Jukka Tolonen - "The Hook" [1974] @ VBR 212/"Hysterica" [1975] @ 320 (Finnish Jazz Fusion)

Jukka Tolonen is not only Finland's national guitar hero but also one of the world's most respected guitarists. For the past 4 decades, he has captivated audiences through Scandinavia and Europe with his powerful and passionate works. He remains of the the most diverse guitarists of today, being equally proficient in a blues, rock, or fusion jazz environment.

Born in Helsinki in 1952, Tolonen first came to center stage in 1969 when a group of young Finnish musicians merged their collective talents to form the widely popular rock/jazz fusion band Tasavallan Presidentti, who were to record four critically acclaimed albums. During this time, Tolonen also recorded two albums with another well know band Wigwam. These recordings would establish Tolonen as a powerfully explosive and technically spectacular guitarist.

However, it would be his soon coming solo recordings that would really turn the music world upon its collective ear. His self titled debut recording, followed by "Summer Games", "The Hook", and "Hysterica" would set new standards for jazz fusion recordings and remain popular world wide even unto today.

-- http://www.jukkatolonen.com/

Highly Recommended!

Jukka Tolonen - "The Hook" - 04 - The Hook....
Jukka Tolonen - "Hysterica" - 03 - Hysterica.....

Keep Listening!!!!

Links in comments....

Larry Coryell - Spaces 1970 @ 192 (Jazz fusion)

The best place to start in discussing this album is to list the personnel:

Larry Coryell - guitar
John McLaughlin - guitar
Chick Corea - keyboards
Miroslav Vitous - bass
Billy Cobham - drums

Enough said!

Also, read the article posted on the back cover, a review of the album in Rolling Stone.

There are many similiarities between Coryell and Mclaughlin, they have spent their careers constantly changing and searching for new ways to musically express themselves and they both possess lightening fingers. But this is not just an example of how fast they can play, these are, as you would expect from this collection of creme de la creme musicians, stunning examples of fusion, from the jazz perspective.

Note that McLaughlin, Cobham and Corea all played with Miles Davis and Vitous was the first bassist with Weather Report. His contributions to that band are much overlooked. His "Mountains In The Clouds" is a must have.

I'm not saying anymore, listen and be impressed.

Wrong Is Right


Links in comments

Keep listening !!!

Test by The Herbalist (aren't we sick of him yet?)

Catherine Lara - Flamenrock ...

Nick Gravenites with Michael Bloomfield - My Labors & More (with Bloomfield) [1969] @320 (Blues)

Following on from the Barry Goldberg post, this album again showcases the guitar of Michael Bloomfield. In this case, however, it is a genuine Gravenities album.

Gravenities is an unsung force in the development of US white blues. His biggest claim to fame is being brains behind Janis Joplin's masterpiece, "Pearl" It was Gravenities who organized the band, arranged the tunes and, I think, produced. He also worked for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Electric Flag.

Of his solo work, such as it is, this is the most impressive. Possessor of a soulful voice, he also is a excellent musician and often played with Bloomfield.

This version of the album has additional tracks from "Live From Bill Graham's Fillmore West" The reason for this is simply that half of the original album is live from the same show, this merely brings more of this material together. Just why they did that and not simply re-release the whole album as a second disc is, of course, an example of the mysteries of record company logic.

Nonetheless, these tracks come from a classic album and whilst providing filler, merely make you want the remainder of the album, which features an all star cast including a guest spot on a few tracks from Taj Mahal.

It is the live tracks that stand out here, as they are a good vehicle for Bloomfield to stretch out.

Throughly recommended.

Killing My Love


Link in comments

Keep Listening !!!

Flyte - "Dawn Dancer" [1979] @ 160 (Belgian Progressive Rock) Thanks to Ole for this recommendation!

First off, my apologies for the bitrate. This seems to be quite an obscure album and this was the only version I was able to track down. Very nice sound for 160 kbps regardless!

As far as my knowledge goes this is the only Dutch-Belgian progressive outfit that ever existed. After winning the much acclaimed contest for amateur bands in 1976 at the well known Bilzen festival in Belgium, Flyte were able to open the festival comprising the Steve Miller Band, Steeleye Span and Rick Wakeman. Originally called Grace, they changed their name to Flyte when they found out there already was a Grace in Britain (not the boys from Pulling Strings... ). At the time they played covers by King Crimson, Wishbone Ash and Camel. Especially the sound of the latter is to be heard throughout the fairly melodic album Dawn Dancer.

