Label: Japo Records – japo 60001 st, Japo Records – japo records 60001 ST Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo, Picture Cover Country: Germany Released: 1971 Genre: Jazz Style: Fusion
Iconic session led by famed Jazz pianist Mal Waldron and the debut release on the relatively short-lived ECM Records spin off JAPO. Spread over two long takes of meandering psychedelic fusion, Waldron leads the way on the electric piano, encompassing elements of raw hard bop, stark free styles and even tripped out prog elements - most definitely HARD fusion as opposed to jazz brushes, linen suits and cocktail umbrellas. The title track is a lively, slick and groove focused trip, with Waldron’s tripp’d out riffs surfing along drummer Fred Braceful’s perfectly measured peaks and troughs whilst trading solo blows with ECM mainstay Eberhard Weber’s unwavering upright electric bass - pure HEAT, which interestingly metamorphosed into the 1973 jazz-rock session of the same name on Steig Aug from German group Embryo. ‘Thoughts’ on the other side is a different beast although, opening tentatively with mystical key notes, the first half of the piece is like an exercise in restraint - Waldron’s instinctive riffs egging on Braceful’s ripe, dexterous grooves, both slowly building in intensity until Jimmy Jackson’s organ comes ripping through and lites the match, igniting the session into a tumultuous free-for-all where the musicians seem to loose themselves before regaining composure and retreating back into pensive free-jazz musing with bags of space. A serious record - tricky to bottle its magic into 1 minute instagram clips, BUT a big tip for anyone trying to explore the more adventurous peripheries of the jazz sprawl... (NM.NM)
