PHIL MILLER

Phil Miller's contributions to their prior bands pretty much continues their very Jazz style. I find overall the compositions to be somewhat forgettable, it's all something you've heard done before better, by lead man himself even. In addition to the quality not being what one would expect from H&N, it has a definite 80s feel. From the synth marimbas to the percussion to the shallow world beats this isn't just a rehash of the 70s. Mostly instrumental, a few of the tracks have some Northettes supplying their airy vocals to the background and on Dada soul Richard Sinclair sings. The female bits are done well but I find Dada Soul to be one of the worst usages of Richard Sinclair's voice. The song is like his trademark style corrupted by to become meh compared to songs like Books (Theo Travis Earth To Ether or Fitter Stoke). I think that song alongside the opener, Cutting Both Ways sum up the album for me. On one hand you have a track where I think fads of the day where used poorly to make a poor song (Dada Soul while on the other hand you have an uninhibited song that to me comes off as by the numbers (Cutting Both Ways).

Overall this is a fine album that is summed up well by good but not essential and I think folks who enjoy Jazz will have more to appreciate them myself in regards to Phil Miller's work.

Well, I was brought to this cd by an urge to hear more stuff by the guitarist for National Health, Hatfield and the North, and other Canterbury bands - Phil Miller. "Cutting Both Ways" (1987) is technically his band In Cahoots, though they do not use this moniker anywhere on the cd. This is a great look back at the classic 1970's Canterbury school of prog, with a much more mature and jazzier feel to it. Great cd.

Joining Miller is Pip Pyle (drums), Dave Stewart (keys), Barbara Gaskin (vocals) Hugh Hopper (bass), Elton Dean (sax) and Pete Lemer (keys). This 50-minute cd starts off with a fantastic 15-minute suite that features some great soloing from Miller, Lemer and Dean. Typical of the NH and HATN format, much of this music - even the soloing to an extent - is composed rather than improvised. I like that about this music; there tends to be something new and intricate to discover in the music every time you listen to it.

I should point out that the 4th and 5th tracks are basically just Miller and Stewart, with Stewart playing layers of keys and "programming". They are very well done, so don't get scared off. One complaint I might make is that the production is not great - just a bit flat in spots (e.g. the two Miller/Stewart songs), with a very distant bass sound. But certainly nothing to dissuade one from enjoying the great music flowing forth.

I'm now encouraged to investigate some of the other In Cahoots material. I hope you will be too...

Phil Miller needs no introduction to those of us who are into Canterbury styled music. He's played guitar with DELIVERY, MATCHING MOLE, HATFIELD & THE NORTH, NATIONAL HEALTH and more. "Split Seconds" would be Phil's second solo album after the excellent "Cutting Both Ways" from the year before. He again decided to have his IN CAHOOTS band play on one part of the album as we get Pip Pyle, Fred Baker and Steve Franklin while Phil along with Elton Dean are the constants. The other part of the album features Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskins with John Mitchell helping out on one of those tracks and Richard Sinclair on another. It just seems to me that this is a pale version of his debut, you know like KING CRIMSON's fist two albums. The same style just not as good in my opinion. I miss Hugh Hopper too.

"And Thus Far" opens with guitar and synths as the drums and bass join in. A pleasant sound. Sax comes into the spotlight before 3 minutes. A calm around 4 1/2 minutes with the bass and a beat leading the way as synths and more come and go. Smooth sax after 8 minutes with bass and synths as it calms right down. The drums are back and soon it's a full uptempo sound before 11 minutes. A good start.

"Final Call" has a nice bass solo to start as the guitar and band all join in. I like the guitar after 3 minutes. "Dada Soul" is my favourite with Richard Sinclair singing and playing bass. It opens with percussion, atmosphere, guitar and beautiful female vocal melodies from Barbara. After that gorgeous intro Richard comes in with vocals. That intro will return and they will combine forces too. A really enjoyable track thanks to Gaskins and Sinclair.