"You're Free, I Guess" is almost an outtake of Camel's own Mirage album. In opener "Woman" the band goes on to copy The Who's "Pinball Wizard" whilst in "Aim At The Head" (and also some of the other tracks) they come very close to what Kayak was doing. If they are using so many well known themes, is the band's music original enough, I hear you ask. Rest assured it does, as the band's singer has a very unique voice which carries half of the band's sound. He's helped out by two keyboard players who combine a fair use of mellotron and Fender Rhodes piano. On the other hand there's guitarist Ruud Wortman who doesn't try to imitate the bigger names in progland. However his style comes close to that of Kayak member Johan Slager! The main result is that you don't get the typical symphonic album here with long tracks and neverending solos. Each of the eight tracks clocks in at around five minutes and most of them have a nice rock structure which was fairly new when the album was recorded in 1979.

Flyte unfortunately didn't have the chance to sign with a major company. They signed to a label which went bust after they only had pressed 2000 copies of the album. Without any promotion and distribution, the release of the album went unnoticed even if most of the album's tracks got some airplay. This is probably the main reason why Dawn Dancer remained the band's only album. It is however one of the best melodic, symphonic albums to emerge this side of the water!

-- review by John "Bo Bo" Bollenberg @ http://www.progressiveworld.net

Musicians:
Lu Rousseau - lead vocals, percussion
Ruud Worthman - acoustic and electric guitars
Jack van Liesdonck - acoustic and electric piano, clavinet, synthesizer
Leo Cornelissens - electric organ, mellotron, string ensemble, vocals
Hans Boeye - drums, percussion
Hans Marynissen - percussion
Peter Dekeersmaeker - bass, vocals

Track 1 - Woman..................................
Track 6 - Your Breath Enjoyer...........

Keep Listening!!!!

Link in comments....

England - "Garden Shed" [1977] @ VBR 210 (Underrated British Symphonic Prog)

The only problem with England's magnificent Garden Shed is that it was released about five years too late. Granted, England's style is not particularly original, being not much more than supremely enjoyable amalgamation of Yes and Genesis, except that Garden Shed truly lives up to some of the strongest works by those two bands. This is phenomenal English symphonic prog, truly inspired and immaculately performed.

"Midnight Madness" opens the album in fine form, with some bright rhythmic work and vocals that sound, fittingly, like a mix of Peter Gabriel and Jon Anderson. Occasionally, the rest of the band will jump in will complementary vocal harmonies that further remind one of Yes. "All Alone" is a fairly short ballad that actually sounds extremely reminiscent of Queen. "Three Piece Suite" is a prog mini-epic running at about thirteen minutes, an extremely enjoyable track with some phenomenal sections. "Paraffinalea" has a great vocal melody and has a whimsical English feel that would not have sounded particularly out of place on Selling England by the Pound. The real gem however is the phenomenal "Poisoned Youth", the album's centerpiece as well as the most unique track on the album. The song is much darker in tone than the rest and includes utterly amazing moments scattered throughout its sixteen minutes.

Basically, if you're familiar with Yes and Genesis you know what this sounds like. It's an extremely good album, not particularly original but also not overly derivative either. Make no mistake, this does not approach the more hard-edged cloning tendencies of the neo-progressive movement, and there is none of the cheesy AOR pomp that dominates many of the modern so-called "retro" bands. Rather Garden Shed is a firmly 70s symphonic with beautifully textured arrangements. Due to the relative obscurity of this album, it's not surprising that this gem has been dubbed a true "lost classic" by many. Personally, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a classic, but it's definitely a superb late 70s release that must have gotten lost in the shuffle as progressive rock as a commercially viable entity.

-- reviewed by Greg Northrup @ http://www.progweed.net

Track 1 - Midnight Madness...........

Keep Listening!!!!

Link In Comments....

