No.1

09. Air On The G-String (From Orchestral Suite No.3)

10. Minuet In G (From The Notebook For Anna Magdalena)

11. Arioso (Sinfonia From Cantata No.156) 

12. Gavotte I (From English Suite No.3)

13. Bourree (From Partita No.1 For Solo Violin) 3:03

14. Minuet In G Minor (From The Notebook For Anna Magdalena) 

15. "Little" Fugue In G Minor 

Tadao Sawai: Koto

Kazue Sawai: Koto

Hozan Yamamoto: Shakuhachi

Sadanori Nakamure: Guitar

Tatsuro Takimoto: Bass

Takeshi Inomata: Percussion

Great composers, once they ascend to the glorious Pantheon in the sky, are too often forgotten as human beings. Instead of being remembered for their marvelously colorful and remarkably diverse personal qualities, they are revered as Great Masters—godlike creatures beyond the pale of simple everyday frailties.

And it’s a shame. Surely Johann Sebastian Bach’s two marriages and twenty-some children were not related to the quantity and diversity of his music. And what of the purple prose in Mozart's colorful letters to his cousin? Or Wagner’s unabashedly hedonistic sensuality and Brahms’ undying love for an older woman? To overlook these elements is to perceive the music only from a two dimensional point of view.

Even worse, placing the music in some pristine, hallowed shrine where it cannot be interpreted and reinterpreted by the virtuosos of succeeding centuries is surely antithetical to what would have been the real attitudes of Bach, Mozart, et al. Great Masters they may be today, but they were, during their lifetimes, pragmatic craftsmen/artists who composed like so many of today’s pop, jazz and film composers—for specific place, circumstance and performer.

How much more fascinating—indeed, how much more a testimony it is to the intrinsic greatness of Bach—therefore, to confront his music with the electric new ideas and technological marvels of the generations which have followed. Many musicologists are willing to accept a small measure of ‘‘meddling.” They will go along with Toscanini’s Bach tempos or Casals’ lyricism or Schweitzer’s ornamentations. Less acceptable are such hybrids as Stokowski’s orchestral transcriptions.

But the Colonel Blimps of musicology draw the line when it comes to accepting the transformation of Bach’s music by —horror of horrors—pop artists. “How awful,” they say; “what a sacrilege” that the music of the great “flowing brook,” the pinnacle of Baroque sensibilities, should be submitted to electronic manipulation, jazz rhythm accompaniment, close-voiced vocal harmonization or, worst of all, the “ugly” distortions and technical inadequacies of rock ’n’ roll.

Are they correct? Is Bach’s music truly so fragile that it cannot tolerate a confrontation with musical procedures, instruments and aesthetics that were non-existent during his lifetime? Surely even the most hidebound critical “Rollo” (as Charles Ives named him) should have confidence that Bach’s music is quite capable of surviving, and even flourishing, under such interpretation. If it can emerge unscathed from endless music school and conservatory recitals, if it can tolerate the mitten-handed Town Hall recital programs that are obligatory for all young pianists bent on concertizing careers, then it can survive what is certainly a more loving treatment by musicians whose abilities lie in areas beyond “classical” music.

Which leads us to A NEw SOUND FROM THE JAPANESE BACH ScENE. Recent years have seen scooby-doo Bach, electronically synthesized Bach, electric bass and guitar Bach, jazz piano Bach and, I suppose, virtually everything in between. Now we have something genuinely new, and something which in many ways is more appropriate to the authentic spirit of Bach than any of today’s hybrids. It is a fascinating reinterpretation of Bach pieces, both large and small, mostly melodic, and performed with remarkable fidelity to the originals by Japanese instruments called the koto and shakuhachi.

Why more appropriate? First, because both the timbre and the plectral articulation of the koto are similar to those of the cembalo (or harpsichord or clavecin) commonly used in Bach’s day. Notice the instrument’s effectiveness in the Bourrée, the familiar Minuet in G, the Prelude and the Gavotte.

Second, the shakuhachi, like the recorders and transverse flutes used by Bach’s contemporaries, is controlled by sliding fingers and complicated cross-digital combinations; in addition, most flutists feel that wood instruments like the shakuhachi produce a mellower, more vocalized tone—one that sounds particularly impressive on lovely Bachian melodies like the Air on the G String. Note, too, its effectiveness in the Siciliano, the Minuet in G Minor and the Largo.

Equally fascinating are the interchanges between koto, shakuhachi, an additional koto and a guitar on the light, briskly moving fugue pieces. On the Fugue from ‘The Well ‘Tempered Clavier a bossa nova rhythm is added for special seasoning.

