Bill's second solo album after leaving Return To Forever, on Manfred Eicher's ECM label; his first album with other collaborators--this one all acoustic.

1. "Melting" (11:33) excellent jazz foundation from Bill's nylon string guitar's arpeggitions, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette's exquisite more-traditional jazz work in the rhythm department, all set up to support and elevate the clear melody work of Jan Garbarek's tenor sax. Beautiful. In the sixth minute Bill finally steps into the spotlight as Gary and Jack continue their exquisite support. Such beautiful, fluid, and yet dynamic acoustic guitar playing! It's almost on a par with classical guitar virtuoso John Williams. Though Jack DeJohnette's drumming never sounds boisterous or ultramasculine, he does an amazing job of performing at an incredibly high level of skill: His play in the second half might even be called racy or piquant. If all jazz sounded as beautiful as this it might be my go-to choice of music. (18.75/20)

2. "Not Forgetting" (6:33) solo guitar on a John McLaughlin-playing-Bill Evans-level opens this before the rhythmatists join in with some sparse support. Jan's tenor is the first to solo--a little too strong or loud for fitting in with the others (in my opinion) but then Bill solos on a steel-string acoustic guitar as Gary very much plays off of him. All the while, Jack remains affixed to his cymbal work. Bill's unexpected and sometimes-obtuse chords used to support Jan's next solo are so reminiscent of the amazing support work that John McLaughlin creates on so many songs throughout his career. I can't say that I've heard many jazz guitar virtuosi perform on this kind of level. (9/10)

3. "Face In The Water" (6:25) spacious, more spacious, discordant, and avant-garde/free jazz than anything before lends to the thinking that this album and music (and ECM productions in general) may actually belong more in the straight jazz category than fusion. Impeccably and virtuosically performed, just not my favorite. (8.66667/10)

4. "Aubade" (9:38) another tune that starts out in a style that is more true jazz in its chordal and melodic patterning. In the second minute there is an almost-imperceptible shift into some gloriously gorgeous chords and melodies. But it doesn't last as Bill and Jan move back into pensive and discordant patterns while Jack's delicate cymbal play increases its pace and syncopated, expressive sophistication. No Gary Peacock bass (that I can hear) in the first five minutes though a second guitar track appears in that fifth minute. Again, Jack's drum contributions grow and increase in intensity despite still remaining in what one would call a "gentle" and "background" role. Jan returns around the six-minute mark for a turn on his soprano sax, really exploring some of the instrument's high notes for a stretch before leading everyone down into a quieter place so that Jack can have a solo. The man is so skilled, so creative, that it's hard to take in much less comprehend all that he offers to the listener. Amazing is the truest adjective one can apply. At the nine-minute mark we return to that catching little chord progression in order to usher out the song. Not a song that I will be drawn back to hear very often but one that definitely has my fullest respect and admiration. (18/20)

5. "Cafe Vue" (5:40) another more fully jazz expression within which each of the musicians seem to have looser, almost free-jazz compartments in which to act while Bill, and, later, Jan, solo using quite astringent or perhaps chromatic melody lines. Again, not my favorite: too much dissonance for my puny, unaccommodating brain. (8.666667/10)

6. "Unending" (7:33) another John McLaughlin-plays-Bill-Evans-like song with soprano sax, nylon string guitar and Gary and Jack's active and nuanced support. Not as pretty as the first time through ("Not Forgetting"). In fact, the overall palette is a bit too busy and too loud, making it very challenging to enjoy. (13/15)

Total Time 47:20

This album just solidifies the proof that the combination of Manfred Eicher, ECM, acoustic jazz, and a band of exclusively high virtuosi is tough to beat. My issue with this album (and a lot of ECM albums and artists) is in the seriousness of the jazz music being played and expressed: they're just a bit too dense for me to enjoy (though I definitely appreciate them).

B+/4.5 stars; an excellent album of incredible performances of fully-jazz-oriented music that occasionally brushes onto the yard of the Jazz-Rock Fusion domain. Were I anywhere near fluent in the "colloquial" language(s) of jazz music I might be able to better appreciate this album.

The Hungarian-born guitar virtuoso tries his hand at Bob James' style of smooth jazz-rock fusion. (While Gabor had played with Bob before, this was his first album using Bob as his producer.)

