Record Reviews

FREE FUSION BAND ~ VULCAN`S ELECTRIC HAMMER ALLEGRO 035 (Barcode: 5901157049353) ~ POLAND ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2006 - 2016 Released: 2017 This is the debut album by the Free Fusion BandFind albums by this artist, a project led by Polish (resident in Oslo) bassist / keyboardist / synthesizer player / composer Jakub PielakFind albums by this artist. The participants include several Polish and Norwegian musicians, including guitarist Tomasz KozaFind albums by this artist, percussionist Iwona LipinskaFind albums by this artist and many others. The album was recorded in Oslo over a period of over ten years and presents seven lengthy compositions, all by Pielak. It is lavishly packaged with graphics and texts full of Science Fiction allusions, which were an obvious influence on the composer. The music is a unique amalgam of a plethora of electronic, ambient, improvised threads, combined together to create an Avant-Garde flow, which is fascinating and engaging, although certainly quite demanding, especially when encountered for the first time. There are distinct melodic themes and a coherent continuity, but the music is not devised to be analyzed on the detailed plane but rather embraced as a whole by simply succumbing to its natural flow. There are many improvised passages, which as the band´s name suggests are inherently closer to Fusion than to Jazz, although could be accepted as both. The entire approach is more accidental and cinematic in its nature, which leads this music more into the "soundtracks of imaginary movies" category rather than a concrete melodic / harmonic entity. Although the music was created and recorded over a prolonged period of time and involves different teams of participating musicians, it certainly manages to maintain a coherent concept and stylistic unity, which in projects of such nature is often very difficult. The natural flow and often hypnotic nature of the music enables listeners, who are drown to such emotional involvement, to get completely enthralled within the music. This is certainly quite an unusual project in every respect and the will and consistency demanded from Pielak to bring this music into existence deserves respect and admiration. Going against the popular flow and following one´s true vision are rare qualities today. I am already looking forward to hear more of Pielak´s conceptual vistas in the future and in the meantime recommend listeners´ who are able to make a conscious efforts and take a step out of the comfort zone and listen to some truly exciting music present on this album. A true voyage of discovery…

Updated: 12/04/2019Posted: 23/03/2019

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