A few words about the instruments. The koto is virtually the Japanese equivalent of the piano, present in most homes and studied by most upper-class young ladies. It is a highly sophisticated instrument, with a long, wooden body that is placed on the floor in front of the performer. It has from 13 to 17 silk strings with movable bridges and is usually played with three ivory plectrums attached to the right hand. The instrument recently has become a favorite with many of Japan’s young composers.

The shakuhachi, a bamboo flute, is deeply rooted in Japanese folklore and once was used as both instrument and weapon by itinerant samurai. Like the Indian shehnai, it has recently come to be accepted as a full-fledged concert hall instrument. Both are rudimentary tubes, lacking the keys and articulated mechanisms that make the Western oboe and flute into technically controllable instruments. Performing on them, especially when the musical material is, as in the case of Bach, based on the tempered intervals of Western music rather than the natural overtone pitch relationships more naturally fundamental to the instrument, is—at the very least—difficult.

The performers heard here are among Japan’s finest young musicians. ‘Tadao Sawai was born in Aichi in 1937; he is a graduate of the Tokyo University of Arts and is an outstanding contemporary composer. Hozan Yamamoto was also born in 1937; in addition to studying the instrument at the Seiryu Musical Academy, he is a graduate of the Kyoto Foreign Language Institute. Like Sawai, he is a prominent young composer and, in recent years, has become interested in jazz and popular music.

It is extremely doubtful that Johann Sebastian Bach gave much thought to Japan or its music during his busy lifetime. But one can speculate that his probing musical mind and perceptive ears would respond with delight to these new versions of his music.

Don HECKMAN

Led Zeppelin - 2020 - The Awesome Foursome Live At The Forum

Led Zeppelin

2020

The Awesome Foursome Live At The Forum

01. Intro

02. Rock And Roll

03. Sick Again

04. Over The Hills And Far Away

05. In My Time Of Dying

06. The Song Remains The Same

07. The Rain Song

08. Kashmir

09. No Quarter

10. Trampled Underfoot

11. Moby Dick

12. Dazed And Confused

13. Stairway To Heaven

14. Whole Lotta Love

15. Black Dog

16. Heartbreaker

Recorded live on March 24, 1975 at The Forum, Inglewood, Los Angeles, California, USA

The Awesome Foursome Live At The Forum (Empress Valley Supreme Disc EVSD-1282/83/84)

SBD Recording

Retracked, Remastered and Speed Corrected

Hard to believe it’s been three years since Deus Ex Machina was released, the last full concert on Empress Valley’s Soundboard Revolution. While the label certainly generated plenty of buzz in the collectors community with the releases of the 1971 soundboard fragments, many rejoiced (Thank you Jesus) with the announcement of the forthcoming complete soundboard release of the first night at the LA Forum in 1975, a concert most are familiar with thanks to the excellent Mike Millard record. The soundboard revolution series consists of two versions, the first was a deluxe box custom gatefold sleeve housing the three disc set plus a 108 page photo book and three cards and finally a separate disc consisting of bonus material, of course at a premium price. There is also the no frills version, a simple three CD set in gatefold sleeve.

Like I said most are familiar with this concert thanks to the audience audio recordings, there are two such recordings with the best being the Mike Millard capture found on such titles as Crazed And Bemused (Black Cat Records BC22A-B), Get Back To L.A. (Tarantura T9CD-1), The Firecrackers Show (The Diagrams of Led Zeppelin TDOLZ), Deep Throat (Empress Valley Supreme Disc EVSD 1256/57/58) and most recently LA Forum 1975 First Night (No Label). The second audience source has seen only one release in complete form, A Gram Is A Gram Is A Gram (Image Quality IQ-80/81/82). There is also a really nice audience video that lasts 18 minutes and while fragmentary, it was shot close to the stage and is a detailed audience view of the band. Lastly is the soundboard source, last year Empress Valley released about 66 minutes of the concert from the soundboard on the title The Night Stalker (Empress Valley Supreme Disc EVSD-1118), a prelude if you like, to the complete concert and the subject of this new title from Empress Valley.

First off, hats off to Empress Valley for getting these soundboards out to the masses, in this age we live in, most every thing is available at our fingertips and all you need is to download it. This has been a sore subject for EV and surely other labels as the market for people wanting physical product is dwindling. So again, thanks to you for digging these gems out, where would we be without the Soundboard Revolution? Secondly many thanks for my source in Japan, I placed my order and within a couple days it was on my doorstep, incredible customer service from him as always. After many listens over the past couple days I really like this recording and concert. I am a fan of 1975 Led Zeppelin, so perhaps I am a bit biased when I listen. The first half of the concert is well played, the band is obviously happy to be back in Los Angeles playing for the “Children of the sun”, from the first song Jimmy is in good form and plays very well. Robert’s voice takes a couple songs to warm up, this is consistent with this tour, his voice being more hoarse than others, he works around it and a little raspy is good. Bonzo plays really well and John Paul Jones is his typical bad ass self.

