Inner Drive's Oasis, from Russia 2014, by request

 

Profile:

Inner Drive is a progressive rock band from Moscow formed in 2006. The band started out as a trio of keyboards, bass and drums but later expanded with instruments like violin, flute and guitars and recorded their debut album in 2014 recommended to fans of eclectic fusion.

A review from progarchives in my opinion doesn't quite do it justice:

Inner Drive from Russia, this totally unknown band even in their country released the debut in 2014 named Oasis. Formed around 2006 they come up with a beautiful art work ,but the music is no less chalenging and beautiful in same time. The album is entirely instrumental and is on eclectic side, from symphonic prog to prog folk and even some fusion moments are present all done with skills and good taste, keyboards, flute, the violin parts, all are well organized delivering some intresting chops from start to finish. The head of the band Sergey Bolotov gathered around him talented musicians who know to handle the instruments, creating a good towards great release in today prog realm. All in all intresting album by this russian band, I think they need far more exposure. 3 stars rounded to 3.5.

First of all I would give it far more stars. No question the composition shows a very deep musical education, but I would prefer to describe it as European chamber music with fusion, rhythm section, and prog influences.  Many tracks feature acoustic piano plus violin and flute for example, so recalling the type of stuff later Gotic did, in their second unreleased album, or more recently the great band Kotebel.  On this blog there have been many posts like this, most recently the Japanese band TEE or the French Syrinx, or Aurora Clara, or my old favourite is Brazilian Ramo.  Amongst the classics from the 1970s, this harks back to the French masterpieces Carpe Diem and Shylock.

If you take a look at the tracklist you'll for sure notice the one called Inspired by Pink Floyd:

 

Not sure what is the inspiration here, it's a bit confusing.

The title track:

You can really appreciate the beauty of the combination of electric piano (Fender Rhodes?) with acoustic flute soloing above, plus digital strings giving it a kind of video game theme music sound by the end, on something called Transience:

Sometimes a very deep and sentient delicatesse permeates the performance, which is really evocative and transcendantly played.  In the end I would say that if you are familiar with Kotebel's work, they are most similar to that Spanish band.  A wonderful suggestion without a doubt for me, and hopefully for many others out there.  Too bad there isn't more output from them. Thanks again for requesting.

A bunch of Rob Mounsey: 1987 Local Color (with Steve Kahn), 1989 Dig, 1993 Back in the Pool, 1998 You Are Here

 

Information here.

American keyboardist, producer, arranger, composer, musician, and conductor, born 2 December 1952 in Berea, Ohio, USA. Owner of Flying Monkey Productions, Inc., Flying Monkey Studios, and Flying Monkey Music.

I checked out his stuff because he was responsible for some of the great compositions on the preceding post, Joe Cool.  

Local Color (from 1987) with guitarist Steve Kahn comes together very nicely, and is quite similar to the stuff I posted from Khan before here and here.  He sounds at times a lot like Dave Grusin, in his later, early 1980s phase, his piano playing featuring a lot of suspended chords and quite inventive and original changes too.  The delicacy of Blue Rose is very reminiscent of classic 1970s Euro-fusion:

Later albums begin to have more of the classic 1980s new age and Pat Metheny / Brazilian influences which may or may not be appealing to you.  From Dig, however, consider a truly lovely track that closes it out, Gratitude:

1993's Back in the Pool starts to sound very much more and overwhelmingly like Pat Metheny.  The Sand Covers Everything:

Nonetheless, there are great ideas throughout, scattered amongst the commercial throwaways. 

As late as 1998's You Are Here, Still Life with Mockingbird:

There's a lot to enjoy here for sure. The standout is Local Color from 1987.

Joe Cool's 1984 Party Animals, by request [FLAC limited time only]

 

Information to be found here. Light fusion with slapped bass, synths plus funky guitars, no vocals, very much typical of the times.  Well composed and enjoyable though, and highly exquisitely played.

A very typical composition would be their Freedom of Assembly:

For their softer slower stuff, consider Borderland:

Here and there one can detect influences from the 'funky prog fusion' style of Brecker Bros, and Steps Ahead going way beyond the American generic light fusion style.  And luckily I don't hear any sax, meaning none of that high-pitched squealing screeching Sanbornian influence. 

