Secret Oyster's Karsten Vogel in 1983's Signature [by request!]

Karsten Vogel ex-Birds Of Beauty, Burnin Red Ivanhoe, Secret Oyster, Taylor's Free Universe...
Danish composer, conductor, saxophonist and music teacher, born 11 January 1943 [and now 71]...

As briefly mentioned with regards to bandmate Knudsen from Secret Oyster (SO), he made quite a few interesting jazz-rock-folk albums after SO, in the late 70s early 80s.  Too bad these are still relatively secret themselves, but beautiful like pure pearls in oysters.

In this particular album you'll notice shades of SO's beautifully thoughtful side as in the track "Mind Symbol," and like me, it will break your heart when you think of how gorgeous SO could be at its height in its stay in the Krankenhaus or the inimitable, incomparably beautiful Astarte:




At the same time there is a curious dichotomy where half the songs are gospel-like simplistic progressions, with sax raining down from above, reminding me of those Keith Jarrett-like tendencies to play rollicky gospel that to me really detracted from his advanced compositional capabilities.  But overall, from this record, we can here get a sense of just how much of SO was Karsten's creation, such as the piano obliggatos in minor keys over which his sax flies and weaves its aerial beauty, so I ask you please, Karsten, to fly high like the beautiful bird that you are, for us....  

And have a listen to the other two records before this one too if you get a chance... they're well worth hearing.

Kenneth Knudsen's Anima (1979) in a new lossless rip

This Danish keyboardist was a member of Coronarias Dans and Entrance and the inimitable Secret Oyster...  He struck out on his own with this keyboard album in 1979.  As one can expect it's full of progressive ideas and highly interesting, lacking the total energy of a group like Entrance, but worth hearing without a doubt.  There is more of the Coronarias classical music influence here than fusion.

From my wonderfully generous friend:

Kenneth Knudsen is a Danish Jazz keyboardist and composer. Studied architecture in Royal Danish Academy of Arts. He participated in over one hundred albums with such ''stars'' as Arild Andersen, Svend Asmussen, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Karsten Vogel, Palle Mikkelborg, Miles (Aura) Davis and Indian Violinisten L. Subramaniam and groups like Secret Oyster, Coronarias Dans, Anima, Entrance, Bombay Hotel and Heart To Heart Trio.

Secret Oyster in particular like most of you out there has a special place in my heart.  Thankfully their output has been rereleased to CD.  Incidentally one underestimated member of that group who made some delightfully original music on his own is Karsten Vogel.  Check out some of his earlier records if you want to explore some new material.