The Voice of The Moon -> A Music Podcast, Webradio Show, or whatever you wanna call it, performed and conceived by The Herbalist

I've been thinking about doing a few experiments in podcasting. So this is the result of the first one.
Although I have had some experience in radio, I have never done a show in english, so forgive my pronuntiation or any grammar mistake I might have done.

I am not sure if I am going to do this regularly. I wish I had the time. We'll see. I also wish I could get paid for this.

Podacst should be kept light, so don't expect the sound quality you're used to when you get any recommendation from ProgNotFrog. Anyway I am sure it reaches an enjoyable level.

I kept information about the music at a minimal level. A radio show is not a lesson on the history of a songor a band . The star is the music itself, not the DJ, even if he/she is a walking music encyclopedia.

I had a lot of fun doing the sound effects , intro, teasers and outro. Music selection was entirely a quasi-random process. If I keep doing this you should expect in eclectcism, in big quantities. I've never liked be constrained or imprisoned in any genre. Not even rock or prog. Not even western or modern music for that matters. I wish I had albums recorded in Pluto. I am sure they are great. (Unless the RIAA has an office there).


Please leave some comments (or I'll never do another podcast)


Keep Listening...!!!

You can reach The Voice Of The Moon here

Triana - "El Patio" [1975] @ 192 (Spanish progressive folk)

Filling another request for Pedro. Enjoy!

My first foray into folky Spanish prog (Fusioon and Canarios are Spanish, but don't exactly fall into the "folky" category). Some great flamenco guitar here; the first track especially is a fantastic meshing of flamenco and prog - lots of that aforementioned guitar, very effective singing and lyrics, and a lengthy instrumental closing section. The keyboards take a fairly strong presence on some tracks; they usually remain tasteful but at times get a little obtrusive. The acoustic guitar work more than makes up for it, though. Overall the melodies, carried mostly by guitar and vocals, are attractive and fairly memorable (though "Todo es de Color" is an unfortunate exception). One problem I had with this album is the voice of singer Jesus de la Rosa: although he's great for a few minutes, over the course of the album his straining voice begins to grate. Also, some of the compositions really aren't quite up to par with many other prog groups, and some of the songs stretch for longer than necessary. I only really enjoy two songs - the opener and "En el Lago". That said, this is an enjoyable if not particularly mind-blowing introduction into Spanish prog, and I'll definitely be delving deeper into the genre.

-- review by Brandon Wu (unknown source)

Musicians:
Jesus de la Rosa.....vocals, keyboards
Juan Jose Palacios.....drums and percussion
Eduardo Rodriguez.....flamenco guitar
Antonio Perez.....electric guitar
Manolo Rosa.....bass

See, sometimes it pays off to leave comments, keep them coming!

Link in comments....

Keep Listening!!!!

Trace - "Trace" [1974] @ 320 (upgrade)(Dutch Keyboard-Dominated Prog)

This post is filling a request for Pedro.

Listening to Trace's first album, it's like a war. Notes sprawling and tearing up your inner ear like bullets fired straight out of a smoking machine gun. Lightning Bach style, super tight bass/drum interplay. It's Emerson Lake & Palmer...but without the gigantic ego, the lyrical bullcorn and the awful by-product filler that every album's filled with.

Some bands are just TOO COMPETENT to write a page of history (and therefore, being understood) and Trace is one of the leaders in this sad but mind-boggling category maybe with Echolyn or Par Lindh Project. In fact, the product is purely an exercise, so it's not accessible and therefore, dispensable. In no way these guys thought they would carry on or reform one day on the sake of making a few dollars. This band probably made some money by doing marathon concerts. Hard working, not physically attractive (Rick van der Linden looks like an anorexic Leif Ericksson) and ridiculously perfectionist... dude, this record is tough to swallow and needs time to digest to full appreciation.

This is a major kick in Rachmaninov's...er, piano I guess.

Highly Recommended!

There is still a problem with the site that hosts the mini-players, hopefully we can straighten that out very soon and have the samples back!

Links in comments....

Jade Warrior - Jade Warrior 1971 @ 192 (British ambient rock)

Jade Warrior were, in many ways, ahead of their time. 1971 was a time of heavy rock, prog and the last of the psycheledic bands.

