FRIDAY FUSION
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Spiritual force, inspirational band leader, cosmic philosopher, alien-abductee, composer, fashion criminal… take your pick. The being known as Sun Ra took the concept of fusion to another level, and quite possibly another planet, coming out of a hard-bop background he introduced electronics, vocals and an avant-garde cosmic concept to his Arkestra to create some truly unique music.
To be honest a lot of his output is a bit left for my ears, but here’s a couple of favourites from Lanquidity ’78 and Sleeping Beauty ’79 two of his more soulful offerings… Space is defintely the Place.
Sun Ra — The Doors of the Cosmos
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FRIDAY FUSION (SUMMER LOVING…)
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Finally getting a taste of summer on our little island, time for something a bit more chilled to take us into the sun-drenched weekend. This cut is by Polish jazz singer Urszula Dudziak, and strikes the right balance between her ‘vocalising’ & the groove beneath it. Sadly the former often takes precedence in her work leaving little room for anything else, but there are a handful of tunes that cut it and she’s done some interesting electronic experiments — ’79′s ‘Future Talk’ LP is a good example.
This cut is from ’75′s ‘Urszula’. Enjoy the weekend.
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FRIDAY FUSION
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Apologies for missing last weeks FF post — but here’s a proper banger to make up for it. It’s French, from ’76, it’s got the Lockwood brothers at the helm – so that’s not some kevvy guitar your hearing but Didier Lockwood’s violin – it’s got a powerhouse American rhythm section, it’s slightly proggy and it’s just under 7 minutes long — what more do u need? I fusion therefore I am.
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FRIDAY FUSION
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There’s no doubting the cosmic spacefunk credentials of this number. You could guess that it has a 1973 flavour but its production values are way ahead of its time. Brad Miller is the audiophile head behind this one but you won’t find anything in MMO’s back catalogue to come close to this baby.
Mystic Moods Orchestra — Cosmic Sea
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FRIDAY (COSMIC) FUSION
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Had a few options in mind for today, but having spent the week getting into a new mix from Man from Atlantis (soon to drop on Deep Frequency FM) it felt right to go for something with a proggy/cosmic feel – and where best to go for a track like that than early 80′s Germany.
The group Eloy have had a long and colouful career, and like a lot of acts from the same period their output can be pretty hit & miss – with maybe one cut per album that’s saying anything. This tune ‘Horizons’ is taken from Eloy’s 1980 LP ‘Colours’ – a Cosmic Connections classic.
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Friday Fusion
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This one’s strictly for the hardcore. We’re off to Finland 1973. Cat by the name of Eero Koivistoinen is putting the finishing touches to his ‘Wahoo’ LP, which would become the landmark of his career. After a previous record which mixed psychedelic rock, poetry and modern jazz, Eero had finally found the fusion.
This particular cut ’6 Down’ is typical of the genre with a relentless driving groove and some fierce soloing — come on in girls, the water’s jazzy…
Eero Koivistoinen Music Society — 6 Down
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Friday Fusion
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Thank Fusion its Friday – A slight change of pace for the Easter weekend this time. I’ve always loved this down-tempo cut from Jan Hammer’s ’77 album ‘Melodies’. Its all bubbling synths, spacey strings and drifting vocals… Perfect for taking the edges off the 4-Day weekend hangover that’s coming your way. Enjoy.
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FRIDAY FUSION
music_unified theory
Last weeks ’3 the hard way’ session is a tough post to follow. Taken a steer from Tommy’s Lonnie Liston connection to go to the funkier side of the Fusion spectrum, with a killer track from Roy Ayers.
It’s from the ‘Virgin Ubiquity’ sessions released a few years back, hard to believe he sat on this cut (along with dozens of others) that he recorded after months locked away in his Brooklyn apartment. I love those trademark strings that weave in & out of this tune, reminiscent of those numbers we know & love, and putting this track firmly in it’s place as a lost classic. Enjoy.
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FRIDAY FUSION (TRIPLE HEADER)
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We’re combining forces for a special Friday Fusion triple bill: 3 heds, 3 tracks, nuff said. First up Tommy C —
Spiritual cosmic fusion from one of the Daddy’s of the Kozmigroov sound. This cut from the Expansions album takes us down-tempo from the dancefloor (don’t-air-triangle) jazz-funk of the title cut. The rhythm section doesn’t let go of a deliciously simple groove while LLS does his usual trick of taking the listener on a cosmic journey with his rhodes and synths. Voodoo women put your finger and thumb around this one…
Lonnie Liston Smith — Voodoo Woman
It’s France 1977. There’s a studio full of serious dons from across the country and most of them are playing synths. Ex-Magma maestro Benoit Widemann is at the helm and the result is some beautifully over-the-top prog fusion. Part insanely funky, part frickin’ ridiculous – turn it up bitches!
Time for a bit of homegrown… Fusion in the UK leaned much more towards the prog-rock side of things, and definitely not in a good way, but Scottish trumpeter Ian Carr definitely had the right idea. After some classic jazz works with Don Rendell, Carr formed Nucleus and became the UK’s leading light alongside Soft Machine for the next decade or so. Often overlooked in favour of better-known artists from around the globe, the Nucleus back catalogue has some gems, and although hard to find, are worth the effort – We’ll Talk About It Later (1970) & Labyrinth (1973) are definitely worth some time. Here’s to the Best of British…
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FRIDAY FUSION
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Been another long week, time to relax in Fusion’s warm embrace — this time we head over to the Land of the Rising Sun with Japanese Jazz legend Terumasa Hino. Traditionally more of a straight ahead jazzer, on this particular number he goes for a tight little groove and uplifting vocal to work his licks over. Taken from ’78′s ‘Hip Seagull’ LP.
Terumasa Hino — This Planet is Ours
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FRIDAY FUSION
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Thinking it was time we posted a latin fusion number. ‘Atlas’ has the dopest opening funk break before the latin rhythm kicks in and the tempo builds up to a furious crescendo. All about the rhythm section here, as it should be and you know it makes sense. Wish the drummer in my band could maintain this tempo without dropping beats….
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FRIDAY FUSION
music_unified theory
This is a cut I’ve loved for a longtime. It’s by Christian Vander’s epic but crazy French Prog outfit ‘Magma’. In true fusion style the track I’m posting is an amalgam of genres mixing jazz, prog & a little bit of choral into something totally unique. In fact Magma even invented their own language which they used to sing in, and Vander himself had a whole back story about a group of people fleeing a doomed Earth to settle on the planet ‘Kobaïa’ that he took inspiration from.
Over the years Magma featured a whole host of talent that went on to do great things (one of my favs being keyboard maestro Benoit Widdemann) and their style became a genre in itself known as ‘Zeuhl’. This isn’t a path I’m particularly interested in exploring, but every know & again you get gems like this. Taken from the ’74 LP ‘K.A.’ (Note: I’ve clipped the ending cause it goes really pony)
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