Gong - Expresso II [1978]

Now many of you may be familiar with the Progressive/Psychedelic band Gong, these two posts are something entirely different. After Band leader Daevid Allen left the band Pierre Moerlen the band's drummer at the time took the leadership and formed a band a lot more jazz oriented band with a much more percussion sound having two amazing vibraphone players and a percussionist. This led for me to the production of two of the most significant, mind blowing and pioneering records in Jazz/Rock history. Gazeuse! and Expresso II. Up until today i find nothing like these two records. The individual talents (and believe me you will be amazed by each and every persons playability and ideas) combined with fantastic ideas and song structures led by the fierce drumming of Moerlen and the vibraphones make these two albums in my humble opinion the two greatest jazz/rock albums ive ever heard. More rock-ish than Weather Report, more Jazzy than Mahavishnu Orchestra. Take a listen and see for your selves.

Studio Album, released in 1978

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Heavy Tune (6:22)
2. Golden Dilemma (4:51)
3. Sleepy (7:17)
4. Soli )7:37)
5. Boring (6:23)
6. Three Blind Mice (4:47)

Total Time: 37:17

Line-up / Musicians

- Mireille Bauer / marimbas, vibraphone
- Francois Causse / congas
- Allan Holdsworth / rhythm guitar
- Bon Lozaga / acoustic guitar
- Benoit Moerlen / glockenspiel, vibes, xylophone, tubular bells, claves
- Pierre Moerlen / drums, glockenspiel, xylophone, tubular bells, timpani
- Hansford Rowe / bass, rhythm guitar
- Mick Taylor / electric guitar
- Darryl Way / violin

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Gong - Gazeuse! [1976]

Now many of you may be familiar with the Progressive/Psychedelic band Gong, these two posts are something entirely different. After Band leader Daevid Allen left the band Pierre Moerlen the band's drummer at the time took the leadership and formed a band a lot more jazz oriented band with a much more percussion sound having two amazing vibraphone players and a percussionist. This led for me to the production of two of the most significant, mind blowing and pioneering records in Jazz/Rock history. Gazeuse! and Expresso II. Up until today i find nothing like these two records. The individual talents (and believe me you will be amazed by each and every persons playability and ideas) combined with fantastic ideas and song structures led by the fierce drumming of Moerlen and the vibraphones make these two albums in my humble opinion the two greatest jazz/rock albums ive ever heard. More rock-ish than Weather Report, more Jazzy than Mahavishnu Orchestra. Take a listen and see for your selves.



Studio Album, released in 1976

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Expresso (5:58)
2. Night Illusion (3:42)
3. Percolations, Part 1 + Part 2 (10:00)
4. Shadows Of (7:48)
5. Esnuria (8:00)
6. Mireille (4:10)

Total Time: 39:38

Line-up / Musicians

- Mireille Bauer / marimba, vibraphone, glock, toms
- Allan Holdsworth / electric guitar, acoustic guitar, violin, pedal steel guitar
- Didier Malherbe / Tenor sax, flute
- Benoit Moerlen / vibra
- Pierre Moerlen / drums, glock, vibra, marimba, timpani
- Francis Moze / Fretless bass, gong, acoustic & electric piano

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National Health - National Health [1976]

NATIONAL HEALTH was one of the last of the great "Canterbury-style" progressive rock bands and one of my personal favorites as i dug deeper into this genre. This band performed the same shiny Canterbury Progressive with a touch of jazz-rock, following HATFIELD AND THE NORTH's philosophy, with complex arrangements.This is because three of the four members Of Hatfiled are involved in this along with great special guests,contributors to other great canterbury bands of the time. Their first eponymous opus is one of the most important albums of the Canterbury scene, containing a unique mixture of rock, jazz and classical music.I would also add that this is an instrumental album to it's whole.Amanda Parson's vocals (no words or lyrics here,just a voice) are contributing a great deal to the melodies and some themes. This is another must for Canterbury fans.