"Truly Yours" is mellow as the sax joins in and it will be the dominant sound until the synths take over after 3 1/2 minutes. "Double Talk" is a uptempo track with a lot going on with the percussion, bass, synths and more. Soon the guitar is playing over top. It lightens before 3 1/2 minutes with picked guitar and percussion before kicking back in. "I Remain" is a smooth and relaxed tune.

"Your Root 2" sounds good to start as we get some depth to the sound here with the bass and drums. The sax comes in over top around a minute. A calm with bass before 4 minutes. Nice. This continues as drums help out then other sounds start to come and go until the synths start to make some noise before 6 minutes. Sounds like vibes and also sax kicking in before 7 minutes after some nice drum work from Pip.

I do like some of those IN CAHOOTS albums that would follow better than this one but "Split Seconds" certainly has it's highlights.

Split Seconds is Phil Miller's followup to Cutting Both Ways, and just like that release it's split between band tracks performed with In Cahoots and more intimate pieces recorded with the help of Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin, who'd been forging their own skewed pop sound since the disintegration of National Health.

At its best, it's more of the same; however, there are a few too many moments where the songwriting is thin enough that the thin 1980s production standards really show, and they have dated quite poorly. (I'd be interested if anyone knows just why so many Canterbury artists in particular seemed to come unstuck in the production department in the 1980s.) This feels, in fact, like an album consisting of off-cuts from Cutting Both Ways, and whilst that one manages to overcome the difficulties of the era, this one can't quite escape their gravity well. As it turns out, one course of 1980s In Cahoots is enough for me - I can't manage seconds, even if I split 'em.

I'm feeling quite guilty of some sort of crime here for awarding 5 stars to a CD that is obviously, after just a few moments of listening, NOT progressive rock; but essentially the perfect example of what modern jazz should sound like. What we have here, is the most astounding collection of world class musicians that one could hope to gather, working together to interpret the thrilling compositions of an old friend and brilliant taskmaster, Phil Miller.

I received my copy of this album of songs from Phil himself, via international mail, shortly after it's release. There is absolutely no changing my mind after nearly three years; that this is the most uplifting, exciting, and meticulously delivered package of ear candy that Phil has produced to date, with six of the seven compositions written by Phil. Mind you, it does bear much more resemblance to Jazz, than what many would label prof-rock; but if your pleasures take ease in drifting from one genre to another, this is a treasure worth the travel.

There are significantly exhilarating high points demonstrated by each of the band members throughout this catalog; with the usual standouts on occasion being Fred Baker's propulsion of the bottom end searing through the atmosphere, and Mark Armstrong's blazing trumpet, which surely raises Miles from his resting place with each hair-raising note. Be advised: This is JAZZ in it's spellbinding and most emotionally jam-packed form. As for our old friend Phil Miller, he could get 5 stars playing Lawrence Welk covers; but here he shines the light so brilliantly, it's difficult to observe any musical boundaries. Seek this out, and expand your threshold.

An oasis for Canterbury fans in the midst of the otherwise barren 1980s, Phil Miller's Cutting Both Ways features a veritable who's who of Canterbury. Balancing the album between modern-sounding releases with up-to-date synthesisers in the company of Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin and more traditional jazzy Canterbury fare with the help of Elton Dean, Hugh Hopper, Pip Pyle and Peter Lerner, the real trick here is how Miller manages to make these differing approaches sound so natural next to each other. Phil might be "cutting both ways" here, but each way sounds like a natural outgrowth of the other, yielding one of the most original and interesting Canterbury releases since the 1970s.

'Cutting both Ways' is Phil Miller's project better known later as 'In Cahoots', an adventurous amalgamation of some damn fine musicians within the British jazz-rock scene and its Canterbury off shoots. This was a legendary union of seasoned pros, three of whom have elevated themselves into prog heaven. The magnificent Hugh Hopper mans the mighty bass and is paired with Pip Pyle, both needing little introduction, as well as fabled sax man Elton Dean (and all sadly RIP) and the unforgivably unloved keyboardist Peter Lemer who simply dazzles here.

