The debut album from Potter’s Daughter presented some great jazz sounds. Between a heavy piano and a confident upright bass, the record’s best tunes recalled bits of Dave Grusin and other GRP label heavyweights, as well as hinting at a retro sound fully explored by Stanton Moore on his ‘Conversations’ album from 2014. Although ostensibly a jazz/fusion record, the presence of fuzzy electric guitars stepping forth for the odd solo or three and a huge focus on floaty, harmonic vocals lent the arrangements something more amenable to the more adventurous prog fan. The album led to the band being invited to play at various festivals throughout 2020, but the world had other plans.
Tag Archives: jazz fusion
Grab a free download from James Basdanis
In September 2020, Greek musician James Basdanis released his ‘Diddycoy’ EP. The short release was a welcome piece of jazz fusion that also took in elements of rock and funk to give it occasional prog leanings. [You can read a full review here.]
For this Bandcamp Friday, James has a gift for a lucky few. He’s shared a few download codes for a free copy.
JAMES BASDANIS – Diddycoy EP
A rattle; a cranking sound that suggests revving; muted guitar sounds set against an ominous quiet… At the outset of this EP from fusion musician James Basdanis, things start so disjointedly they give no obvious clue as to where the music will go. After a little more gearing up, Basdanis turns out a few jazzy guitar notes in a melody that strongly suggests a Mediterranean slant, but this isn’t obviously something a world music buff might gravitate towards. Nor is it especially “jazz” in the most traditional sense, but certainly takes in elements of both. Hearing it for the first time, the slow, unfolding melody suggests something from the Frank Gambale back-cat mangled with glee by a Les Claypool project.
SAMURAI – Samurai
By the end of the 60s, jazz fusion band The Web had recorded and released two interesting but commercially unsuccessful albums. 1970 found the struggling musicians in a period of minor flux: a change in line-up saw frontman John L. Watson replaced by vocalist/keyboard player Dave Lawson (ex-Alan Bown) and a change of label took the newly christened Web [no longer the definitive; that was so last decade – just ask Pink Floyd] from Deram to Polydor. The new phase saw the release of their third and arguably best known LP, ‘I Spider’. ‘I Spider’ became their most famous work not through any increased exposure or notable sales, but by eventually becoming one of the era’s most sought after rarities.
By 1971, the final Web line-up changed their name to Samurai, switched record companies again and released one sole LP on the Greenwich Gramophone label. Like its predecessors, ‘Samurai’ failed to convince the record buying public and eventually faded into relative obscurity. Much like ‘I Spider’, the Samurai LP gained interest on the collectors’ market over the following quarter of a century, but never really got the mass re-appraisal it deserved. Despite the band showing lots of talents that should have found them mentioned in the same breath as Gentle Giant, King Crimson and early Soft Machine, the name Samurai is likely to be greeted with a shrug.
BRECKER BROTHERS – Live And Unreleased
Randy and Michael Brecker: legends of jazz fusion, both together and apart. Often called upon for individual session work throughout the 70s and 80s, the brothers appeared on albums by Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, Aerosmith, Lou Reed and Dire Straits. Both were among the most gifted players in their prime: separately, they were great, but together, they could be an absolute powerhouse. This is something that comes across with abundance throughout the archive double live disc ‘Live And Unreleased’. A show newly released in 2020 that captures the second Brecker Brothers Band with bassist Neil Jason partway through a European tour in 1980, the Breckers are on fire.