All those who were (un)fortunate to be there in those 1980s, will remember vividly the long hair and the mullets, the t-shirt under a blazer fit, and the inescapably popular David S...

Cosmic Debris Compleat: ST (1980), While you're Asleep (1983), On the Shores of a Different Time (1986)

 

 

 

 

I posted their most progressive opus, While You're Asleep, more than 10 years ago back here, and I still think it's amazing because it eschews the one-chord drony electronic format that is typical of the ST or 3.7K release from 1980.  Then I found out they also released a cassette subsequently (no cover to post for that one), but it reverts back to the old drony electronic style. Hard to listen to when the tracks get overly long. Information here.

Mr. Motaba by request, from 1997

 

Sparse information here. Was it their only release?  It's typical late instrumental guitar-based fusion like so much other stuff posted here recently.

Efoiaqui:

More Requests: Mort Garson in Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds, and UK Plus' Seven Deadly Sins [FLAC]

 

Great cover for Plus, the only album for this band, but the music is protoprog with an odd bipolar quality of dissonant, modern music string quartet arrangements that introduce the songs followed by relatively straightforward songwriting along the lines of late Beatles, early John Lennon.  I remember really loving this album when I first got into prog, so many many years ago now.

Gluttony:

The other one is a library album which I thought I posted before but maybe didn't. Who knows?

The Running Man from 1972 [FLAC]

 

Only album from this outfit that featured the great guitarist Ray Russell, here in FLAC format.  I overlooked this one or didn't listen to it closely at the time, overshadowed by the masterpiece that is Ready or Not, one of the greatest guitar-based fusion LPs of the period, in my opinion.  And surely there were a lot of those.

Description:

Early 70s UK project band led by guitarist Ray Russell, and successor of Rock Workshop.

The Running Man were a trio with the known guitarist/bassist Ray Russell, vocalist/organist Alan Greed (Harsh Reality, Rock Workshop) and vocalist/drummer Alan Rushton (Ray Russell Quartet, Rock Workshop). They released only an album in 1972 on Neon, which recording was supplemented by Harry Beckett on trumpet and flügelhorn and Gary Windo on tenor sax. Their music is an interesting mix of hard rock, progressive and jazz similar to Patto. A classic example of the creativity of 70s british underground scene.

 

Nicholas

Another

Cybernation - The Dark Plane (Canada, 1987)

 

From the 'Museum of Canadian Music':

Space themed prog with a heavy Pink Floyd influence (despite the year of release), and some deeper electronic tracks.

It's a good but simple description, definitely not with much 1980s influence at all, perhaps at most dipping a toe in the year 1980.  You can see the mastermind / composer / player, who hailed from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is James Rewucki, with nothing else documented under his name.  What about the music? It's pretty impressive dark electronic, with the 'Wish You Were Here' type of sound (which is what they mean by PF, not earlier PF and definitely not The Wall-era).  I love that it's not boring and drony in the usual Tangerine Dream manner, and always maintains acute interest.

From the composer:

"Cybernation was my first album, I was 21 when I made it, it was just an experiment to see if I could produce something that sounded halfway decent out of my home studio at the time. This was 1987 and we were just at the beginnings of the ‘home studio’ trend and so the gear was nowhere near what is available now, but I had an Akai MG1214 recording console which was pretty much the Cadillac of home ‘all in one’ studios at that time, it was 12 tracks, analog half inch tape in a cassette based format that was made exclusively for that machine. I also had an Akai sampler, some out board effects, guitars, a bass, a Korg DW8000 synthesizer and a sequencer.

I recorded the album playing all the instruments myself in a period of about a month and then it was mixed and mastered to 2 track analog tape at Century 21 studios here in Winnipeg in one 4 hour mixing session. I was just teaching myself to write songs, as well as, how to sing at the time. It sounds pretty dated, but that is part of it’s charm, I was really into Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno at the time and I think that influence definitely shows. All in all, 30 years later, I’m glad I made it and I do ponder the idea of revisiting the old multitracks and reworking the album to make it sound like what I had in my head but was unable to achieve at the time with my limited resources and experience."