Like many of the soundboards from 1975 John Paul Jones’ bass is a bit loud in the beginning and overloads for a bit of Rock And Roll, once the adjustments are made by the sound man it is smooth and very consistent for the rest of the concert. The instruments and vocals are all very well balanced and it is very clear and detailed, great to here the guitar and drums pan from left to right during Dazed and Moby Dick. My main issue with the sound on this title is that somewhere between the original tape source and this release there has been needless compression added in the lineage, perhaps to cut down on tape hiss or add some clarity or upper end I am guessing. This makes the cymbals sound swishy for lack of a proper word, and is most notable when Bonzo is really working his hi-hat cymbals. I have heard this trend growing and seems to be on the 1975 soundboards, I do not hear this on the Japan 1971 boards, they sound fantastic. This is certainly not a deal breaker, I simply back off on the treble and it made it much easier on the ears. It does have nice frequencies on the bottom end, there are times especially during The Song Remains The Same when Jonsey is in a groove slamming some killer bass grooves and it’s just perfect. When I compare the sound to the first release of the soundboard, The Night Stalker, I find the sound to be identical.

The performance is very good, I feel that the band peaked during the Vancouver and Seattle run, by the time they get to LA they seem tired and ready to just relax. That being said this is a very enjoyable show, Robert’s commentary is heartfelt, it had been a long tour and the band is happy to be at the end and in sunny Southern California. I listened a lot to the Millard recording over the past month prior to this soundboard release, as well as reading all the torrent notes weekly in the Lost And Found Mike the Microphone series. I have begun to understand Mike’s positioning during these runs and the difference between Long Beach Arena and The Forum. Mike was very close on this Forum run and Jimmy dominates in his recording of this concert, at times sounding out of sync with Jones and Bonham. In listening to this soundboard it is not the case, with the instruments in proper balance you find they are all right there and while Jimmy is not as fluent as the second Seattle gig, he is playing great for the most part, at times he just slows down. His solo in No Quarter and Stairway To Heaven are killer and while I was slightly annoyed with the mastering I found myself really enjoying this entire concert, in fact I find I actually prefer this soundboard over the Millard recording, I do hope future soundboards will have a more untouched sound, perhaps give a version with a flat transfer, not to beat a dead horse but this recording could have sounded incredible with the right mastering, I am not casting blame at EV as we have never heard what these tapes sound like in their unaltered form, we just get the finished product.

The packaging, well I bought the cheap version so I will have to wait until the bonus disc, with its version of Royal Orleans, shows up on you tube or something. For my version you get the three CDs, all with a painting of Jesus on them, housed in a 7″ gatefold sleeve with stock photos. I also got the promo card announcing a forthcoming release of the March 11, 1975 Long Beach show, certainly coming out to compete with Tarantura’s forthcoming updated Bootleg License title.

Rajesh - 1982 - Infinite Fusion

Rajesh

1982

Infinite Fusion - Explorations In Musical Syntheses

Fast Side

01. Makers Of The River Crossing

02. The Fury

03. Dawn

04. Dance Of The Gopis

05. Sparkling Spangles

Slow Side

06. Indian Love Melody

07. Lament

08. Emotion

09. Lovers

10. Reality

11. Indian Love Melody (Orchestrated)

Rajésh- Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals, Lyrics

Ustad Rais Khan - Sitar

Ustad Shamim Ahmed - Sitar

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flutes

Pandit Shivkumar Sharma - Santoor

Ustad Zakir Hussain - Tabla

Robert Ahwai - Guitar

Les Davidson - Guitar

Remo Fernandes - Guitar

Isaac Guillory - Guitar

Kevin Peek – Guitar

Louis Banks - Keyboards

Gordon Beck - Keyboards

Ken Freeman - Keyboards

Francis Monkman - Keyboards

Pete Wingfield - Keyboards

Dallas Smith - Flutes, Saxophones

Braz Gonsalves - Flutes, Saxophones

Brian Odger - Bass

DeLisle Harper - Bass

Simon Phillips - Drums, Percussion

Ranjit Barot - Percussion

Ray Cooper - Percussion

Harold Fisher - Percussion

A really good and thoroughly worthwhile instrumental album of modern Indian music, pressed privately back in the early 80s. The first side is the "slow side" and is enjoyably meditative with some outstanding ambient tracks and the occasional cheesy sax which would not be missed. The inevitable "fast side" is better with some killer funk/dance tunes with groovy sounds, breaks and mad riffing galore ("Indian Love Melody" ftw). This could easily warrant a reissue on some beardy hipster label like Modern Harmonic, Numero or some other microbrew collective.

