Prosper - Broken Door (Garden of Delights) 1975

Biography Prosper was born in Bottrop, a town situated in the northwestern part of the german Ruhrgebiet which is dominated by an eponymous coal mine. The band's story began 1973 as Prosper I with heavy line-up changes. Jürgen Pluta (keys) was a co-founder but soon went to Wallenstein to play the bass. Evert Brettschneider (guitar) and Matthias Geisen (bass) were early members to form a constant line-up and to reduce the name to Prosper. They were later followed by Friedhelm Misiejuk (drums, percussion), Fritz A. Frey (guitar, vocals) und Ernst Müller (keys). This five musicians finally produced the self-released, very professional and diversified debut 'Broken Door' from 1975. Prosper's sound is a typical mix of different styles. Jazz rock respectively Fusion are having a dominant role but there are also psychedelic parts to point out. Composed with a versatile structure the eight songs contain many instrumental parts interspersed with e-piano, mellotron, moog or nice twin guitar work. Brettschneider, also known as a member of the band Contact Trio, often provides the jazzy attitude inspired by John McLaughlin or Gary Boyle. Unfortunately the current line-up didn't manage to record other releases afterwards. Some member changes occured and Prosper became less important until 1979 when the band tried to make a new start. Only bass player Geisen remained and he gathered some other musicians to record new material. Finally in 2006 some songs of this rehearsals were digged out and released as a vinyl named 'Second Running - The Basement Tapes' with music similar to Doldinger's Passport. More other songs are in a waiting position and therefore Prosper's story might not be closed yet. progarchives

Tracklist

01.Beginning 7:19

02.Burning in the Sun 2:04

03.Broken Door 3:24

04.Dance of an Angel 6:56

05.Your Country 5:40

06.Birds of Passage 4:56

07.Master's inspiration 1:32

08.Where the Sun touches the Water 7:54

Line-up

Evert Brettschneider - Electric & Acoustic Guitars

Fritz Fey - Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Vocals

Ernst Müller - Fender Rhodes, Mellotron, Mini-Moog, electronics

Matthias Geisen - Bass

Friedhelm Misiejuk - Drums, Percussion

Gábor Szabó - Mizrab (2006 CTI Records) 1972

Biography Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó have a distinctive and utterly sweet tone, albeit one imbued with deep sadness when the occasion called for it. After issuing some great records for Impulse!, Skye, and Blue Thumb in the ’60s and ’70s, he moved to Creed Taylor’s CTI label and smoothed out a bit, as per that company’s overriding aesthetic. But with Mizrab, Szabó cut the definitive version of the title track. You need this LP for that dazzling cut alone, but there are other delights here, too, even though this isn’t the man’s best full-length. (Still trying to decide if it’s Spellbinder, Bacchanal, or Sorcerer.)

Recorded in the Van Gelder Studio with CTI all-stars like Bob James (electric organ), Ron Carter (bass), Hubert Laws (flute), plus fusion drummers Billy Cobham and Jack DeJohnette (playing in a much mellower style than they did with Mahavishnu Orchestra and Miles Davis, to say the least), Mizrab boasts an odd mélange of material. It starts with “Mizrab,” which is quite simply one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Szabó and company find the sweet spot among free-flowing raga rock, Central European folk, and pop jazz. Cobham’s drumming is agile and busy, touching on Latin shuffle and funk, while Szabó’s tone is crystalline and loaded with pathos. This tune never fails to trigger watery eyes and throat lumps.

“Thirteen,” another Szabó composition, is a lovely minor-key lament, as pensive and melancholy as a walk home after being fired from your job. You can hear some of Szabó’s mellifluous picking and piquant tone here in the oeuvre of former Sun City Girls guitarist Sir Richard Bishop; a high compliment. Unfortunately, that’s it for Szabó material on Mizrab. Next comes Carole King’s “It’s Going To Take Some Time,” a lightweight and syrupy orchestral jazz pop confection. You can feel the heavy hand of Taylor’s commercial directives at work here, although Cobham is always worth hearing, no matter what the context. That fluff is balanced out by a hip, Deodato-esque rendition of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Concerto #2.” It’s a dynamic study in structure and mood, carried aloft by those rich CTI strings and Bob James’ deft arrangement.