4 tracks comprise the quintet's work and then you have 2 featuring guitarist Miller with former Hatfield and National Health stalwart Dave Stewart, accompanied on the microphone by Dave's wife Barbara Gaskin. (Tracks 4 and 5). The production and overall sound quality is phenomenal and ultra 'crisp. Opener is a rambling jazz-rock extravaganza, a 16 minute blow out with all the lads exploring their inner muse to audio perfection, the hallucigenically titled 'Green & Puple Extract', a thrilling, vivid and punchy example of classic British jazz-rock in the later period Soft Machine vein. Dean and Miller in particular both shine in their respective solo spotlights but the rhythmic bed is just so impressive, it constantly shoves you in the gut. Yet again, Lemer provides some exotic keyboard reinforcements, especially on the synthesizer. The next 2 tracks are perhaps more jazz than rock and you can really sense the variance. 'Eastern Region' is quieter, more fluttering and laid-back but really just another platform for the soloists to express themselves (Lemer again on what sounds like a Mini-Moog). I personally prefer the rockier side as expressed by the opener and 'Second Sight' where Hopper's grooving upfront bass rolls along like a boulder avalanche, while Dean scours the skies with horned exhortations.

The two Dave Stewart tracks are completely different in tone, Stewart using an array of electronics including drum programming that has a more modern artificial sound, using the Yamaha DX7 digital synthesizer (the very first one made) loaded up with a Roland MSQ unit as well as Emu SP12 sampling percussion and Prophet Emulator. The atmosphere is highly ingenious, a mutant form of synthetic electronica with a jazzy sauce on the side, Miller fooling around on his guitar-synth and the boxed drums being quite exemplary! Gaskin's vocal is actually hidden underneath the sizzle, contributing choir work but no discernable voice. 'Figures of Speech' is the longer of the two and as such really stretches the limits of experimentation but does offer up a few seductive guitar solos that search for new horizons. There is an Oriental feel to Stewart's noodling but the synthesized percussion work is stunning, never sounding boring or pre-packaged.

The final track is the celestial 'Green and Purple' and as such is a reprise of the thrilling opener to the disc and just keeps the ball rolling with assertive gusto and flair. As such, the 2 bookend pieces consist of some of the finest Jazz-rock music recorded. Lemer's bubbly synth solo half way through is a thing of total beauty, as he gives a musical tongue to the notes he dazzlingly scatters over the ivories, the Hopper bass pulsating wildly in the forecourt. Damn nice stuff!

These were awfully lean prog years, even some question of imminent extinction predicted by many, so the context here is very important.