Yatra Sextett - 1982 - Sangam

Yatra Sextett

1982

Sangam

01. Dawn 6:28

02. Seven Hills 7:10

03. Rama 5:00

04. Shanti 3:55

05. City Life 10:26

06. Payan 10:06

Bass – Karl Peters

Drum [Thavil], Percussion [Indian Perc] – Ramesh Shottam

Drums, Kanjira – Ranjit Barot

Ghatam, Mridangam – Rajagopalan

Keyboards – Louis Banks

Saxophone – Braz Gonsalves

Vocals [Classical Indian Vocal] – Rama Mani

Recorded January 1981.

Mixed December 1981.

Re-released in UK and India as Louis Banks' Sangam - City Life, in 1982 (CBS – IND 1006)

Pioneering Indian jazz-fusion super-group who first came to Europe as Jazz Yatra Sextett. When the band returned to India they adopted the new name Louis Banks' Sangam recording a new different version of the same material as Citylife. After this Smt. R. A. Ramamani and Ramesh Shotham returned to Europe, and became well-known as leading talents in world jazz.

Louis Banks (real name Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi), is an Indian jazz pianist who's worked with some of the big names in the jazz/fusion scene, including John McLaughlin. In the early 80s he got together with percussionist Ramesh Shotham and a group of musicians from the Karnataka College of Percussion to form the band Sangam, with the clear goal of mixing jazz-rock fusion with the virtuosic traditional music of India. They went on tour in Europe, and ended up collaborating with Embryo, who Shotham (the composer of all of Sangam's material) would play with off and on throughout the 80s. The group apparently didn't stay together for too long, but their album, recorded in Munich and co-produced by Christian Burchard, is a great piece of classic jazz-rock/ethnic fusion that has remained surprisingly obscure, despite its notable lineage. The first side is dominated by a massive, nearly side-long track, reaching a frenzied level of intensity that will leave your head spinning. Things calm down and get a bit moodier after that, but the standard remains very high throughout. Now, the strange thing here is that there are actually two different versions of this album. The first was released on the small German label Eigelstein under the title "Jazz Yatra Sextet", followed less than a year later by the CBS version reviewed here. Having heard both of them, I can say that the track orders are completely different, as are some of the track lengths, although the recordings themselves seem mostly identical. I'm only speculating here, but I think what might have happened is that once they received a little bit of exposure in Europe and got signed to a major label, they decided to re-arrange the material a bit to better suit their liking. However, the CBS version actually seems to be the rarer of the two, oddly enough."

Joe Harriott & Amancio D'Silva - 1969 - Hum Dono

Joe Harriott & Amancio D'Silva

1969

Hum Dono

01. Stephano's Dance

02. Spring Low, Sweet Harriott

03. Ballad For Goa

04. N.N.N.T.

05. Hum Dono

06. Jaipur

Alto Saxophone – Joe Harriott

Bass – Dave Green (tracks: 1, 3 to 6)

Drums – Bryan Spring

Flugelhorn – Ian Carr (tracks: 1, 6)

Guitar – Amancio D'Silva (tracks: 1, 3 to 6)

Vocals – Norma Winstone (tracks: 1, 3, 6)

Recorded at Lansdowne Studios, London, February & March 1969.

The combination of a Jamaican sax player and an Indian jazz guitarist getting together with a UK jazz elite in its hay day could be the stoned out fantasy of many pot smoking vinyl collectors. It’s also a music and cultural melting pot making up a real lost treasure in jazz music. Fantasy meeting reality.

“Stephano’s Dance” is the perfect example of the high music level of this album. The fundament of the track is cool bass line laid down by Dave Green, a silky soft sax by Joe Harriott and the humming of Norma Winstone. Green played with the Don Rendell and Ian Carr Quintet, and Carr is also the guy operating the trumpet on this track. The interaction between Carr and Harriott is one of the reasons why this album stands out to me and perfectly exemplified on “Stephano’s Dance”. When Carr has cried out his soul on his horn, Harriott takes over and tops it – and vice versa. When they’ve done with their reeds love affair, Amancio D’Silva puts the final toping on the cake…

It's seemed like eons for this astounding LP to finally, finally get a reissue and it's just unbridled joy. This ensemble swings like no other in full flow - Harriot blows like a man possessed of rare genius, Amancio weaves delicate, funky guitar lines, Norma Winstone coos and scats at her best, Dave Green & Brian Spring's rhythm section is second to none.