The album closes with Seals & Croft “Summer Breeze.” This played-to-death, oft-covered 1972 hit single gets a fairly straightforward treatment, although DeJohnette adds all sorts of tasty accents and fills amid his martial-funk master rhythm and Szabó scrawls delicate calligraphy around the main melody. Again, one wishes Szabó had the clout to include more of his own work on Mizrab. Nevertheless, this is still a cool interpretation of that airiest of psych-pop baubles from the dusk of the hippie era although I’ll take the Isley Brothers’ version, push comes to shove. 

Tracklist

01.Mizrab 9:35

02.Thirteen 9:15

03.It's Going To Take Some Time 4:14

04.Concerto #2 7:20

05.Summer Breeze 6:06

Line-up

Gábor Szabó - guitar

Bob James - electric piano

Ron Carter - bass, arco bass

Billy Cobham - drums

Jack DeJohnette - drums

Ralph MacDonald - percussion

Gábor Szabó - Dreams (Blue Moon Records Digipack) 1968

Biography Gabor Szabo was one of the most original guitarists to emerge in the 1960s, mixing his Hungarian folk music heritage with a deep love of jazz and crafting a distinctive, largely self-taught sound. Inspired by a Roy Rogers cowboy movie, Szabo began playing guitar when he was 14 and often played in dinner clubs and covert jam sessions while still living in Budapest. He escaped from his country at age 20 on the eve of the Communist uprising and eventually made his way to America, settling with his family in California. He attended Berklee College (1958-1960) and in 1961 joined Chico Hamilton's innovative quintet featuring Charles Lloyd. Urged by Hamilton, Szabo crafted a most distinctive sound; as agile on intricate, nearly-free runs as he was able to sound inspired during melodic passages. Szabo left the Hamilton group in 1965 to leave his mark on the pop-jazz of the Gary McFarland quintet and the energy music of Charles Lloyd's fiery and underrated quartet featuring Ron Carter and Tony Williams. Szabo initiated a solo career in 1966, recording the exceptional album, Spellbinder, which yielded many inspired moments and "Gypsy Queen," the song Santana turned into a huge hit in 1970. Szabo formed an innovative quintet (1967-1969) featuring the brilliant, classically trained guitarist Jimmy Stewart and recorded many notable albums during the late '60s. The emergence of rock music (especially George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix) found Szabo experimenting with feedback and more commercially oriented forms of jazz. During the '70s, Szabo regularly performed along the West Coast, hypnotizing audiences with his enchanting, spellbinding style. From 1970, he locked into a commercial groove, even though records like Mizrab occasionally revealed his seamless jazz, pop, Gypsy, Indian, and Asian fusions. Szabo had revisited his homeland several times during the '70s, finding opportunities to perform brilliantly with native talents. He was hospitalized during his final visit and died in 1982, just short of his 46th birthday.

About Dreams album Gabor Szabo ambitiously pairs his outstanding quintet (featuring Jimmy Stewart) with Gary McFarland's subtle string and horn arrangements in a collection of originals, pop covers, and classical reinterpretations. The result is a sort of accessible third-stream music. Szabo has many fine moments, and provides nice spaces for the beautiful guitar solos of Jimmy Stewart. allmusic.com