4 bisaxual slicers

Five years have passed since the previous album "Conspiracy Theories" and finally comes a new album by guitarist Phil Miller and his band In Cahoots! Phil is a meticulous composer and it takes time to achieve the level found on this new album. We notice at first that a new horn section appears for the first time here, with saxophonist Paul Booth and trumpetist Mark Armstrong replacing respectively Picard and Finch. Then after listening to the album two three times, one general impression that struck me is the care taken to complex melodic voicings! Sometimes unisson lines form the theme, other times the melodic rose opens up in a harmonic contrapuntic motion, the chordal being the melody. A labour of love, impressive and emotionally working on the listener's fibers. The album starts with a gigant 18-minutes long medley of epic proportions. From the very beginning, some of Hatfield & the North's spirit caress your ear, the *theme* being here a long and complex chord progression opening the way to multiple harmonic modulations and a strong half-diminished feel. This is maybe the tune that is closer to progressive rock, with a massive heavy sounding guitar solo from Miller and a superb synth solo from Lemer; there are several sections where blow instruments take it away from prog and move it towards jazzier roads but we always come back to this massive harmonic sequence, the leit motiv of the piece. "Contrary Motion" offers what the title says: harmonized horn voicings against guitar movements and melodic bass walking, all in a kind of contrapuntal progression. After a guitar solo, the trumpet takes over at double time, followed by a bass solo, where we again can't but appreciate the phenomenal fretless work of Fred Baker. Follows "Pent Up", a piece in two parts, both in a 5/4 signature. Part 1 is marked by a rather slow tempo and some kind of bass ostinato while part 2 speeds it up in a Latin inflected style (the piano comping and piano/bass rhythmic line close to salsa / Latin jazz). The piece returns to the slow tempo at the end, ending with a great ethereal guitar solo. "Focus Pocus" is the only piece not composed by Phil, but instead by keyboardist Pete Lemer; based on a solid eighth note pulse, the tune has a middle section presenting you with a tough evil crossed rhyhtm of 24 eighth notes, divided by 6 by some players, by eight by other! And they keep it for the solos, not an easy task to accomplish! "E.D. or Ian" may be dedications to persons but who? This is anyway a charming ballad, at times sounding strangely like Oregon, maybe because of the meditative soprano sax and the wonderful horn voicings. Miller delivers here a superb plaintive guitar solo. The ending is wonderful, combining sustained guitar tones and a myriad of bass harmonics. "Call Sign" closes the album, starting with a rock-solid rhythm but moving in a boppish vein during both sax and trumpet solos. The bottom line: the writing of this album is superb, the music stunning! But - yes, there is a relatively important *but* - my biggest concern is about the production side of the album! There is nearly throughout a nasty disturbing use of reverberation that imo partly kills the music or at least amputates the pleasure! Too much of the music is drowning in this reverberation; the price? it takes some of the drums attack, the instruments when soloing seem at time to shift from a wet to a dry sound within no time, like if the engineer was randomly turning the knobs, every instrument seems placed dead center in the stereo field, bumping on each other, muffling the sound, masking small details. The most hearable place of this weird balance is attained during the piano solo in the ballad number; it seems like the keyboard's aftertouch function triggers both the extra sound but also this damned reverb, suddenly invading everything. Honestly, I think this is a pity and could have easily been avoided. If you want to minimize this aspect, you'll have to listen at lower volumes; if you like it loud, you can't avoid being badly wet! Another production aspect is that Baker's bass at times jumps way too much upfront in the mix, becoming too dominating and again altering the placing of the other instruments in the stereo field! I'd like to know what the conditions were when they tackled the production; I don't remember having faced this kind of problem in previous releases!

DISCLAIMER !

I am not a jazz expert. Neither have I had much exposure to jazz. I am a newbeginner in this type of music I am starting to really enjoy now.

Phil Miller is a guitarist from the Canterbury scene. He has been involved in a lot of the most known bands here. He is also listed under the Canterbury scene. This album though is some of the most left-field Canterbury scene albums out there and many miles away from Caravan and Supersisters. In short; this is a straight jazz album....... but with some references to the likes of National Health, Gilgamesh..... well, to all the jazzy Canterbury bands. That includes my favorite band Soft Machine.

A track that could had been on Soft Machine's Six or Seven album is the excellent second track on this album; Press Find Enter. That very intense track is the best on this album by a long distance. The rest of the album is interesting too, but not of the same standard. Although this album is filled to the rafters by the good and greats from this scene, it somehow lacks in good melodies. The musicianship is excellent though. I am pretty sure jazz fans will love this album, but I am feeling too "green" to really get much out of it. But as an advert for jazz towards a Canterbury fan like myself, this album has done a grrrrrrrreat job ! I will probably come back to this album in some years time and perhaps add another star when I have sunk deeper into the jazz scene. But for now; this is a very good album, but still a bit foreign to me.

3.5 stars

Man, these guys sure can fuse!

Phil Miller, on his first solo album (Why did he wait so long?), along with Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean, Pip Pyle and Pete Lemer (with Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin in a side role), created an album of first rate jazz rock fusion. The album stands up with many of the best fusion albums out there.

The songs are all instrumentals (aside from Gaskin's voice used as an instrument), and all are very enjoyable. Part of the opening track Green & Purple Extract and the final song Green & Purple remind me of some of Zappa's work on The Grand Wazoo, but with a smaller ensemble (high praise indeed). And Hard Shoulder brings to mind some of Mike Keneally's better works.

All in all, this is a fine album for the fusion, Canterbury, or prog fan in general.