This is an intriguing set of instrumental music. Perhaps it fits better under the non-prog heading as pure jazz. I tend to think that there is enough fusion here to fit it under the progressive rock category, though. After all, that's where we put fusion. Whatever you call it, though, if you dig jazz prog or even pure jazz that stretches out a bit, you should give this a try. You will find plenty to enjoy on this set.
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Track by Track Review
Bloo
Keyboards open this, and as it builds from there it makes me think of Procol Harum just a bit. Some jazz elements join. Around the minute and a half mark it gets some energy infused and as a saxophone solos over the top it becomes decidedly jazz driven. It drops back around the four minute mark for some keyboard soloing. By around the four and a half minute mark, though, it explodes into some powered up jazz jamming. There is some smoking hot bass work later in the track. The cut continues to evolve as the musicians explore beyond that point. It sort of shifts gears further down the road and turns to something that makes me think of Traffic a bit to carry forward. It gets pretty intense as they power that section up and soar.
Déjà vu
This one starts on piano. Other instruments join and we're out into another cool fusion styled cut. I dig the shifts and changes on this thing. It has some more rock oriented stuff later, really rising upward and jamming all over a jazz prog arrangement. Around the three minute mark a false ending gives way to some bass work. They bring it up from there. They bring us through some intriguing shifts and changes as this continues to grow and move. I love the piano melodies that take over around the seven minute mark. The whole piece just seems to get impassioned at that point. There are some almost space rock elements that show up at points on this at times here, too.
First Impressions This powers in with some energized jazz jamming with a bit of start and stop vibe. It grows out from there in some intriguing ways. There are some decidedly prog bits of keyboard work at times on this number. It has a definite Traffic turned toward more pure fusion mode overall. There are some interesting twists and variants built into this thing. There is some powerhouse jamming later in the piece.
Call It a Day At two minutes and 46 seconds, this is the shortest cut here. It's a piano solo (with some bass work), and it's quite moving.
Andalusia
Fast paced piano opens this in a world music meets classical approach. That section runs through and ends. They move out to some killer jazz prog from there. It's fast paced and world music based and a lot of fun. There is a tasty groove that's more on the pure jazz side. That runs through and seems to end. They bring it out into a reworked version of that section for some intriguing instrumental work from there. This thing gets into some seriously intense jamming further down the musical road. There are some powerhouse rocking bits late.
Möbius Strip
Parts of this land toward full jazz, but there is plenty of progressive rock here. Some of that comes from the keyboards. Parts of it come from the changes and general structure of the music. All in all, this is a killer cut. In fact, it might be my favorite here. It certainly has some of the most dynamic changes. It features some great soloing from everyone involved, too. I really love the bass soloing around the six and a half minute mark.