Studio Album, released in 1977

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Tenemos roads (14:32)
2. Brujo (10:13)
3. Borogoves (Excerpt from part two) (4:12)
4. Borogoves (Part one)(6:29)
5. Elephants (14:32)


Total Time: 49:58

Line-up / Musicians

- Phil Miller / guitar
- Neil Murray / bass
- Pip Pyle / drums, cowbell / gong / tambourine (1), glockenspiel / finger cymbals / shaker / bells (2), Pixiephone (4)
- Dave Stewart / acoustic & electric pianos,
organ

WITH:
- Alan Gowen / Moog Pianos (1 to 3)
- Jimmy Hastings / flute (all), bass clarinet (1), clarinet (3)
- John Mitchell / percussion (1), temple blocks / guava (2), congas (3)
- Amanda Parsons / Vocals (all)

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Hatfield andThe North - Hatfield and The North [1973]

Maybe the best band in the Canterbury scene. This band that comes to mind when mentioning this style of music. Taken from a prog archives review i find this to be the most satisfying description of their music.
A Canterburian supergroup made from members of Matching Mole (guitarist Phil Miller), Egg & Khan (keyboardist Dave Stewart), Caravan and later Camel(bassist Richard Sinclair) and GonG (drummer Pip Pyle) - and amazingly enough no-one from Soft Machine- Hatfield (for short) certainly made two of the most transcendental albums in the genre, starting with the self-titled debut in 73. A concept album in the sense that many songs (from short ones lasting one minute to long compositions) are tied together having a unique flow.You may not notice the track changes.
Describing Hatfield's music is rather difficult other than saying it fits the Canterbury mould that we know today without sounding like any other band in that category. It's definitely not rock music anymore (like Gong or Caravan), it's not Jazz (through the bossa nova) either, but to call it jazz-rock is only partly satisfying because applicable only 15% (roughly) of the time. Mostly instrumental, but when sung it is either stunning or completely silly lyrics, often courtesy of drummer Pip Pyle (humour-wise, Hatfield is typically Canterburian), the quartet is simply amazing with mastery of their respective instruments and the numerous tempo changes and tricky time sigs are simply head-twisting and can be a bit of a repellent for the normal attention span.. There are some remains from Caravan, sometimes from Egg or Gong, but you mostly have to look at the future National Health to have an idea of what they sound like. Little wonder since three of the four Hatfield will be involved in NH. To make matters worse, the album is filled with short unpredictable songs that generally don't respect any rules and end up melting into each other, much like the superb Wyatt-conscious Calyx leads directly into album-climax Homerton. Another strong track is Shaving Is Boring, which grabs a space rock (ala GonG) repetitive rhythms and Caravan soundscapes (the organ theme seems from Grey & Pink) and later on Bossa Nochance is a clear wink at Caravan's rhythms.

Studio Album, released in 1973

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. The Stubbs effect (0:23)
2. Big jobs(Poo Poo extract)(0:36)
3. Going up to people and tinkling (2:25)
4. Calix (2:45)
5. Son of "there's no place like Homerton" (10:10)
6. Aigrette (1:38)
7. Rifferama (2:56)
8. Fol de rol (3:07)
9. Shaving is boring (8:45)
10. Licks for the ladies (2:37)
11. Bossa nochance (0:40)
12. Big jobs No 2 (By Poo and the Wee Wees) (2:14)
13. Lobster in cleavage probe (3:57)
14. Gigantic land-crabs in Earth takeover bid(3:21)
15. The other stubbs effect (0:38)
Bonus tracks on Cd:
16. Let's Eat (Real Soon)
17. Fitter Stoke Has a Bath

Total Time: 46:11

Line-up / Musicians

- Phil Miller / guitars
- Pip Pyle / drums
- Richard Sinclair / bass, vocals
- Dave Stewart / organ, piano
- Jeremy Baines / pixiephone
- Barbara Gaskin / backing vocals
- Geoff Leigh / saxophones, flute
- Amanda Parsons / backing vocals
- Ann Rosenthal / backing vocals
- Robert Wyatt / vocals (4)

