DEDALUS

This is an album for the adventurous prog fans out there who aren't afraid of jazz in their rock. More UK sounding than Italian sounding (there are really no familiar RPI flourishes contained here), Dedalus' debut album is loose, freewheeling jazz rock with some spacey detours. Strong echoes of Soft Machine with some Hatfield and the North, Matching Mole and early Return to Forever fuse with some spacey breakdowns straight from the space rock playbook to create a uniquely enjoyable take on jazz rock.

Opener Santiago is a mostly straightforward rip on later Soft Machine and second tier UK jazz rock bands of the 1973 era. However, it soon veers into echo laden acid violin (cello actually) meltdown world straight from the middle section of Whole Lotta Love filtered through some of the electronic musique-concrete improvs on Hawkwind's Space Ritual to let you know- "hey this isn't just a jazz rock band folks". Soon we return to familiar ground as a groove brings us home, but the song for some reason just ends abruptly. Second song Leda again starts with sax from Marco Di Castri with a strong underpinning from keyboardist Bonansone on echoed Fender Rhodes electric piano that sounds like Chick Corea's early work in RTF. Some of Miles Davis' groundbreaking electric work like In a Silent Way is also a reference point, in particular the 3rd song Conn, which brings side one to an end.

Side two opens with CT 6, a guitar led Hatfield styled approach before Di Castri switches from guitar to sax. (keyboardist Bonsansone likewise doubles on piano and electric cello) A second section of the song begins abruptly and a synth solo straight from Zawinul gives this section a more rock version of Weather Report with Di Castri showing off some prodigious Canterbury guitar skills in counterpoint. Bassist Furio Di Castri gets to stretch his wings a little bit in a duet with drummer Enrico Grosso in one of the more traditional jazz sections on the album. Transitions can be a little jarring in this song as disparate pieces weave together-the side closes out with an acoustic piano piece that has touches of John Cage plucking inside the piano while playing. This shifts into a standard jazz rock workout for under sixty seconds to finish off a song that goes to a lot of places. The album finishes with Brilla, a sax led piece that begins as a low key Weather Report jaunt before the tempo suddenly increases and heads into territory vaguely close to some of PFM's jazzy Jet Lag, perhaps their only flickering of Italian roots, albeit barely visible.

The album cover is a direct nod towards the Dada art movement of the 1917-1919 era that freaked out folks and had strong bases in the US, Russia and Italy. It gives the listener a coded hint as to what might be contained inside (though their second album is a better example of Dada influenced jazz rock)

This one might not grab you at first, but repeated listenings will bring you rewards with one of the more original albums in the fusion canon of prog. Though they created this album in the midst of the hurricane of RPI coming out, they don't really sound Italian. Great guitar, sax, bass and drums on display. The only flaw I'd point out is that their ability to weave disparate sections together can be fragmented, as things seem to just come out of nowhere and leave without any successful bridging. A tiny complaint really, as their composition and improvisation technique is on par with the best of their contemporaries in the UK. Highly recommended for jazz rock fans.

4 stars