'Ballad For Goa' has a wonderful, heavy-lidded, melancholic Eastern vibe but done in a beautifully subtle way compared to the more exploitative, sitar-led 'Indo-Jazz' LPs in the 60s.

Listening to 'N.N.N.T' and the title track, the group are languid, sensual, funky, ferocious by turn and so on-the-money you can't help but crack a wide grin. The set closes with 'Jaipur' (a version also appears on Amancio's peerless 'Integration' LP) which is total, beautiful synergy between a prodigious group of musicians.

All credit to Dutton Vocalion for making Hum Dono available again. It's open to question, of course, whether the record should be seen as a Harriott date at all. The Goan guitarist, Amancio D'Silva, is certainly more than a junior partner here and provides five of the record's six tunes, as well as shaping its whole vibe. The only track credited to Harriott is the short improvised duet with drummer Bryan Spring, "Sping Low, Sweet Harriott." Perhaps Hum Dono is better seen as a partner to D'Silva's own, and truly lovely, Integration, which features members of the Rendell-Carr Quintet.

D'Silva had a unique style. Imagine if Wes Montgomery, or maybe Tal Farlow, had played sitar rather than guitar and you may have some idea of his sound. He died in 1996 and it seems tragic that he left so little recorded music behind. It is that, as much as Harriott's superlative playing, that makes Hum Dono so very special.

"Stephano's Dance," written for the guitarist's son -also a guitarist, who provides some highly informative sleeve notes—opens with an underlying 4/4 pulse but with a counter rhythm in 6/8 on top. The flavour is immediately that of the sub-continent, its sense of exoticism amplified by Norma Winstone's wordless vocals. Spring and bassist Dave Green provide a rapid, propulsive beat before Harriott enters with a solo that tugs away at the melody relentlessly. Ian Carr's trumpet seems more in line with the raga-like melody but the contrast between his playing and Harriott's provides the tune with its dynamic force. The tune is three-quarters over before D'Silva takes his solo. His presence has been evident throughout comping in the background but now he spins out long, twisting melodies rich in invention and eastern swing.

The guitarist starts "Ballad For Goa" with a brief cadenza before stating the melancholy rhythm with gently stroked chords. Then it shifts pace, as it opens out with a blues-tinged contribution from Harriott. Winstone picks up beautifully from Harriott's final notes, as her voice seems to span both the occident and orient, one moment bluesy and jazzy, the next something more folk-like. D'Silva's solo is almost a duet with Dave Green, with intriguing out of time passages before the group returns to the opening theme. "N.N.N.T." is quite different and were it not for the uniqueness of D'Silva's east-meets-west stylistic approach would count as pure bebop. It's the least Indian-influenced piece here, delivered at a fast pace and with a different intensity compared to the other tracks.

Both "N.N.N.T." and the title track features the quartet on its own. "Hum Dono" itself makes you wish that Harriott and D'Silva had had more opportunities to record together, as the saxophonist achieves a level of empathy with the music that he never quite achieved with John Mayer and Indo-Jazz Fusions. It's best described as a wild, swirling dance with Harriott and the guitarist circling each other against a background that seems to include hand drums from Bryan Spring. D'Silva's own solo builds on both the tune's raga scale and on a repeated motif. Simply, it's a tour de force and exemplifies an approach to the instrument that fuses both the Indian and jazz influences perfectly.

And finally, there is the much-sampled "Jaipur" with both Winstone and Carr added and in great voice. I can never listen to this track without imagining the scene in the recording studio. First, D'Silva's spidery lines spun from his guitar, then the sheer delight that must have resulted from Carr and Winstone's bravura duet over the bouncing, pulsating rhythms of Green and Spring and then Harriott playing not just for himself but for the band and, as always, for the music. "Jaipur" is one for that "desert island" list and as the theme returns just imagine these six musicians knowing instinctively that this was a genuinely special date. Five stars? I'll give it six!

Every modern jazz fan should have this album. It seems poised at the edge between modern jazz and fusion before it became too intellectual to just enjoy. Great bass and sax parts. The only part that hadn't aged as well might be the jazz vocals but that might reflect more of my bias than reality. Now I'm heading down a Joe Harriot rabbit hole and I owe it all to the Alpha Boys School book by Heather Augustyn that had me looking into this great saxaphonist in the first place.