Jean-Pierre Alarcen's 1978 ST

 

More great cover art here.

Bio on discogs:

French guitarist (and multi-instrumentalist) best-known in the influential 1970's prog band Sandrose. Jean-Pierre Alarcen was a founder member of Le Système Crapoutchik, featured in many other bands during his career: Eden Rose, Tartempion, and also worked a lot as a guest / session musician. He also recorded two solo albums of instrumental symphonic prog, with marginal folk and jazz touches, popularly compared to works by The Enid and Steve Hackett.

I'm not sure about the Hackett comparison, Enid is more appropriate for the later works, Tableaux 1 and 2.

In any case the 1978 ST solo work is just pure fusion with some slower classical-influenced tracks, and really wonderful for the French-fusion fan.

Nationale 20 is just priceless, note Francis Lockwood (brother of our beloved Didier, violinist) is on keyboards here:

On his own he made a great, and similar album called Debbi in 1981.

For the classical side of things, Vieux Garcon (old pal):

Both the 1978 ST and the first Tableau 1979, I don't think the second one (which is from 1998) is worth hearing.  My opinion only.

Nite People - P.M. 1970, FLAC limited time only

 

Nite People is a progressive rock band from Bournemouth, South West England, England, United Kingdom, that was formed in 1964.  

Only one release from these guys.

The first track, P.M.:

Curiously they do a cover of Peaches en Regalia, which seems a little crazy to me:

Ivan Jullien Big Band's Secret Service (recorded 1971, released 1972) by request

 

Again, wow.  Gorgeous cover art there, evidently a perfectly apt photo of an existing building wall.

The discogs page for the big band is here, with the compendium all its plentiful members, note the presence of Bernard Lubat. Leader is trumpeter Jullien of whom of course I know nothing.  This particular release info here.  This time our beloved Andre Ceccerelli does appear as drummer.

Typical big band sounds, opening with a Gershwin composition from Porgy and Bess, continuing on with compositions from Ivan Jullien. The following 2 in particular are from him, Running with Ruthi:

And the tenderness of Meet Mickey:

Jukka Tolonen Band albums [JTB 1979, Just those boys 1980, Dum's have more fun 1981, Pop Liisa 09, 1975] by request, plus more

 

I suppose everyone knows this artist already.  Tolonen who became well known with Tasavallan Presidentti, has been popping up here regularly on this blog, for ex. with the Nordic Jazz Quintet here. His Pop Liisa was (probably) posted before on this blog too with the others from this series.  His best work at least in my opinion is the earliest seventies material.  Anyways after a series of solo LPs he put out a handful of albums with the Jukka Tolonen Band.  Note that Coste Apetrea also appears, and on JTB 1979, Joachim Kuhn on keys.   Music is very typical late smooth fusion, with the last one from 1981 being mostly vocal songs, virtually commercial in its entirety.

And the duet album with Coste Apetrea called Blue Rain from 1985 is acoustic guitarwork, not quite as interesting for the fusion fan.

From Just Those Boys, Roskilde Rosie:

From the 1981 vocal albums Dums etc., Ghost Rider has a nice groove, a throwback to earlier days when furious fusion reigned supreme to close out the album:

And High Flyin' from 1980 has the gorgeously ethereal Clouds track to commend it:

Saturnus 2, from Hungary: ST 1980, Csigahazak 1982

 

With information here.  Kind of like the old classic fusion band Fermata in terms of smoothness, synth-driven instrumentals, or similar to Dimenzio from this blog.  However, there are some really outstanding moments in here, I'll draw your attention to the heartbreaking tenderness of In Memoriam:

I guess it reminds me of some of the really gentle, thoughtful Mahavishnu John McLaughlin tracks (eg, A Lotus on Irish Streams, from Inner Mounting.)  Probably it's him who came up with that idea of combining acoustic instruments (guitar and piano) plus flute or violin in a very tender trio type arrangement.  I should go back and relisten to all the seminal Mahavishnu releases, it's been years since I did that.

For a more fusioneering moment, Titan:

The second album is pretty much the same style with more ingenious musical thoughts, the Elektronikus track, brilliantly brings the synth into the fusion fold:

Really surprisingly enjoyable, given the level of under-the-radar neglect here.