- James Rewucki

An interesting lost treasure though for those who love electronic music with a healthy dose of composition and variety.  It's surprising he is so adept at piano, synths, and all guitars too.  The deeply reverbed vocals are a bit hard to take, but don't cause excess interference in listening pleasure.  Obviously, those typical sci-fi themes of aliens, space travel, etc. permeate throughout.

The first track called Silence clearly introduces the whole work:

Then the Finale, with Reentry and Homecoming, ending in a forest with stream and bird songs:

Many thanks to all those who assisted with this endeavour including the original requester, finder, uploader, downloader, assembler of the package, etc. and all the way down.

Sergio Otanazetra with Patrice Gelsi in Afro-Brasilian music, 1983

 

I'll post this one too, since Patrice Gelsi's piano is so similar here to the previous one. Here, it's more like the library music we'd expect from the above Canopo cover.  Very similar to the other album, Ailleurs, is a track called Gislaine:

Info here. Otanazetra is the drummer, obviously.

Patrice Gelsi's Ailleurs... 1983

Great cover photo again.  Thank god this was requested because I would otherwise have never known about it, and it's for sure a lost treasure.  The mix here is distinctly the French fusion style with influences from Magma, and perhaps the solo albums of Patrick Gauthier (eg Bebe Godzilla).

Here's an online review which in my opinion slightly overstates the case and also makes up for the music itself by overraving it:

French latin jazz fusion best kept secret ! Ultra rare single album by pianist Patrice Gelsi featuring some great musicians : Réjane Perrimond, one of the leading voices of Starmania, the brazilian percussionist Sergio Otanazetra, bassist Christophe Levan from Jazz à Marseille beyond others. The whole album is a brilliant mix of modal jazz, jazz-funk, latin grooves sprinkled by a bit of fusion. "On Chant d'Ailleurs" the superb female vocal solo is just amazing, this tune is instantly reminds Cortex Troupeau Bleu ! The Brazilian influenced jazz-funk "Utopie" & "Duchesses (+)" are my favorites on this masterpiece but actually I can't decide which track is the best as the play of Gelsi has something magic on every track he composed. "Quelque part ... Autre part" is also one of my favorite.

Sadly his only album, and evidently completely forgotten and lost, since there are so few copies available, ever, for sale. Information here. Don't ask how I managed to get this usually several hundred dollar and/or unavailable album, it was a long and complicated process and thanks to everyone who assisted.

First track which introduces the sound perfectly, note the influence of French impressionist piano eg Debussy, Ravel, which really permeates the whole album:

Then the aforementioned song Duchesses, which really hammers home the zeuhl / fusion influence:

Enjoy it! And thanks for the requests!

RMS complete, By Request

 

Posted in connection with Ray Russell's stuff, back here.

Description:

RMS is a jazz fusion band formed in 1982. It consists of three well known and acclaimed British session musicians. Guitarist, Ray Russell, bass player, Mo Foster and drummer Simon Phillips.

Destroyer pointed out that Henry Lowther played trumpet with them too.

The live album replicates the same tracks as on Centennial Park even in the same order as the studio version which came later, unfortunately.  However there's a CD release of it with bonus stuff.  Sadly the album with Gil Evans is just cover versions.  As a former Jimi Hendrix fan, it's difficult to come to terms with alternate versions of his immortal Little Wing, and Stone Free.  Then on the second side are a Gershwin standard called Gone and Mingus' tired old Goodbye Porkpie, played for the trillionth time in history here.  It's difficult for me to detect the Gil Evans influence, unfortunately, because usually he does some brilliant arrangements but everything seems really meandering here and somewhat aimless, and incredibly long too. A bit like Bitches Brew maybe?

The first track (Broadway Rundown) from the live at the Venue 1982 CD gives you a clear idea of the contents, luckily the sound is quite good here:

1970s Output of Swedish organist / composer, Merit Hemmingson, By Request

 

Discogged thusly and rather sparesly: 

Swedish organist, composer and singer, born August 30, 1940 in the village of Gärdsta in Marby parish in Jämtland. She became famous in the late 1960's for her modern pop arrangements of Swedish folk music.