A1. "Hungarian Rhapsody #2" (6:52) music that is very much pre-Disco. The sound engineering is surprisingly weak--almost thin, with everything mixed so quietly, the background instruments (horns, drums, percussion) sounding as if they are way far in the distant background. These sound discrepancies are distracting enough (as is Louis Johnson's up-front bass play) as to leave me working very hard just give minimal attention to Gabor's guitar play--which is also detracted by coming from a plug-in acoustic guitar (the early models of which I found quite irritating for their artificial sound). (13.125/15)

A2. "Time" (5:38) dreamy Disney electric piano arpeggi open this before gorgeous blues-jazzy guitar enters bringing with it Fender Rhodes piano and bare-bones bass and drum accompaniment. At 1:20 there is a slight shift in key and motif, leading to a brief, slightly more dynamic "chorus." Gabor's melody in the verses is quite beautiful, even seductive. Bob James gets some solo time in the third minute on his electric piano while Harvey Mason and Louis Johnson support with some nice little touches and nuances. The closing vamp is the best part because it unleashes all of the musicians to add a little bit more to their performances--including Gabor. (9/10)

A3. "Transylvania Boogie" (5:31) clavinet, bass, drums, and percussion establish a funky-smooth motif over which Eric Gale adds his own unique guitar sound and style. Gabor inserts his sparsely-populated melody with his lead guitar sounding like a cross between George Benson and Earl Klugh. Not quite spooky enough to qualify as vampire music (though it does have its sexy/seductive elements), I must remember that Gabor is a native of the country that houses Transylvania. Tom Scott's solo on his electronic saxophone (the Lyricon) is nice--and then bookended by some horn section accents from he and John Faddis and George Bohanon. The song fades out before anything truly interesting can mount, but, c'est la vie! (8.875/10)

B1. "Ziggidy Zag" (5:58) strummed electric jazz guitar chord sequence is soon joined by mid-funky bass and drum lines and then blasts from the band's thin horn section. The motif that takes over in the second minute is very Bob James-like, as is Gabor's Earl Klugh-sounding solo style--at least for the first 30-seconds of his performance: after that his sound and style begin to take some distinctive characteristics. Bob James gets the second solo on his Fender Rhodes. I really like Louis Johnson's bass performance as well as the conga play of Idris Muhammad and Harvey Mason's drumming (though this latter is recorded rather poorly). "Distant" clavinet, Eric Gale guitar, and occasional "distant" horn blasts continute to pepper and fill the background through to the end. Nice tune. (8.875/10)

B2. "Macho" (9:13) after a protracted piano and percussion intro, the band establishes an okay attempt at a Latin pseudo-Chick Corea songscape--one that eventually succeeds in delivering on the promise of the tension residing in its impassioned "White Rabbit"/"Bolero"-like chord progression. Great performances all around--especially from Harvey Mason, Louis Johnson, and Bob "Chick" James as well as Ralph MacDonald and Idris . One of my favorite songs on the album--one of the true J-R Fusion tunes here. (18/20)

B3. "Poetry Man" (4:28) a highly-charged, almost-erotic rendition of Phoebe Snow's iconic radio hit. Great arrangement and recording. (9.25/10)

Total time:37:40

I will also discount my rating of this album for its lack of original compositions (two covers, one Bob James song, one Harvey Mason song, and only two songs by the title artist--which happen to be the two best Jazz-Rock Fusion songs on the album); it is my opinion that the pressure to perform listener-friendly/recognizable covers of pop hits is one of the things that took the wind out of the sails of the Jazz-Rock Fusion movement--directed it onto the detour paths of Adult Contemporary, Smooth Jazz, and Yacht Rock.

An excellent collection of pre-Smooth/Adult Contemporary Jazz-Rock Fusion. Definitely recommended.

Rich Third or Fourth Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion from a short-lived French band that is notable for the prominence of trombones and flutes as well as for the presence of a core of three highly-skilled multi-instrumentalists. How can this band (and album) have no reviews posted here?!!!

1. "Ali Baba" (5:10) quite solid and sophisticated Jazz-Rock Fusion that occasionally slips over into Smooth Jazz and instrumental rock. I like the prominent use of trombones as well as the core trio of band members' willingness to switch between multiple instruments during the course of a single song. (8.875/10)

2. "Trop Tard" (4:45) funk from the perspective of the Soul/R&B bands like the JBs, Tower of Power, and, more, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. Well done! (9.5/10)

3. "Paysages D'Ur" (4:15) nice, smooth yet eminently sophisticated jazz-rock (9/10)

4. "Octopus" (2:48) back to the R&B-grounded Jazz-Rock Funk of the Listen to the electric bass play of Gilles Douieb! as well as the contributions of the horn section! Wow! (9/10)