Tracklist

01.Galatea's Guitar

02.Half The Day Is Night

03.Song Of Injured Love

04.The Fortune Teller

05.Fire Dance

06.The Lady In The Moon

07.Ferris Wheel

Line-up

Gábor Szabó - guitar

Jim Stewart - guitar

Louis Kabok - bass

Jim Keltner - drums

Hal Gordon - percussion

Energy - Energy (2012 O-Music Remaster) 1974

Biography : For some reason the Swedish prog/hard rock/jazz fusion group ENERGY's lone 1974 self-titled LP has never been reissued, making it quite rare and often pricey. However, for those who possess a copy of this obscure album with its flaming cover art, it's a hard album not to love. ENERGY without a doubt came from the world of guitar driven jazz fusion, although guitarist Amadeo Nicoletto's tasteful, yet powerful, jazzy, neo-classical leads lend an air of power to ENERGY's sound, making it of interest to fans of 70's prog as well as jazz. This album has been included in several books pertaining to heavy metal such as Martin Popoff's "Golmine Heavy Metal Record Price Guide", however, ENERGY is not quite heavy enough (in terms of guitar riffs) to fit into the proto-metal category. Certainly, fans of highly electric 70's guitar work will find much to enjoy on this LP, although the mood of this LP is one of varying dynamics, ranging from mellow, reflective jazz to edgy hard fusion. These guys could really play! All the members of ENERGY were obviously superior musicians, however I believe that it was the band's unique sound and reluctance to land smoothly into the jazz fusion or prog genres which may have played a role in why this great LP has seemingly slipped through the cracks over the past 40 years. So before you drop $100 on a copy of this LP you may want to check out the samples posted on youtube just to be sure ENERGY fits your expectations. For me, I love this LP with all my heart and dream of a CD reissue of this lost classic, preferably with bonus material!!!! 

Tracklist

01.Subtle Forces 5:00

02.Metamorphosis - Impression 7:37

03.Up to Seven 5:27

04.Porta Marina 10:24

05.John 6:29

Line-up

Alvaro Is - piano, electric piano, organ

Amedeo Nicoletti - guitar

Björn Inge - drums

Bosse Norlén - bass

Luis Agudo - percussion

Fusion Orchestra - Skeleton in Armour (EMI Records Digipack) 1973

Biography : FUSION ORCHESTRA was a highly talented progressive rock ensemble from the UK that did tight but not over-worked heavy prog with an honest, classic but unique sound. Singer/flautist/synthist JILL SAWARD, apparently the axis of the group, leads with a high squall and quite good flute, and paralleled the vocal sound the Wilson sisters would cultivate. Though unlike HEART, JILL SAWARD, DAVE BELL (drums), COLIN DAWSON (guitar), DAVE COWELL (bass), and STEN LAND (synth, guitar, horns) did a very complex and multi-layered music with many roads into jazz-fusion, folk, and Celtic.
The album 'Skeleton In Armour', especially for 1973, is a model of Prog Rock successfully integrated as a viable popular medium and though not truly competitive against the likes of bigger peers, is far better than many bands that have become well known. It reflects all the breakthroughs and celebrations that were occurring in British music in the early 1970s including those of JETHRO TULL, COLOSSEUM, YES, GREENSLADE, and BABE RUTH.
One of the very best 'second tier' English prog bands, their album is a little known treasure and except for the commercial track 'When My Momma's Not at Home', is hugely recommended to anyone who loves earlier British prog with all the best aspects of symphonic, Canterbury, prog Folk and hard rock. progarchives.com

Tracklist
01.Fanfairy Suite For 1,000 Trampits - Pt. One 1:14
02.Sonata in Z 11:39
03.Have I Left the Gas On? 8:35
04.OK Boys, Now's Our Big Chance 0:45
05.Skeleton In Armour 5:16
06.When My Momma's Not at Home 3:33
07.Don't Be Silly, Jimmy 0:09
08.Talk to the Man in the Sky 11:50
09.Fanfairy Suite For 1,000 Trampits - Pt. Two 0:13

Line-up
Jill Saward - flute, vocals, synthesizer
Dave Bell - drums
Colin Dawson - guitar
Dave Cowell - bass, harmonica
Sten Land - guitar, synthesizer, horns, percussion

Kandahar - Long Live The Sliced Ham (2009 Remastered) 1974

Biography : Coming from Belgium's fourth city, Ghent, Kandahar chose its name after the third city of Afghanistan, sign of keyboardist & leader Karel Bogard's love of Eastern philosophies, flavours and etc.The quintet, a standard prog quartet plus a wind player, played a pleasant humorous jazz-rock that could be easily related to Canterbury's best moments with the invariable songwriting team of guitarist De Visscher and Bogard reminiscent of Caravan meeting Hatfield. Coming in an orange and pink speed-related futuristic artworks, and humorously titled LLTSH was recorded in November 74 and the group invited many guests to make this album quite a pleasant debut. Starting on the smooth-gliding instrumental Down At Finckle's, Kandahar has three frontmen to showcase and here Jacky Eddin that gets the early call but De Vusscher's guitar takes a solid revenge just after. The lengthy Eye Of Glass is a striking difference to its fore runner, the group constantly changing tempo and moods, where it was absolutely not the case previously. Here, the hero is bassist Cleays, but Bogard,s songwriting is the key among his keyboards. Influence-wise, Supersister or Hatfield are not far away here. Again an ever-changing tempoed track, Outside Of Reality is a rare sung track where Eddin gets help from guests to boast a very brassy attack. Surviving Boogie is the obvious hit on the album (it was a single twice), but it's clearly the weakest track, developing a fast reedy blues with relatively weak vocals (this is not a strong point of Kandahar, but it's generally not too catastrophic.. Just weak) and gain strong brass section.