I think the first thing that most of us will notice is, the band is naked in the woods on that last album.  If you, like me, are curious for verification from the verso you'll be disappointed, there's just a drawing of Merit.  No butts.  And no more images of that really pretty blonde flautist (Josefine Mellander).  Obviously if you learned anything about that time period you learned nudism and stuff like communes with free sex were a big deal back then, thankfully the fad is long gone and passed today. 

Similarly the music is for sure a style that would never show its face today: Hammond Organ backed by different instrumentation but usually a rhythm section and sometimes orchestra playing a mix of jazz, ethnic folk, and baroque fugues, sometimes all 3 in one track.  At one point you get a jews harp playing percussion under a jazz-skat singing folk tune-- you get the idea:

Sometimes she sings, sometimes in the very annoying jazzy style of Dudziak, and sometimes there are cover versions.  In the later albums there are covers of famous classical tunes, and I have to honestly say her version of Ravel's beautiful Pavane pour une Infante Defunte is the single worst classical rendition I have ever heard, out of all the many I've heard.

In terms of more listenable samples, from 1972's Trollsang, opener called Mandom etc. demontrates the occasional funky sounds (mixed with baroque patterns):

From 1973's Bergtagen, Elverumvisan:

From 1975's Balsam, Balsam a la Sebastian demonstrates the classical influence as well as the inescapable organ sound:

The 1979 free sex/ nudist album Gastabud features a wonderfully sly-chorded and interesting vocal track called Harem which I definitely don't want to know the lyrics to:

The penultimate track on that album, called Trade Mark is genuinely beautiful (here the guitarist is Michael Lundqvist):

I should mention too that our beloved Janne Schaffer and Georg Wadenius appear on the 1977 album.  B.J. Lindh on the other hand shows up on the 1975, the uniquitous but unfortunately named Toots Thielemans on harmonica.

Overall, from this the blog, the albums of Berndt Egerbladh are the most similar with the heavy dependence on folk.

Some Requests: Eddy Palermo's 1985 Jazz Fusion Mood and Gerard Marais's 1986 BBG (Big Band de Guitares) [FLAC limited time only]

 

Eddy Palermo is an Italian guitarist. This album appears with his ensemble discogged here.  It's quite light fusion with pleasant sounds, typical of the era, all instrumental. 

A Song for You:

I threw in the album called Eddy Loves Frank, made up of big band versions of Frank Zappa. It's a little bit interesting, note the Regyptian Strut cover:

Unfortunately I was not too pleased with some of the other versions, such as the immortal Echidna's Arf.  And it oddly enough ends with a rendition of America the Beautiful, rather than 'America the empire wannabe'.  I guess it kinda makes sense considering it came out in 2009.

Gerard Marais, who was in my Instants Chavires with Pifarely posted so long ago, is typical French progressive jazz, as you can easily discern and detect form my sample called Sagittaire:

Some Requests: Claude Rodap-Fregate Orchestra's 1986 Syn-Ka

 

October Country:

This is just fantastic, like a reminder of Springtime and new, free flowing energy :)

Alert! We have a genre-hopping, phase-shifting, strange and wonderful little UFO here >>> cool proto-prog morphing into space-disco jams with multi-synth leads: Cosmic!

Take the Steve Robinson - Its A Lie Lp, blended with elements of Michel Magne's - Moshe Mouse Crucifixion and Zeus B.Held.... mix in Mort Garson ..............out of this world, yes.

Just look at that album cover, we know they were time-travelers.

...3rd song, 'Synthetic Love', that repeating synth-chorus and bossa nova beat brings to mind a final hurrah, like a last celebration, sailing away from everything we ever knew into the new.

...next song, 'Fregate', continues the vibe with a solemn but hopeful piano refrain and surf-like sounds....love it.

First track:

Some Requests: Vingioi - Very Well, from 1979 Italia

 Artist information here (real name with too many i's is Vincenzo Gioieni. Note that the earlier 1976 library album is unavailable digitally (so far).  Anyone have it too though to share?  Presumably the same style, of mixed library music but nicely performed and very typical, dare I say generic, for ex., Septic: