Jeff Beck - 1980 - Live at Sapporo Green Dome

Jeff Beck

1980

Live at Sapporo Green Dome

Empress Valley Supreme Disc EVSD-333/334

101. Star Cycle

102. El Becko

103. Too Much To Loose

104. The Pump

105. Cause We've Ended As Lovers

106. Space Boogie

107. The Final Peace

108. Led Boots

201. Freeway Jam

202. Diamond Dust

203. Scatterbrain

204. Blue Wind

Sapporo Green Dome, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan – December 14th, 1980

Jeff Beck: Guitar

Mo Foster: Bass

Tony Hymas: Keyboards

Simon Phillips: Drums

Jeff Beck’s show in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan was the eighth out of eleven dates in Japan (8th Day Of Rocupation ’80?) and, since his previous visits in 1973 and 1978 missed Sapporo, it was his first show in the northern city.

The audience tape in circulation for the show is very good to borderline excellent. It is able to capture very many details that are normally lost in other audience recordings. On the negative side, there are very faint traces of distortion in the high frequencies. The tape cuts in during the opening of “Star Cycle” (apparently the person recording the show taped taped over it), a small cut before “Led Boots” and the encores “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat / You Never Know” and “Going Down” are missing.

Going Down (Aphrodite Studio APH-91004-1/2) is another well known title containing this show. Released in 1991, in addition to Sapporo it also included “Going Down” from the December 4th Budokan show and a studio recording of “Rock And Roll Jelly” featuring Stanley Clarke and Carmine Appice on drums.

Of all the shows in Japan, this is perhaps the most laid back and mellow. Not only is the audience polite and quite while listening to the music, they offer scant applause between the numbers. Beck himself, who is normally quite laconic, is even more so during the show only offering short introductions to Mo Foster after “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” and Tony Hymas after “Led Boots.”

On the positive side, this is another stellar performance from the guitarist, who would take a long holiday from live performance several days after. He’s attempting to interject some improvisations into the material not heard in other performances starting with some unusual melodies in “Star Cycle.”

The stand out track of the evening occurs near the beginning with a mind altering performance of “Too Much To Lose,” an instrumental from the new album There & Back. Jan Hammer wrote and recorded the tune (with vocals) on the Jan Hammer Group’s 1977 album Melodies. But Beck’s interpretation, with the schizophrenic guitar over the funky bassline, is a substantial improvement. So much so that Hammer would re-record it as an instrumental in 1989 for Snapshots (with Beck, David Gilmour and Ringo Starr).

The latter half of the show is quite intense with a long version of “Freeway Jam.” The keyboards are given a workout for “Diamond Dust,” and “Scatterbrain” reaches over twenty minutes with a surprisingly subtle drum solo which sounds excellent in this detailed recording.

It’s a shame the rest of the show is absent because it is overall an excellent show, startling for its subtly.

Live At Sapporo Green Dome was released in 2005 packaged in a two-disc fatboy jewel case. Empress Valley include an excellent mini reproduction of the tour programme for sale at the venue. It’s a nice touch from back when the label were still innovators in mastering, presentation and packing. This is the definitive version of Sapporo until another tape surfaces with the missing encores.

Jeff Beck - 1978 - Out Of Darkness

Jeff Beck 

1978 

Out Of Darkness

Wardour – Wardour-040

101. Darkness

102. Earth In Search Of A Sun

103. Star Cycle

104. Freeway Jam

105. Cat Moves

106. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

107. Stanley Clarke Solo / School Days

201. Journey To Love

202. Lopsy Lu

203. Diamond Dust

204. Scatterbrain

205. Simon Phillips Drum Solo

206. Rock 'n' Roll Jelly

207. Cause We've Ended As Lovers

208. Blue Wind

209. Superstition

Live at Budokan, Tokyo, Japan 2nd December 1978.

Jeff Beck: Guitar

Stanley Clarke: Bass

Tony Hymas: Keyboards

Simon Phillips: Drums

Jeff Beck’s tour of Japan with Stanley Clarke was ten dates long and ended on December 2nd, 1978 in the Budokan. Out Of Darknkess presents the same audience tape that was utilized for Lonesome Crow (Masterport 054) on CDR and on Explosion (Masterport 216). This is a very good, slightly distant mono recording of the complete show. There are several non-destructive cuts between song of the songs but nothing major.

The set is a good mixture of Beck songs, Clarke songs and long solo spots meant to showcase all of the talent onstage. The sombre “Darkness / Earth In Search Of A Sun” is the introduction before the effective “Star Cycle” and a light, jazzy arrangement of “Freeway Jam.”

After “Freeway Jam” they get into “Cat Moves.” This tune replaced “Hot Rock” in the setlist after the November 24th show in Osaka. It was written by Jan Hammer and wouldn’t be released by Beck but on Cozy Powell’s LP Tilt in 1981 with Beck guesting.

Stanley Clarke’s bass solo occupies several minutes of the set list and is an encyclopedia of styles and rhythms. It segues into “School Days” with Beck as support by the end but the melody and improvisation all belong to Clarke. “Journey To Love” from Clarke’s 1975 solo album is the only song in the set with a vocal melody. The sci-fi lyrics of the studio recording are replaced by Beck scatting vocals, but otherwise it is an instrumental and it works much better.

Tony Hymas has a nice solo within “Diamond Dust” which Beck acknowledges and they all take turns in “Scatterbrain.” Hymas has another solo, but it is most interesting to hear Beck and Clarke play a game of call and response. Simon Phillips’ five minute drum solo serves as a coda to the piece.

Clarke plays several Beck-like riffs on the bass guitar as a prelude to the brilliant “Rock And Roll Jelly.” The bass guitar / lead guitar continue their game of tag over the eight minutes of the piece. An epic six minute rendition of “Blue Wind” closes the show. Two minutes of audience applause are intact on the tape between that and the encore “Superstition.” Beck pulls out his voice box for the Stevie Wonder cover which wasn’t played during the Jan Hammer years.

Wardour released Out Of Darkness in August 2008 and is one of their better Jeff Beck releases. It came out during a short phase where the labels were fascinated by Beck’s collaboration with Clarke and several great titles came out. This one stands out for the enthusiasm the musicians have for the final show of the short Japan tour. Wardour use glossy paper inserts for the artwork with tour photographs and is worth having.

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.

Gary Boyle - 1978 - Electric Glide

Gary Boyle

1978

Electric Glide

01. Snap Crackle 5:17
02. Hayabusa 4:10
03. Electric Glide 3:59
04. Morning Father Joys 5:04
05. Gaz 6:39
06. It's Almost Light Again 4:16
07. Grumble 2:35
08. Brat No. 2 4:20

Bass Guitar – John Giblin (tracks: A2, B1, B3), Phil Chen (tracks: A1, A3)
Drums – Richard Bailey (tracks: A1, A3), Simon Phillips (tracks: A2, B1 to B3)
Guitar – Gary Boyle, Gary Moore (tracks: A2, B1), Kenny Shaw (tracks: A4, B4), Robert Awhai  (tracks: A1, A3)
Keyboards – Pete Jacobsen (tracks: A1, A3)
Percussion – Simon Morton (tracks: A1, A3)

India’s contribution to Western popular music arcs from Sir Cliff Richards, Britain’s original teen idol, to rock and roll’s greatest voice Freddie Mercury, and from the father of Indo-jazz John Mayer to Vijay Iyer, perhaps the most lauded pianist in contemporary jazz. But there is another name, less well known but equally significant, that bridges these two worlds – rock and roll and jazz – and adds Indian colour to the history of rock and roll.

Gary Boyle, born in Patna in the waning days of the Empire, and highly regarded by peers, critics and industry giants, is possibly the greatest guitarist you’ve never heard of. Coming of age in the frenetic early years of rock and roll, Boyle’s story of a childhood spent in Bihar’s railway towns to playing with a veritable who’s who of jazz and rock such as Eddie Harris, Brian Auger, Dusty Springfield and Jimi Hendrix, is one of the most unlikely of rock and roll tales.

The firey guitarist from Isotope and Brian Auger's Trinity here presents eight tracks of jazz-rock, tight unison playing interspersed with jazzy solos. Consummate musicianship from all involved. Boyle himself ranges from a John Goodsall-like instrumental rock to almost a Wes Montgomery tone on other tracks, even acoustic on one track. Boyle has few equals on six strings and this is one of his best.