String Connection, from Poland: Workaholic 1982; New Romantic Expectation 1983, Live 1984, Der Walzer vom Weltende 1986

 

String Connection:

Polish jazz combo led by violinist Krzesimir Dębski, founded at the beginning of the 80's and delivering first a jazz-rock music interspersed with folk intonations, later releases becoming closer to an elegant smooth jazz, lesser chops but still emphasis on fine melodic playing.

The Quasi String Waltz from their first release Workaholic really blew me away, as an advanced classical-influenced chamber jazz composition:

The combination of violins and electric piano throughout the music is quite enjoyable of course for us old fusion fans.

From the 1983 New Romantic album, Progresje Jesieni:

From the Live 1984, Para Martha:

Some of the albums have not been digitized yet, I note.  In any case the first LP was the best in my opinion, with the last one being not of the greatest interest, despite the wonderful title.

Gideon's Eight Reasons Why, Canada 1981

 

An unbelievable cover painting indeed, from the days when such things were common.  And a gatefold on top of that.  Whenever I spot one of those huge 'great vinyl covers' books at the local bookstore I have to shake my head in sadness, thinking of all the lost art these compilers have no idea exists out there.  But of course you never see 'great ultrarare, lost vinyl covers' published, just the usual crap like Sargeant Peppers and Disraeli Gears.

You can see here the band hailed from Oshawa, Ontario, and this is their only LP, self-released. As is so often the case however the discogs description as prog rock is mildly inappropriate, since the majority of the contents are regular hard rock at best.  There are perhaps 2 proggy tracks in there I believe which you can hear below.  For me this band is most similar to neglected and maligned Canadians Max Webster headed by guitarist Kim Mitchell, who did do quite a bit of prog back in their heyday.  And they really are underrated (as progsters) I feel.  Others report that Gideon is like Kansas with perhaps a bit of Rush influence, which would be expected given they're Canucks and Rush was and still is massive up North.  I don't feel it's quite as bombastic as Kansas, but the singer sounds a bit like Geddy Lee suggesting he was an influence.

The Mechanic, with its perhaps appropriate for today story of the robot friend:

The closer Awaken to You is worth hearing a million times a day just for the bizarre opening riff, very reminiscent of some of the crazy-riffed tracks from Max Webster, like In context of the moon:

Rosebud's Discoballs, A Tribute to Pink Floyd 1977, by request

 

Note the involvement, databased on this page, of Claude Engel, George Rodi, drummer Schultheis, and even our beloved Jannick Top, all the greats, for this 2-off disco band.  Only missing would be Ceccarelli.  Btw the second album is a tribute to New Orleans, from 1979, with dixieland numbers.  

Obviously in the case of this album, as the old expression had it, what you see is what you get. A very old expression the kids today would never get. Some of the renditions really fall flat in my opinion, like Money, on the other hand, Syd Barrett's wonderfully dissonant instrumental Interstellar Overdrive doesn't really sound bad with the disco beats:

And the other Barrett classic Arnold Layne is so totally interesting to hear, because it's so oddly transformed:

And surely you could say the same for Main Theme from More:

On a side note, people probably are familiar with the original Pink Floyd LP  headed by Syd called Piper at the Gates of Dawn, before he left the band / was made redundant by the other members, but do you guys know that Syd put out some pretty good solo works after that? You can read his story and discog briefly here.

Prazsky Vyber: 1978 Mini Jazz Klub, 1978 Zizen, 1987 Tatrman, 1989 Straka v Hrsti

 

Discogged:

Czech rock-jazz group, also known as “The Prague Selection”. Originally formed by Michael Kocáb in 1975 as a jazz combo, featuring the Prague Big Band (aka Pražský big band) rhythm section; the group name is also an ironic reference to a cheap Czech wine brand. Reformed in 1980 as a rock and new wave group. They were also regularly performing as a studio rhythm section, either anonymously or under various monikers (e.g. Elektrovox or even as members of TOČR). Between 1983–1986 prohibited from performing or recording due to communist censorship. Definitively disbanded in December 2005. Revived in 2006 by Kocáb with a Czech-Australian line-up as “Pražský Výběr II”. Reunited in the “classic” 1980s line-up in 2012, including both drummers.

Members 2012: Michael Kocáb (leader, keyboards, vocals), Michal Pavlíček (guitar, vocals), Vilém Čok (bass guitar, vocals), Jiří Hrubeš (drums), Klaudius Kryšpín (drums).

