Bitches Brew

This is an album which everyone should listen to...whatta hell, they should OWN THIS. BB is kind of encyclopedia of modern jazz - ok, modern jazz some 40 years ago :)

Miles Davis really put his soul on this one - and they recorded the whole shit over the course of three days. That's awesome - because everything is put so nicely together. You can hear our hero giving some advices to other players. Just some hints where to go. When you got guys like McLaughlin, Shorter or Corea, you dont have make that too often.

I was just playing "Pharaoh's Dance" while taking my daily jogging session. With my earphones it really felt like I was there, with them and with that brialliant music

Zartong

Crudely recorded yet often lively set of material from this Armenian ensemble. A mixture of late 70's prog fusion and Middle Eastern sounds is the general recipe, but the highpoints are when they get this Balkan/Zuehl/Disco thing going (if you can imagine that.)

Case in point is "Dzamone (pt 2)", where muffled “earth bass” wiggles under a driving bass-beat/hi-hat, whilst an Old World canzonet rejoices the top layer, replete with sheer violin strokes, all of which succumb to a warm and fuzzy guitar meltdown at the climax.

Zartong is the name of the LP, released
on Dom Records 50001 Stereo.
Tracks: Dzamone/Parhelie/I verine
on side one, Toy Narguiz/Eveil/Kele kele/
Armenian hore/Dele yaman/Hoy Nazan.
The band is Richard Tanelian (drums), Lorys
Tildian (kemantcka, kind of violin),
Franck Tildian (bass), Stepan Akian (santour,
synth). Gatefold cover. Armenian folk progressive
rock (original liner notes by Varoujean consider
it as 'pop musique').

Thanks for the Mutant Sounds!

And now, something completely different

Being

The very best Finnish album was made back in 1974. Wigwam has already released some intellectual and progressive albums but for me "Being" has always been their peak performance.

Everything blends nicely together and Jukka Gustavsson's lyrics were something you rarely found from any Finnish record - not then, definetely not today. Pekka Pohjola, Ronnie Österberg, Jim Pembroke and Gustavsson were masters of their instruments and with a bunch of friends they played so well that guys from Genesis, Yes and 10cc would have been jealous.....OK, I guess that Steve Howe or Tony Banks has never even heard about this album but they really should have.....

Unfortunately Wigwam disbanded some four years later and the magic was lost. They are still occasionally touring so check out....but without late Ronnie Österberg there is something missing.

Burgers

A fine recording by a classic Tuna line-up featuring the git-fiddler himself, Papa John Creach.

This album is in one of the phases where the band offers a nice balance of acoustic picking and electric thrashing. It combines both uniue covers and original songs inluding classics such as "Water Song" and "Trial by Fire". "Psychedelic + Gypsy + Blues are words that come to mind in trying to describe this beautiful work.

Keep on truckin', indeed.

Thanks Kitt!

Valentyne Suite

The Valentyne Suite has the feeling of a love affair, the sort which flares up hotly then consumes itself........

And the album by the legendary British group Colosseum has the feeling of finest musicianship of whole England. The suite itself has three parts; January's Search, February's Valentyne and The Grass is always greener....

The A-side kicks off with a kinda rock'n'roll number "The Kettle" - lyrics are almost meaningless but the sound of James Litherland's guitar really swirls around the Jon Hiseman's drums and Tony Reeves' bass. Dick Heckstall-Smith wrote the song with Hiseman but it sounds like Litherland's solo.

The energy is enormous and at the same time other tracks have some nice jazz influences.

My vinyl album version is almost worn out - and just because I liked to play this album SO much.

btw, Jon Hiseman completed the liner notes just as Neil Armstrong took that one small step for man - as far as I am concerned, Colosseum took one giant leap for progressive music scene.

2112

With this album Rush was taking a new direction. And still it sounds good although it has been over 30 years since 2112 was released.

"We've taken care of everything,
The words you hear the songs you sing"

Well, Neil Peart said it. I cant resist - with this album Rush takes you somewhere in time. The whole side one is like epic movie. There is so much going on and one should follow the lyrics to get everything right.

You can even think that these guys are some kind of "communists" when they are singing about "Brotherhood of Man".....Or did they remember that old MOR band

"We only stop for the best"

That's right - there are so many albums and you really should stop only for the best.......

Dixie Fried

James Luther Dickinson was a totally unknown guy for me when I bought his album Dixie Fried back in the 80's.

I didnt even know if he was a singer or a guitar player. Soon I discovered that he was man with a voice. Powerful, bluesy yet somehow mellow voice. Baltimore City Paper said about his new solo album Jungle Jim and the Voodoo Tiger that "Jim Dicksinson...is a natural groover with an encyclopedic knowledge of American roots music".

And Jim is also a pianist, bandleader, producer, session-player and much more. Over the past 40 years he has played with the guys like Ry Cooder, Rolling Stones, Duane Allman and Aretha Franklin. And tons of others.

Nowadays he is running Zebra Ranch - an unique place to record and produce roots music etc.

Dixie Fried is not the kind of music I'd not like describe. I guess it is much better to feel it - like I did - years ago and years to come.....