The flipside starts on the weird and fast Walkin Piles, but it's mostly the dissonant saxes and flutes in the background of demented percussion passages that draw the attention of the listener. Too bad the beat stays too rigid in its Magma-itude, though. This could've been much better exploited with a better production. Another instrumental beauty is Hobbit, the gentler track on this album, filled with smooth keyboards. The following Fancy Model has a difficult intro, but once the track is settled, it turns into an infernal inferno filled with spiralling swirls of flames filled with fire, and Eddin's blowing buddies are back to let us know that Kandahar was a force to be reckoned with, especially when they all shut up to let drummer Delaruye shows his chops with Cleays, before reprising. Very enthralling and Canterbury- esque. The closing When She Flies Away is not the album's strongest track, and it has a déjà-vu feeling, especially when the vocals kick in, we get to think of Hendrix's Hey Joe. True the group's weaker vocals might be an embarrassment (to some), but the rest of their music is nearly spotless and certainly the best thing they've done artistically. Their vinyl albums have become rare and expensive and no official Cd reissue. had happened since Sony surprised us with a cheap reissue. progarchives.com

Tracklist
01.Down at the Finckle's 4:28
02.Eyes of Glass 5:37
03.Outside of Reality 8:05
04.Survivin' Boogie 3:20
05.The Walkin' Piles 4:18
06.The Hobbit 3:10
07.The Fancy Model 5:40
08.When She Flies Away 8:41

Line-up
Jeff De Visscher - lead & acoustic guitar, sitar, vocals
Karel Bogard - piano, clavinet, Davoli & A.R.P."2701" synthezisers, gongs & bells, vocals
Jean Pierre Claeys - bass
Etienne Delaruye - drums, glochenspiel, tympani, cello, vibes, piano, syntheziser, strings, clavinet, marimba, vocals

Alternative Link

Made In Sweden - Snakes In A Hole (Digipack Edition) 1969

Originally a trio, Made in Sweden was founded by guitarist George Wadenius, bassist Bo Haggstrom and drummer Tommy Borgudd. This first incarnation of the band released 3 studio albums and a live album, and won Grammis for Best Band in 1969 and 1970. The trio would split up later on and over time the original members would join a band called Solar Plexus. Their reformation in the mid 70's made them something of a supergroup with musicians from Finland joining the band; namely Pekka Pohjola from Wigwam and drummer Vesa Aaltonen from Tasavallan Presintti. This new line-up featured only Wadenius from the original trio, and other additions to the band were Wlodek Gulgowki on keyboards and singer Tommy Korberg who was also involved with Solar Plexus. This second incarnation would release one more album in 1976. progarchives.com

Tracklist:
01.Snakes In A Hole
02.Lay Lady Lay
03.Discotheque People
04.Give Me Whisky
05.Kristallen Den grymma
06.Little Cloud
07.Big Cloud
Bonus Track:
08.Roundabout (Live)
09.Ramses the 3rd (Live)
10.Worlds of Mushroom Gardens

Made in Sweden:
Georg Wadenius - guitar, piano, vocal
Bo Haggstrom - bass
Tommy Borgudd - drums
Sven Asmussen - violins

Sun - S.U.N. (Garden of Delights) 1980

Sun from Hettenleidelheim near Eisenberg in the Palatinate were founded under the name of Punished Sun in 1969 and shortened their name to Sun in 1974. They played progressive rock with slight Zappa and jazz influences. In 1980, Sun released their first own LP which contained exclusively self- written tracks, in an edition of 1000 copies. The brimful CD at hand contains this complete LP, drawn from the master tapes, and as bonus tracks the two Proton tracks “Leisure” and “To Celia”, two as yet unreleased pieces from rehearsals as well as two later studio recordings, also unreleased as yet.