Gary Boyle - 1977 - The Dancer

Gary Boyle

1977

The Dancer

01. Crowshed Shuffle 5:08

02. The Dancer 7:30

03. Now That We're Alone 1:30

04. Lullaby For A Sleepy Dormouse 5:25

05. Almond Burfi 5:02

06. Pendle Mist 5:40

07. Apple Crumble 3:18

08. Maiden Voyage 4:15

Bass – Doni Harvey (tracks: A1, B2 to B4), Steve Shone (tracks: A2 to B1)

Clavinet, Piano, Synthesizer – Dave MacRae (tracks: A2, B1, B3)

Drums – Jeff Seopardie (tracks: A2, A4, B1), Simon Phillips (tracks: A1, B2 to B4)

Electric Piano, Piano, Synthesizer – Zoe Kronberger (tracks: A2 to B1, B4)

Electric Piano, Synthesizer – Rob Lumley (tracks: A1, A4 to B4)

Guitar – Gary Boyle

Percussion – Morris Pert (tracks: A2, A4 to B2, B4)

Synthesizer [Mini-Moog] – Rod Argent (tracks: A1)

Voice – Maggie Pert (tracks: A2)

After ISOTOPE broke up guitarist extraordinaire Gary Boyle decided to record a solo album and "The Dancer" is the result. Released in 1977. I have been waiting , waiting and waiting for years to see this in CD form, as it possesses a mythical attraction that is quite unexplainable. Of course being an unashamed fan of Isotope certainly helps in all the self-imposed adulation I exert towards this unique solo debut from the Irish guitarist. 'The Dancer', won the 1978 Montreux Jazz/Pop Award, which may mean something to some.

Back in the early 70s there was something extremely attractive when Brits attempted jazz with such luminary giants as the Soft Machine, Caravan, Ian Carr's Nucleus, Brian Auger, Brand X, Colosseum II, National Health, Hatfield and the North etc?. Something about their quirky sound, the mischievous lyrics and of course, that delightful tongue slammed in cheek sense of humor. Toss in some scintillating technical prowess and voila! Hooked for life!

Keyboard whiz Rod Argent, the amazing drummeister Simon Phillips, the fluid Steve Shone on bass , Automatic Man's Doni Harvey , Caravan's Dave McCrae as well as some Brand X members (Lumley, Pert) provide the support crew for Boyle, whose style is in the profound Mahavishnu crenel and unabashedly so. The deluge of notes is enough to send most Malmsteen fans to the showers, a sonic blitzkrieg that is spell-binding. On "Cowshed Shuffle" , little time is wasted to blow your speakers sideways , providing some meteoric performances from Simon (darn is he good!) , with Doni's funky-jazz bass yo-yoing in and out while Rod Argent's bubbly Mini-Moog duels with Boyle's ardent guitar (playing with my words again!) . Thrill seekers will love the shining Steve Shone bass and Jeff Seopardie drum interplay on the title track, another torrid sonic troika between Macrae's stupendous clavinet, Zoe Kronberger's various keys and Boyle's fulminating guitar. "Lullaby For a Sleepy Doormouse" is pure aural velvet, with more sultry fretless bass from Shone and some sparkling acoustic guitar fingering from the mad Irishman while "Almond Burfi" provides the more raucous, electric guitar-led continuation. If you have any doubts that this man can play, well check out his technique, my goodness! "Pendle Mist" has the Harvey/Phillips duo leading the misty charge, Boyle's towering acoustic guitar crisply raffling among the sinuous e-piano musings (Lumley), gradually spiraling into a hypnotic jewel that stands the test of time. "Apple Crumble" is raunch revisted , this time featuring a Dave Macrae performance on e- piano and an ARP synthesizer solo for the ages, while Harvey tortures his four string stick , leering at the mach II drumming of Phillips . What does Gary do? Well, he lays down a perverted axe solo, all speed and seduction. The set ends on my favorite track, "Maiden Voyage ?For Brian Auger", a piece written by no other than Herbie Hancock and has that laid-back confident shimmer that makes this such an audio delight. Playful, intelligent, technically supreme but highly charged in emotional content. When jazz-rock is performed so eloquently, how can one not be inspired?

This was a masterpiece in 1978 and it remains one today, a simply superlative performance that all jazz-prog fusion fans need to hear and witness to believe.

Hearing Isotope guitarist Gary Boyle's debut solo album for the first time way back when, the album seemed like a bold and daring progressive guitar showcase -- and it's aged exceptionally well across three decades. Boyle plays like a cross between Steve Hackett and John McLaughlin, and his backing band -- including Rod Argent on organ and Morris Pert and Simon Phillips on percussion and drums -- is just as good at the same level of playing. Boyle has a great bag of songs and tricks that he parades out here in full glory. The 2006 CD reissue only enhances the crispness of the sound and, in the process, the precision of the playing and the detail of what all of these musicians are doing. This is a very busy record, encompassing elements of progressive rock and jazz, and even a little tribute to Brian Auger in "Maiden Voyage."