Jade warrior went against all this and produced a series of what can only be described as ambient albums, notably "Waves" and "Way Of The Sun" The duo of Jon Field and Tony Duhig played most of the instruments themselves with extensive overdubbing and relied heavily on acoustic instruments. That is not say that they did not look forward, they engaged the cream of the British musicians to assist and dabbled in electronics, such as it was then.


This album is their first excursion into this world and while their blueprint is not fully formed on this album, it gives a clear indication as to what was to come. As the album is a Vertigo release, the cover art is excellent.

Well worth a listen. If there is sufficient interest (and there should be) I will post other morsels from their canon.

Sundial Song

Keep Listening !!!

Link in comments

Happy The Man - "Happy The Man" [1977] @ VBR 210 (American symphonic prog)

This was the first official release of perhaps America's greatest symphonic act, and the best known behind Kansas, namely Happy the Man. This band took some cues from other similar bands of the time, but were essentially an entity unto themselves. They were predominantly instrumental, and tended to alternate between two kinds of pieces. "Starborne" is an example of their slower, reflective and beautiful pieces. On the other hand, "Stumpy Meets the Firecracker in Stencil Forest" is one of their faster pieces, an intricate display of odd time sigs featuring ripping guitar parts woven into the tight ensemble playing of the band. The band whips through whimsical, serious, reflective, aggressive moods with the greatest of ease.

There are two vocals tracks here, but in general I find these somewhat less compelling. It is in the instrumental domain that Happy the Man truly shines, a fact that perhaps hurt their marketability back in the day. Had Arista not criminally underpromoted them, who knows how far Happy the Man might have gone? It's hard to say, but what is definite is that this a superior musical product that deserves all the accolades it has received.

review by Sean McFee @ http://www.progreviews.com

Highly Recommended!

Musicians:
Stanley Whitaker - six and twelve string guitars, lead vocals
Kit Watkins - synthesizers, acoustic and electric pianos, organ, clavinet, flute, marimba
Frank Wyatt - saxophones, flute, piano, keyboards, vocals
Rick Kennell - electric bass
Mike Beck - percussion

Link in comments.....

There seems to be a problem with the site that hosts the mini-players that we use for the sample songs, as soon as the situation is remedied, the samples will be back!

Keep Listening!!!!

Fusioon - "Fusioon" [1972] @ 256 (Spanish Jazz Fusion)

This is a Spanish quartet from Barcelona featuring Manuel Camp (piano and keyboards), Jordi Camp (bass), Santi Arisa (drums) and Marti Brunet (electric guitars and synthesizers). In the first half of the Seventies Fusioon released three albums entitled "Fusioon I" (1972), "Fusioon II" (1974) and "Minorisa" (1975).

The first album "Fusioon" contains arrangements from ‘traditionals’. It sounds like a tasteful stew with classical, folk, jazz and symphonic elements. The songs have echoes from King Crimson (Fripperian guitar), Focus (flute) and Le Orme/Ekseption/ELP (Hammond organ) but the musical ideas are great and the musicians play strong with many surprising breaks and exciting solos and interplay. The highlight is “Danza del molinero” (Manual de Falla) with sparkling piano, a tight rhythm-section, an Andalusian sounding violin, fiery electric guitar and powerful Hammond waves, culminating in a grand finale.

This record is a mostly instrumental one (a few scatting one the opening track), but this does not hamper the enjoyment of the music: they have a fairly unique sound and the music has some very subtle Spanish overtones but not in the Flamenco realm. Their sound oscillates between Isotope, Wigwam (the Gustavson and Pohjola compositions), Focus or Finch, Sloche (or fellow Quebecois Maneige) and countrymen Iceberg. If the jazz colours are the main characteristics of the album, the classical influences peak here and there, most notably in Negra Sombra (Dark Black). All of the tracks are covers of traditional songs (6 of 8 tracks) all adapted/arranged by Manel Camp and the other two being penned by other writers. The odd flute, sax and clarinet (actually un-credited) but drummer Arisa is the one playing them (says D-E Asbjornsen) and bring touches of brilliance. The superb piano may even ring reminiscence of Chilean Los Jaivas in their more symphonic moments and with the organs, ELP comes to mind.

Certainly worth the investigation, especially if you enjoyed the better-known two later albums.

--- http://www.progarchives.com

Highly Recommended!

Keep Listening!!!!

Link in comments....