Tracklist:
01.Ohne Titte 5:54
02.The Jester 6:17
03.Seeing Similaun 6:45
04.On Holiday 5:17
05.Und ewig heulen die Gitarren 4:50
06.Neulich in Spanien 4:52
07.Women's Lib. Blues 6:32

Bonus tracks:
08.Leisure 10:43
09.To Celia 8:25
10.Communication Breakdown 6:35
11.Slave Of Heaven 5:42
12.Black Sheep Of The Family 4:06
13.Morning Dream 4:11

Sun:
Rudi Herrmann - drums
Bruno Mäder - sax, lyricon, vocals
Harry Müller - guitar, vocals
Gunter Hübner - guitar
Thomas Heldmann - bass, vocals
Reinhard Stephan - electric piano, organ

Jean-Luc Ponty - King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa (Blue Note) 1969

Not just an album of interpretations, King Kong: Jean-Luc Ponty Plays the Music of Frank Zappa was an active collaboration; Frank Zappa arranged all of the selections, played guitar on one, and contributed a new, nearly 20-minute orchestral composition for the occasion. Made in the wake of Ponty's appearance on Zappa's jazz-rock masterpiece Hot Rats, these 1969 recordings were significant developments in both musicians' careers. In terms of jazz-rock fusion, Zappa was one of the few musicians from the rock side of the equation who captured the complexity -- not just the feel -- of jazz, and this project was an indicator of his growing credibility as a composer. For Ponty's part, King Kong marked the first time he had recorded as a leader in a fusion-oriented milieu (though Zappa's brand of experimentalism didn't really foreshadow Ponty's own subsequent work). Of the repertoire, three of the six pieces had previously been recorded by the Mothers of Invention, and "Twenty Small Cigars" soon would be. Ponty writes a Zappa-esque theme on his lone original "How Would You Like to Have a Head Like That," where Zappa contributes a nasty guitar solo. The centerpiece, though, is obviously "Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra," a new multi-sectioned composition that draws as much from modern classical music as jazz or rock. It's a showcase for Zappa's love of blurring genres and Ponty's versatility in handling everything from lovely, simple melodies to creepy dissonance, standard jazz improvisation to avant-garde, nearly free group passages. In the end, Zappa's personality comes through a little more clearly (his compositional style pretty much ensures it), but King Kong firmly established Ponty as a risk-taker and a strikingly original new voice for jazz violin. allmusic.com

Tracklist:
01.King Kong 4:54
02.Idiot Bastard Son 4:00
03.Twenty Small Cigars 5:35
04.How Would You Like to Have a Head Like That 7:14
05.Music for Electric Violin and Low Budget Orchestra 19:20
06.America Drinks and Goes Home 2:39

Musicians:
Jean-Luc Ponty - Violin, Baritone Violin, Electric Violin
Buell Neidlinger - Bass
Milton Thomas - Viola
Art Tripp - Drums
Ian Underwood - Conductor, Sax Tenor
Ernie Watts - Sax Alto, Sax Tenor
Vincent DeRosa - French Horn, Descant
Harold Bemko - Cello
Donald Christlieb - Bassoon
Gene Cipriano - Horn English, Oboe
Gene Estes - Percussion, Vibraphone
Frank Zappa - Arranger, Performer, Composer, Conductor
John Guerin - Drums
George Duke - Piano, Piano Electric

Carlos Santana & Mahavishnu John McLaughlin - Love Devotion Surrender 1973

01.A Love Supreme 7:48
02.Naima 3:09
03.The Life Divine 9:30
04.Let us Go Into the House of the Lord 15:45
05.Meditation 2:45

Formazione :
John McLaughlin - chitarra, pianoforte
Carlos Santana - chitarra
Doug Rauch - basso
Eve McLaughlin - pianoforte
Khalid Yasin - organo
Mingo Lewis - tastiere
Billy Cobham - batteria
Don Alias - batteria, percussioni
Jan Hammer - batteria, percussioni
Michael Shrieve - batteria
Armando Peraza - percussioni, congas

CD 236 Mb
Cover 58 Mb