5. "Cello" (4:48) funny to name a song after an instrument (one of the only) that does not exist in the repertoire of the band or their guests! A beautifully composed and "orchestrated" song that definitely continues the display of absolutely top notch Jazz-Rock Fusion. (9.25/10)

6. "E 330" (5:00) Oh. I get it! Alternating songs deeply rooted in the funk with other sophisticated yet-smoother song constructs. Me like! Here we have yet another amazingly superb funk song, this one founded well within the Latin traditions. The song's only weakness is that it gradually becomes smoother, more Latin melodic and less R&B funky as it progresses--especially as Olivier Hutman's piano takes the lead. It's not bad--the piano play is pretty--especially when woven with the acoustic guitar and flute--but it gets a little bland when he becomes the sole soloist (despite his similarity of style and sound to that of my well-loved favorite, Chick Corea). (9/10)

7. "Flipper Nana" (4:36) a song that has both swing and funk elements to it also presents more of that lovely trombone in the lead while the rest of the band actively and creatively supports from beneath (and beside). The oddly-muted horn section blasts at the two minute mark are awesome, preceding a nice flute solo, then, 30 seconds later the band shifts into a more traditional jazz motif with some excellent double bass walking from Denis Barbier and some great piano soloing from Olivier. Another switch in the second half of the fifth minute leads to some rock electric guitar shredding as the song heads slowly into its long fadeout finish. (9/10)

8. "Canaan Part 1" (4:20) more high-speed Jazz-Rock Fusion of the Headhunters kind with the skills on display that the Mahavishnu Orchestra would certainly have been proud if not envious. All I can say is, Wow! How can it be that this band has received absolutely no attention on either ProgArchives or JazzMusicArchives.com? Even the song-ending drum solo that begins in the second half of the fourth minute is done so tastefully--and does not feel like wasted time or space. (9/10)

9. "Canaan Part 2" (4:14) the band uses a chill, smooth funk motif as if to recover (or let the listener recover) from Part 1. The horn section sets the band up for an extended electric guitar solo backed by some wonderful electric piano chord play and intermittent riff-blasts from the horn section. While electric guitarist Patrice Cinelu does not, in my estimation, stand up to the mind-blowing expressions of the bass, drums, percussionists, and horns, he is quite good. (8.875/10)

Total Time 39:56

This is an album (and band) that has caught me TOTALLY off guard! Who knew France had instrumentalists, composers, engineers, and record companies that not only rivaled but equalled anything that was going on in the U.S. of A?!?! Not like this!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of incredibly high quality funky Third Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion that definitely rivals anything coming out of the United States.

The debut album of ethnic folk-jazz-rock fusion from Turkmenistan. Reminds me of the early albums of Chilean band LOS JAIVAS.

Line-up / Musicians: - Khajiriza Ezizov / vocals - Ilyaz Redzepov / vocals - Mikhail Loguntsov / guitar - Shamamed Byashimov / keyboards - Stanislav Morozov / tenor saxophone, flute - Yusif Aliev / trombone - Alexander Stasukevich / trumpet - Shamil Kurmanov / trumpet - Vladimir Belousov / bass - Rishad Shafi / percussions

1. "Жиги-Жиги (Девушка) / The Girl" (3:42) great jazz-rock fusion rhtyhm lines with jazz-rock horns and odd 1960s-sounding group vocal singing of folk/ethnic music. (9.25/10)

2. "Туни Деря" (5:28) another set up of great, amazingly tight jazz-rock funk fusion. Then, at 0:42, everybody clears out so that an electrified traditional stringed instrument (balalaika?) steps in to solo for the next minute. It feels as if the band is all there, sitting and watching with the utmost respect as their elder tells his old tale. At 1:45 electric guitar and then drums and bass start to join in. When everybody's back in, the band sounds as if they're channelling the Mahavishnu Orchestra. By 3:00 the music has settled into a Latin-sounding rhythm pattern over which several male vocalists begin singing what feels like their traditional (Arabian) call-and-response vocals. Electric guitar takes the next solo in the fifth minute. These vocals almost sound West African! It just illustrates to me how small the planet really is--how linked are human musical traditions. (9.5/10)

3. "Акжа Кепдери / White Dove" (4:03) opens like an old blues (maybe blues-rock) song from the 1960s with full band playing low and slow while expert jazz guitar and tenor sax play with Elvis-like male vocal crooning with deeply ambiguous feeling: He's obviously expressing deep feelings; Is he sad or happy? (9/10)