Former members until 1980: Jiří Niederle (saxophone), Ondřej Soukup (bass guitar), Jan Žižka (drums), Zdeněk Fišer (guitar), Vratislav Placheta (drums), Martin Koubek (guitar), Ladislav Malina (drums), Jiří Tomek (vocals, percussion), and numerous guest artists.

Michael Kocab has appeared here before, notably with singer Olmerova.

And you might recall Pavlicek from the brilliant Mini Jazz Klub here, and the Stromboli, and Minotaurus.

The 1978 Zizen (Thirst) fusion is a masterpiece though. Note that keyboardist Kratochvil, of April Orchestra and Jazz Q fame, is on here too.

The track called Cerpadlo has the unmistakable Kratochvil sound to it:

I decided to listen to the later, 1980s albums, but as mentioned these are mostly new wave, with minimal fusion.

From Straka, Bangabaseva:

From Tatrman, the title track:

Norman Connors 1972 Dance of Magic, 1973 Dark of Light, 1974 Love from the Sun, 1975 Slewfoot

 

Some nice classic mid-seventies fusion, I was surprised I never heard this artist before, despite obviously the stellar involvement of Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Eddie Henderson, etc.  Here are the first 4 albums.

Brief bio:

American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, producer, and artist.

Born: 1 March 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Connors was born and raised in Philadelphia, having an interest in jazz from an early age when he began playing drums. At elementary school he was exposed to jazz extensively, becoming heavily influenced by drummer Lex Humphries – the younger brother of bassist and Jazz-Messenger player, Spanky DeBrest. Once sitting-in for Elvin Jones at a John Coltrane performance he attended while in middle school, Connors went on to study music at Temple University and Juilliard.

His first recording was for Archie Shepp's "The Magic Of Ju-Ju" (1967), then continuing by playing with Pharoah Sanders for the next few years, before signing to Buddah Records sublabel Cobblestone, where he recorded his first release as a bandleader with album "Dance Of Magic" (1972). Connors began to focus more on R'n'B material in the mid-1970s after signing with Buddah Records, later becoming the label's A&R manager.

He went on to lead jazz recordings with Carlos Garnett, Gary Bartz, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Herbie Hancock. In the mid-1970s, when turning to sophisticated R'n'B and soul material, he recorded work featuring guest singers such as Michael Henderson, Jean Carn, Phyllis Hyman, Al Johnson, Jones Girls, among others, with his work becoming a main staple of jazz-fusion and jazz dance followers, with tracks including "Mother Of The Future" from album "Slew Foot" (1974), "Captain Connors" from album "This Is Your Life" (1977), et al.

From 1973's Dark of Light, the absolutely gorgeous emotional and complexity of Twilight Zone:

From 1974's Slewfoot, another meditative composition called Dreams:

T. Lavitz and Players, USA 1987

 

T. Lavitz has appeared here on this blog before, with his solo output, with Electric Tigers, with Jeff Berlin.

Bio:

American jazz-rock/fusion keyboardist, composer and producer (Lakewood, NJ, 16 April 1956 - 7 October 2010). Commonly known as just "T", he started intensive studies of classical and jazz piano at age seven. By twenty-two, he was asked to joiin the band Dixie Dregs.

So the music is typical smooth late US fusion like all of the above.  This album is from 1987 and features Berlin as well.

Here's a fine track called Crystal:

Jean Schultheis' Hot Time 1976

 

Drummer Schultheis appeared on the Christian Gaubert album, this is his contribution to the library music library.  He was also on the Chez Jean-Claude Petit 1974 library posted back here.

Databased here.  It presents a nice mix of fusion and library tracks.

African Reverie:

Cosmic Labyrinthe:

Ageness from Finland, Post-Scarab: 1992 Showing Paces, 1995 Rituals, 1997 Imageness, 2009 Songs from the Liar's Lair [limited time only]

 

Similar in style to well known Swiss neoprog band, Flame Dream.  But just what you'd expect from the semi-prog band Scarab continuing forth into the dreaded 1980s and onwards to the glorious 1990s.

However, as neo it's quite good, consider New World Anthem from the first, with the great Gabriel impersonation, complete with ridiculous lyrics plus silly voices near the end:

As usual, it amazes me this came out in the same year Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and alternative broke through and made a clean sweep through 90 percent of the music scene.

From the 2009 Liar's Lair, the Sons of Madness to me at least sounds imitably like old Flame Dream: