J'UN OEIL

No need for your hip-wading boots to get through this sloche...whatever that is. (I did read that "sloche" is a French-Canadian term for the icy slush that the Quebecois find in their streets during the winter, but I can neither confirm nor deny that.)

Sloche's debut album "J'un Oeil" from 1975 is just a FABULOUS example of what many refer to as progressive jazz fusion. The jazz part is not that hard to imagine, since the Quebec music scene has so many great jazz artists. But the rock drumming (Jon Hiseman-ish?), synthesizers and complex piano (lots of piano) put this squarely in the progressive genre. At their jazziest, they resemble Mahavishnu Orchestra; at their proggiest, they sound like Gentle Giant (especially when they get that funky GG vibe going).

I love this album, as well as the 1976 follow-up "Stadaconé" (which was a bit jazzier). The music is just so interesting and fresh sounding, despite the references to other bands. This is mostly instrumental music, though all five band member supply vocals in French. For brief intervals, the vocals can even get a little zany or Zappa-esqe - easy to handle, given all the other great stuff going on in their music.

Unfortunately, this little gem is only 37:34 long, and loses a half-star for me right out of the blocks. But this is a great find; indeed I'm loving almost everything I've found from the province of Quebec. Start here and slog forward through other bands like Pollen, Opus 5, Et Cetera and Maneige. 4-1/2 stars