Enjoy it

Listen to the first 3 tracks

Calyx and Son Of There's No Place Like Homerton

Ain Soph - Hat And Field [1986]

Another great progressive rock album that came from a Japanese outfit in the 80's.
Ain Soph play instrumental progressive rock with a lot of canterbury influences such as National Health, Gilgamesh and even Camel (Rain Dances era.) This album as the title says brings some Hatfield & The North in mind but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It took 6 years for Ain Soph to finally record this amazing follow-up to their equally amazing debut album. The playing is superb: not only each individual is a top-notch master on their instrument, but also they can interpleay with immaculate fluency through all these complex time signatures and complicated compositions, keeping an aura of delicate sophistication, as if it were actually an easy task to do. The moments in which Yozox and Fujikawa lay their challenging interplays are executed with infinite finesse.. As in their previous album, the appearance of some exotic lines reminds the listener of their Japanese essence: their jazzy prog is not a clone, but the result of an inventively idiosyncratic recreation of an established pattern.
Lovers of Canterbury and the best 70s jazz-fusion will most likely love this one too, and eventually, discover the particular beauty of Ain Soph's own jazz-prog voice.

Studio Album, released in 1986

Songs / Tracks Listing
1. The Swan Lake (5:45)
2. Little pieces part 1 (1:34)
3. Suite: Hat and field: (10:02)
a) Triple echo
b) Hat & field
c) Deep feelin'
d) Triple end
e) Spanish channel
4. Mizzle (3:41)
5. Canterbury tale (for Pye Hastings & Richard Sinclair) (2:57)
6. Magic carpet (6:57)
7. Little pieces part 2 (2:31)
8. Pipe dream (7:53)

Total Time: 41:20

Line-up / Musicians - Yozox / guitars
- Kikuo Fujikawa / keyboards
- Masahiro Torigaki / bass
- Taiqui Tomiie / drums

Enjoy it

Listen to Suite: Hat & Field

Kenso - Kenso III [1985]

Kenso is a progressive rock instrumental band from Japan.
This is Kenso's third album and maybe even better than the previous II. An amazing instrumental progressive rock album full of melodies and odd time signatures that never get to be that complex. Focusing mainly on the melodies and the great structure and not on improvisations and soloing is what makes this perfect. This is a MUST!

Studio Album, released in 1985

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Sacred dream I (2:49)
2. Power of the glory (4:16)
3.The breeze whispered through my mind (1:12)
4. Far East celebration (2:43)
5. La liberté de l'esprit (6:11)
6. Patter of the groovy (0:51)
7. Turn to solution (6:34)
8. Nostalgia (2:54)
9. Sacred dream II (6:04)
10. Beginnings (6:36)
Bonus track:
11. Sea (6:08)

Total Time: 46:18

Line-up / Musicians

- Kimiyoshi Matsumoto / bass
- Kenichi Oguchi / keyboards
- Toshihiko Sahashi / keyboards
- Yoshihisa Shimizu / guitar, autoharp, kalimba, mellotron, koto
- Haruhiko Yamamoto / drums, piano, percussion, glass, alto sax
GUESTS:
- Janna Kaku / voices (8)
- Atsushi Makiuchi / keyboards (7)
- Hiroyuki Namba / keyboards (5-7-10-11)
- Kyoko Nemoto / oboe (2-3)
- Tsunekatsu Takagi / vocals (4)
- Shiro Yajima / (4-11)
- Hiroyuki Namba / keyboards
- Aysushu Makiuchi / keyboards
- Kyoko Nemeto / oboe
- Shiro Yajima / flute
- Junna Kaku / vocal
- Tsunekatsu Takagi / vocal

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Listen to La Liberte De l'esprit