Allan Holdsworth - None Too Soon (96)

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Guitarist Allan Holdsworth is widely considered to be one of the finest instrumentalists in all of jazz fusion, yet has never truly received the recognition that he so rightfully deserves.

Born on August 6, 1946, in Bradford, Yorkshire, Holdsworth was originally taught music by his father, who was a pianist.

First a saxophone player, Holdsworth didn't pick up the guitar until he was 17 years old, but learned the instrument quickly.

After playing in local outfits (in addition to learning the violin), Holdsworth relocated to London, where he was taken under the wing of saxophonist Ray Warleigh.

By 1972, Holdsworth had joined progressive rockers Tempest, appearing on the group's self-titled debut a year later before joining Soft Machine in December 1973 — and radically changing the latter outfit's sound to guitar-based fusion in the process.

Flora Purim - 500 Miles High (74)

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01 o cantador
02 bridge
03 500 miles high
04 cravo e canela (cinnamon and cloves)
05 bahia
06 uri (the wind)
07 jive talk

Weather Report - Tale Spinnin' (75)

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01 Man In The Green Shirt
02 Lusitanos
03 Between The Thighs
04 Badia
05 Freezing Fire
06 Five Short Stones

Weather Report - Sweetnighter (73)

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01 Boogie Woogie Waltz
02 Manolete
03 Adios
04 12Th Street Congress
05 Will
06 Non Stop Home

Bill Bruford - Bruford Tapes (79)

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01-Hell's Bells
02-Sample and Hold
03-Fainting in Coils
04-Travels With Myself - And Someone Else
05-Beelzebub
06-The Sahara Of Snow - Part One
07-The Sahara Of Snow - Part Two
08- One of a Kind (Part Two)
09-5G

Steve Morse Band - Southern Steel (91)

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01 Cut to the Chase
02 Simple Simon
03 Vista Grande
04 Sleaze Factor
05 Battle Lines
06 Southern Steel
07 Wolf Song
08 Weekend Overdrive
09 Arena Rock
10 Point-Counterpoint

Mathematicians - Irrational Numbers (95)

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01 - Spanish Main
02 - Dance Of The Nile
03 - Orlando Furioso
04 – Quadari
05 – Frontiers
06 – Rain
07 – Shellshock

╝╗

This Midwestern quintet leans toward the rock side of jazz-rock fusion on Irrational Numbers.

Jean-Luc Ponty – Storytelling (89)

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01 - In The Fast Lane
02 - Tender Memories
03 - Spring Episode
04 - Pastoral Harmony
05 - The Story Teller
06 - The Amazon Forest
07 - After The Storm
08 - A Journey's End
09 - Prelude No. 20, Op. 28

When this CD came out, it was violinist Jean-Luc Ponty's strongest in several years.

Most of the originals have dense ensembles full of rhythmic patterns set by the keyboards for Ponty to play over.

With the exception of "Chopin Prelude No. 20" (a violin improvisation in which the violinist is backed by just Clara Ponty's sober chordal piano), this date falls into the funky fusion area.

The enthusiastic high energy playing, colorful solos (Ponty is in splendid form) and catchy melodies make this a very worthwhile session; Grover Washington (on soprano) and keyboardist Patrice Rushen make guest appearances.

Jean-Luc Ponty - Individual Choice (83)

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1 Computer Incantations for World Peace
2 Far from the Beaten Paths
3 In Spiritual Love
4 Eulogy to Oscar Romero
5 Nostalgia
6 Individual Choice
7 In Spite of All


Here is Ponty's radical break with his past, one that further tightened his control over his craft while ironically liberating his muse.

In laying out his attractive new music on synthesizers and sequencers, emphasizing revolving ostinato patterns, Ponty rejuvenated his melodic gift, and as a result, even in this controlled setting, his violin solos take on a new freshness and exuberance.

Except for two tracks, Ponty does without a formal rhythm section — and on two other tracks, he goes it completely alone. Indeed, he does best of all when he has no one but himself to play with on "Computer Incantations for World Peace" and the lovely mood piece "Eulogy to Oscar Romero."

Guest interloper George Duke (a fellow refugee from Frank Zappa's band) contributes a Minimoog solo to ""In Spiritual Love," where Ponty provides his own percussive backing on rhythm computer. Even if one grumbles on principle about the reduction of spontaneity in Ponty's music over the Atlantic years, the musical end here absolutely justifies the means.

Don't miss it.

Dixie Dregs - Night Of The Living Dregs (79)

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1 Punk Sandwich
2 Country House Shuffle
3 The Riff Raff
4 Long Slow Distance
5 Night of the Living Dregs
6 The Bash
7 Leprechaun Promenade
8 Patchwork

One of the top jazz-rock fusion ensembles ever, the Dixie Dregs combined virtuoso technique with eclecticism and a sense of humor and spirit too frequently lacking in similar projects.

Guitarist Steve Morse and bassist Andy West played together as high school students in Augusta, Georgia in a conventional rock band called Dixie Grit.

When Morse was expelled from school for refusing to cut his hair, he enrolled at the University of Miami School of Music, where he met violinist Allen Sloan, who had played with the Miami Philharmonic, and drummer Rod Morgenstein.

The three decided to form a band, and Morse convinced West to come to Miami and join. The Dixie Dregs completed their lineup with keyboardist Steve Davidowski.

Dixie Dregs - Night Of The Living Dregs (79)

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1 Punk Sandwich
2 Country House Shuffle
3 The Riff Raff
4 Long Slow Distance
5 Night of the Living Dregs
6 The Bash
7 Leprechaun Promenade
8 Patchwork

One of the top jazz-rock fusion ensembles ever, the Dixie Dregs combined virtuoso technique with eclecticism and a sense of humor and spirit too frequently lacking in similar projects. Guitarist Steve Morse and bassist Andy West played together as high school students in Augusta, Georgia in a conventional rock band called Dixie Grit.

When Morse was expelled from school for refusing to cut his hair, he enrolled at the University of Miami School of Music, where he met violinist Allen Sloan, who had played with the Miami Philharmonic, and drummer Rod Morgenstein.

The three decided to form a band, and Morse convinced West to come to Miami and join. The Dixie Dregs completed their lineup with keyboardist Steve Davidowski.

Their first album, The Great Spectacular, was recorded for a class project in 1975 and later released by the band (it is long out of print).

Following graduation, the quintet began playing live around the South and got their break after opening for Sea Level on 1976, when a representative from Capricorn Records was impressed enough to sign them.

Mark Parrish, a former member of Dixie Grit, replaced Davidowski for their official debut, 1977's Free Fall.

Their follow-up, What If, proved to be one of their most artistically successful albums, and the Dregs played at the 1978 Montreux Jazz Festival with T Lavitz replacing Parrish.

Half of Night of the Living Dregs contains excerpts from that concert. The group shortened their name to the Dregs for 1981's Unsung Heroes, and added both vocalists and three-time national fiddling champ Mark O'Connor, whose old-timey playing style added another dimension to the group's sound, for Industry Standard.

The Dregs then disbanded; the highly respected Morse formed his own band and recorded several albums, later joining Kansas from 1986 to 1988, while Morgenstein hooked up with pop-metallists Winger.