Moose Loose - 1976 - Transition

Moose Loose

1976

Transition

01. Funky Way (8:19)

02. Trees (10:25)

03. Ballad for My LIttle Girl (1:56)

04. Filet (1:23)

05. White (11:38)

06. Graf (5:01)

Jon Arild Eberson / guitar

Håkon Graf / keyboards

Pål Thorstensen / bass

Espen Rud / drums

Trond Villa / violin

Norway's Moose Loose's sophomore and final release, Transition has plenty to offer for fans of this sub-era, what I would consider the natural second-wave, of Jazz Fusion. As mentioned elsewhere, definitely for fans of Jean-Luc PONTY, given the driving everything--an excellent rhythm section and specifically key/synth flavors selected; maybe then, reminiscent of BRAND X in these regards--as well as, of course, the jazz violin herein.

And we get quite an array of sonics and intensities: beautiful, reflective "quiet" sections (see the track "Trees"); great jams and interplay between all the players throughout. Being a good Fusion album, the guys in the band really compliment each other, supporting soloists, laying back, etc., as well as anyone else in the biz. I would otherwise most highly recommend the final track "Graf". Just a nice composition, while being fun and interesting and displaying the best of what this band has to offer (in my opinion).

Norway's Moose Loose offered some of the tightest Jazz Fusion of the era. The 8-minute "Funky Hi-Way" tastefully balances between anthemic yacht-rock melodies and fusion-y improvisational ability. The 10-minute "Trees" starts out as a more traditional progressive-rock proposition, with the violin of Trond Villa taking center stage, before their jazz persona usurps the track, led by the electric piano of Håkon Graf and the bass of Pål Thorstensen; for a while these two personalities battle it out, undecided about which direction to push the track in; eventually, a return to the yacht-rock funkiness is favored, but some acerbic lead-guitar adds hot spice and ends the track in a feverish disco-rock blaze. After two brief interludes that flirt with the romantic and the idyllic, the next behemoth, the 12-minute "White", is maybe not as fervid as the two previous epics, but the taut musicianship succeeds in making the 12 minutes breeze by without a sweat.