4. "Восточный Сувенир / The Oriental Souvenir" (4:58) heavy rock-based music opens this one sounding like something from Larry Coryell or some Latin percussion band. Wonderful sax-marimba interplay after the bridge in the beginning of the second minute. Eventually Stanislav Morozov's sax and rest of the band drown out the tuned percussion as the band drifts into a more smoothly-flowing motif for Stan's sax to continue his wonderful soloing. Bass and drums are outstanding, as are horn section accents and banks. I'm sure that Don Ellis would be proud! (8.875/10)

5. "Кечпелек (Баллада о судьбе) / Bitter Fate / (The Ballad of Destiny)" (7:08) more Arabic-sounding vocals with some electrified oud-like instrument and percussives supporting with flurries and flourishes. After 90 seconds the rock support solidifies in a slow, dirge-like rhythm track with Hammond, electric bass, and straight-time drums. The oud-like electric guitar continues throughout all this, even when the liturgical singer cuts out, leaving a trail of perfectly tremoloed melody lines up to the odd break and transition starting at 3:55. Bass and drums get to start the next very-Andalusian-sounding section as the full bank of horns joins in. The vocalist returns, continuing in a form and style that seems to connote religious fervor. Great bass and horn play with and beneath the singer. Once he cuts out more impressive Don Ellis-like play ensues. I swear that finish is Latin American! (13.375/15)

6. "Ялан / Cheating" (2:44) part Latin/Herb Alpert-like music, part obvious local ethnic traditional music--with support of Hammond organ and horn section. (8.666667/10)

7. "Коне Гузер / At the Old Creek" (4:15) electric guitar and electric piano support the impassioned ethnic vocal of one of the outstanding lead vocalists (wish I knew which one). Great latent tension hiding within this one--tension that the electric guitar, bass guitar, drumming, and saxophone do their best to release to the wind. So many textures and emotions conveyed in this masterpiece. (9.75/10)

8. "Арманым Галды / Separation (Parting)" (3:12) opens like a traditional South American song before turning to jazz-rock at the end of the first minute. GREAT bass, drums, rhythm guitar, and horn section work beneath the lyrics that just gets better between the vocal sections. Wow! These guys can really play! (And this lead vocalist can really sing!) (9/10)

Total Time 35:30

I've heard that Gunesh's next album, released in 1984, is even better than this one!

A-/five stars; a wonderful display of traditional/ethnic music blended seemlessly, no, virtuosically, into rock and jazz-rock and Jazz-Rock Fusion forms. Definitely an experience I highly recommend for all prog lovers.

Rid of the domineering blues-rock effect of Corrado Rustici's older brother, Daniele, and partnering with seasoned British prog-rockers Phil Collins, Percy Jones, and the spiritually-illuminated Mahavshnu alum, Narada Michael Walden (the album's producer), and the band is able to soar into unprecedented territory!

Line-up / Musicians: - Corrado Rustici / lead vocals, lead guitar, 6- & 12-string acoustic guitars, marimba - Renato Rosset / Fender Rhodes, piano, Minimoog, String Ensemble, clavinet - Elio D'Anna / soprano & tenor saxophones, flute, synthesized flute (6) With: - Percy Jones / bass - Narada Michael Walden / drums, Fender Rhodes (6) - Phil Collins / percussion - Zakir Hussain / congas (6)

1. "Vimana" (7:18) the great 12-string guitar opening of this song and album I remember so well from 1977 for the way in which it fed my soul. Then add the soaring flute, Phil Collins-like drums, RTF second motif and out-of-this world bubbling Percy Jones bass lines and I was in heaven. Renato Rosset's keyboard work is so crucial to the whole sound that it sometimes gets overlooked but don't It's amazing! And Phil's percussion work is also not to be ignored. But the real star, for me, was the incendiary guitar play and runs of guitar phenom Corrado Rustici (who was now a whole 20-years old!) The song as a complete "finished" composition doesn't always flow or make sense but the instrumental prowess and sound palette on display are superlative. (14/15)

2. "Night Games" (9:37) acoustic guitar opening that sounds like it could come from Al DiMeola or John McLaughlin, floating Fender Rhodes chords and arpeggi and more bubbling bass popping in and out of the void fill the first 90-seconds of this as subtle cymbal and percussion play also sneak in here and there, but then Elio D'Anna's insistent soprano sax enters and announces its leadership in establishing a melody--one that is matched note for note by Corrado's dextrous electric guitar. The music stays surprisingly spacious even up to the point at the end of the fourth minute when Corrado's treated-voice breaks through in song. Renato's four/five chord keyboard progression paces the song slowly forward until something seems to break loose at 5:18. Thereafter we return to a spacious void in which Narada Michael Walden's intermittent staccato drum flourishes and Renato's clavinet chord play provide the only solid steady backdrop over which Elio, Percy, and Phil add their occasional inputs. Corrado returns to front and center around the seven-minute mark with another foray into singing just before unleashing an ungodly barrage of machine gun guitar runs--some of my favorite obtuse lines ever. It's over before the start of the ninth minute, the band returning to the spacious main theme for more lyrics and more sax, drum, and bass displays before Corrado and Percy take us out with their rapid fire artifice. Very interesting song--again expressing a very unusual compositional style. (18/20)

