Requested Le Forestier from Manu Galvin, lossless temporary only

Discography here.  This his first release came out in 1994.

Very light guitar-based, all instrumental fusion with some new agey tendencies here and there, nothing too energetic, no one works up too much of a sweat, very chill.  As usual with French music the accordion pays a visit.  It's a little similar to the later Akkerman albums.

Of all the tracks the one called Mon Frere reminds me the most of the classic old fusion sound and its deep emotional resonance:

Then for a more uptempo song, the opener Ne Quelque Part:

It's hard to believe this was put out in the middle of the alternative music craze, almost thirty years ago now.

Transit Zone from 1986: Jean Geeraerts, Francis Bourrec, Christian Meslier, Philippe Léogé, René Béranger

Wonderful cover considering the late date, for once.

Only one album from this group notable for the presence of guitarist Jean Geeraerts, who composed for legendary zeuhl group Dun. I could listen to that one every day and never get tired of it without a doubt.

The other composer was this gentleman, Pascal Vandenbulcke, who disappears from the database apart from an appearance with the marvelous Jean-Luc Chevalier whose many interesting albums I posted here earlier-- if links inactive, let me know and I'll reup them.

Very light fusion typical of the year this time with slapped bass, silly dance rhythms, silly repetitive chanted passages, that high-pitched and wimpy drum sound, etc.

The final track is the most progressive and moody by far:

I'd say that one piece makes the LP worth the price of admission (admittedly, extremely cheap)-- it's a wonder he didn't compose more music like this after the end of Dun given that he was definitely capable of some really thoughtful ideas. I love how both chord changes and melody are so completely odd-- yet the song as a whole really works perfectly, the only unfortunate aspect obviously being the 80s digital arrangement.

Brazilian prog-fusion band Quantum, I and II, 1983 and 1994

Some really superb, consistently amazing music from this band featured today.

from discogs:

A Brazilian band formed at the beginning of the 80s, Quantum remained together for two years only. Anyway, it was long enough for them to release their namesake debut album in 1983, which sold more than 6,000 copies. Their style was clearly influenced by Camel and Hackett-era Genesis with added elements of jazzy nature, which provided some peculiar swing to the overall symphonic sound. The 1993 CD re-released edition included a bonus track recorded before their break-up with a different bass player. This bonus track, "Presságio", was actually part of the repertoire of a second album that would never get to be released. Or so it seems, since rumor has it that an actual Quantum second album from that era has been briefly circulating among collectors and fans in cassette format. But a definitely real second Quantum offering went to see the light of day in 1994, when the group reformed and recorded "Quantum II". The new line-up included two keyboardists and no guitarist.

Perfect music for me with just a rich neverending flow of creative ideas that seem to never cease from beginning to end, all in that classic symphonic progressive sound with chamber classical mixed in.  For example, their stunning Sonata:

And if it can be believed the follow up album more than a decade later is just as good, the Sword:

Jazz Members Big Band (of Chicago) with 1992' Diggin' In (with lossless)

 

They actually made a few records back in the 80s to 90s but I found this mostly because I was searching for the remarkable composition called 19 Before Soc's Last Cup, quite the mini masterpiece indeed like Jacob's Tailor from long ago.  Have a listen if you haven't heard it before:

Btw, what is a soc? I'm a bit confused as is wikipedia here.  This was written by percussionist Glenn Cronkhite who was in Art Lande's Rubisa Patrol.

Unfortunately the rest of the album is quite generic big band, it's a surprise they included such a progressive item in there.

Marcos Resende and Index and other albums

From discogs:

In spite of his immense potential to become a musician, Marcos Resende travelled to Lisbon in the 60s to study medicine, though he continued to explore his musical passion on the side, forming a trio which ended up opening for Dexter Gordon at the Cascais Jazz Festival in 1971. From here he formed the electronic oriented prog-jazz group Status, who opened shows for the likes of Elton John, Phil Woods, Stan Getz, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, but in spite of their relative live success they have no known recordings. Now established as a highly regarded keyboardist, composer, and innovative electronic musician, Resende returned home to Brazil. Inspired and invigorated by US jazz and British progressive rock, Resende went all out acquiring a keyboard arsenal, which included the Prophet 5, Yamaha CP-708 and Mini Moog. Determined to integrate his newfound inspirations with Brazilian rhythms and jazz traditions, he formed a new quartet with Rubão Sabino (bass), Claudio Caribé (drums) and the late great Oberdan Magalhães, of Banda Black Rio and Cry Babies fame, and recorded their self-titled debut at Sonoviso Studios with the legendary sound engineer Toninho Barbosa.

Though he wasn’t short of offers to release the album, Resende felt record companies were de-valuing the time and effort he spent absorbing his influences while establishing a career in Europe, and perfecting his sound with his Brazilian bandmates, as well as the magnitude of the recording they achieved. The album would only be released in 2021 by Far Out, only a matter of weeks after Marcos' death (by stomach cancer, on 12th November 2020, at the age of 73). In 1978, Marcos Resede & Index (already with other musicians, with the exception of Magalhães) finally debuted on disc with the mythical album Festa Para Um Novo Rei - home to the classic jazz-funk classic 'Vidigal' and released in the now iconic Philips Popular Brazilian Contemporary series (MPBC), but then without much repercussion. In As time passed, Resende become one of the most revered session keyboardists in Brazil; as a result his career as a bandleader took a backseat..

For sure the first recorded album, that is the ST Marcos Resende and Index is the best, and it's just a superb mix of latin-flavoured fusion.  For me the track called Nergal is as I always say like magic:

From the first released album at the time which was called Festa Para Um Novo Rei, from 1978, I really love the ST's varied passages and how different themes keep returning:

The four albums here are the 1976's ST, 1978's Festa Para Um, 1984's Som e Fantasia and 1989's ST Marcos Resende.