3. "Poesia (To a Brother Gone)" (5:11) all acoustic fare like the opening of RETURN TO FOREVER's "Romantic Warrior." Steel-string acoustic guitar, flute, and piano--the band's core--all displaying their lightning speed skills. Impressive (especially Renato Rosset!) but, once again, failing to feel like something concrete and "finished" has been displayed. (8.875/10)

4. "Thru the Silence" (5:43) the drummer gets to open this one. Funky bass, clavinet, and fast-picked guitar chords with Narada Michael Walden's driving drumming provide the base for Corrado's singing. At 1:45 the band switches into. a more Latinized motif with all kinds of percussion work, wild screaming saxophone and bouncing clavinet Probably my least favorite song on the album, there's nothing really wrong with it--and it's one of the few songs that actually feels "finished"--but it lacks the melodic or astonishing hooks. Plus Narada's able drum play is close to being on the disco spectrum. The instrumental fifth minute (to close) is the best part with Percy's bass play, Narada's drum play feeling more Lenny White-straight ahead, Renato's clavinet and Minimoog and Corrado and Elio spitting out the same machine gun lines. (8.75/10)

5. "Driftwood" (10:03) my favorite song on the album--one that haunts me in the best way--opens with some very atmospheric slow-played, volume-pedaled, "distant" guitar play while cymbals, synths, and tenor sax flit in and out of the spacious mix for the first two minutes. In the third minute, things setttle into another spacious, atmospheric pattern over/within which Corrado's odd voice gives his best, most impassioned performance backed by some extraordinary flanged strummed acoustic guitar. As he concludes that "I must destroy you" his love all hell breaks loose at 5:40 with sax and guitar absolutely shredding the skies with the army of band mates following the charge. But then calm is restored around the seven-minute mark despite the fact that Corrado's surprisingly Zen Buddhist lyrics assurance that the destruction is inevitable. A small squall of whole-band cacophonoy precedes a rather beautiful and wholly-ambiguous exit. Such a fsacinating song! The detachment toward such underlying existential violence and is extraordinary! (19.25/20)

6. "Princess and the Frog" (7:44) a rather simply-structured ABACAB song with straight time and straightfoarward piano chord construction turns out to be a convenient vehicle for some more fiery displays of guitar and drums as well as some silly Minimoog play rather disappointingly dull percussion play (from Phil and Zakir Hussen, no less!) The two-part song is halved at the five-minute mark by a bleed over into riverside birdsong and gentle Fender Rhodes arpeggi over which some guitar, synth strings, and light-hearted male laughing occur. The motif feels lifted from Minnie Ripperton's "Lovin' You" and seems to be just waiting for her bird-like vocals to step in. I also think that Andreas Wollenweider must have heard this song (and album) before he set forth the composing and recording of his 1981 classic, Behind the Gardens - Behind the Wall - Under the Tree . . . . (14/15)

Total Time 45:36

I have to admit that Vimana is one of my secret favorites from back in the day. There was a time when I was trying to collect anything and everything that fretless bass virtuoso Percy Jones touched. Thus, I stumbled upon this one. Boy! was I sucked in by the entirety of this excellent album. Corrado Rustici's guitar work astounds me to this day (and to think that he would go on to production Hall of Fame with his work with Whitney Houston and others!) Narada Michael Walden is awesome and I, for one, love the "cheesy" Sri Chimnoy-inspired music, titles, and lyrics of he, (Devadip) Carlos Santana, and (Mahavishnu) John McLaughlin. Each song presents atmospheric sections of heavily treated guitars and keyboards which then invariably build into fiery soli from either sax man Elio d'Anna or axe man Rustici. The only straightforward song is the finale, "Princess and the Frog," which is quite catchy. "Driftwood" and "Vimana" are among my all-time favorite songs from the 70s. Not a masterpiece but definitely one that I'd recommend to any prog lover!

A/five stars; a minor masterpiece of proggy jazz-rock fusion. One of my 20 Favorite Jazz-Rock Fusion albums from the "Third Wave" of J-R Fusion's "Classic Era" (the 1970s).