ENERGIT

1. "Drift (6:29) funky wah-wah rhythm guitar, funky bass, near-Disco (and near-Steve Gadd) drumming time machine, funky slurpy keyboard synths, and three-man horn section come together, one at a time, to provide a melodic base for eventual soloing from Lubos Andrst's electric guitar and, much later, Rudolf Ticháček's soprano saxophone and Milan Svoboda's Arp synthesizer. There is definitely a smoothness--and spacious, mathematical form--to this walking-man's funk which brings to mind artists like BOB JAMES and THE CRUSADERS. It's great, easy to listen to, but not (8.875/10)

2. "Stratus" (4:20) pretty piano-based syncopated music elevating both guitarist Lubos Andrst melody-making skill as well as drummer Jaromír Helesic's Harvey Mason-like talent. (8.875/10)

3. "Jarní rovnodennost" (3:45) acoustic guitar and piano dance delicately, almost nervously, around each other until Lubos launches into a two-track exposé of Spanish strumming with John McLaughlin-like lead over the top--all on steel-string acoustic guitars. This second motif lasts about 90 seconds before Lubos and Milan fall back into their awkward dance (like two love-at-first sight-ers first encountering each other on the dance floor of a 19th Century ball). Lovely. (9.25/10)

4. "Mobilis in mobili" (3:53) trying for the "heavier" side of Smooth Jazz-Rock Fusion with some TOM SCHOLZ (BOSTON)-like electric guitar channeled in over some more BOB JAMES-like music: Fender Rhodes, horn section, funk- syncopated rhythm section. Rudolf Ticháček adds some nice accents and flourishes with his soprano sax as does Milan Svoboda on the Fender. Nice music; weird combination of the Boston guitar and Bob James music. (8.875/10)

5. "Zapomenutý ostrov" (7:58) African folk instruments like berimbau open this with Fender Rhodes, bass, and congas, yielding an almost In a Silent Way sound and feel. In the second minute the band steps up, into a quick tempo, with congas and bass leading the way while sax, Fender Rhodes, and electric guitar take turns soloing. Now they're sounding more like a Third Wave J-R Fusion band practicing the forms and rules of bands like Mahavishnu Orchestra and Weather Report. In the fifth minute, then, things calm down so that muted horns and flourishes from Milan's Fender and Lubos' guitar can try to fill the near-empty space. It's pretty if rather formless and without flow--kind of like everybody is standing in the middle of a tar pit, playing their instruments from one place cuz they're stuck up to their knees in the mire. Then they extract themselves from the muck and move forward in a lovely whole-group melody to the song's finish. Interesting and definitely creative! (13.5/15) 6. "Rícní písek" (4:25) more sophisticated yet gentle-on-the-ears jazz-rock with great syncopation and special play from bass player Jan Vytrhlík and the percussionists over which sax and electric guitar solo from time to time. Overall, it's just a great groove for the listener to get lost in! (9/10)

7. "Piknik" (6:42) more funked up jazz-rock of the Jazz Crusaders type. This one lets the brass/horns have more air time (no pun intended, I think). Despite the Bob JAMES-like friendliness and accessibility, the musicians once again put on a show of most excellent skill, cohesiveness, and professionalism. Interesting to hear Milan's bird-like synthesizer chirps offsetting Jaromír Helesic's drum solo in the fifth minute. The band then reconvenes for one more drive to the album's end while Lubos' liquid lightning guitar runs and the horns take us out. Not the album's best song but still a display of excellent musicianship. (8.75/10)

Total time 37:31

Though often producing very easy-to-listen to "Smooth Jazz," these are top notch musicians pulling together to create wonderfully-skilled and nuanced jazz-rock fusion. Is there anything wrong with catchy melodies and memorable hooks in jazz music? I hope not. These guys are really good at it!

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of excellent Fourth Wave Jazz-Rock Fusion aka "Smooth Jazz." These are some great compositions performed with highly nuanced, highly skilled musicians collaborating in a near-perfect ensemble. Highly recommended!

A. "Ráno (Morning Part I)" (17:25) opens with a brooding Latin-based RETURN TO FOREVER-like MAHAVISHNU motif over which guitarist Lubos Andrst plays an impressive Jan Hammer-like solo for the third and fourth minutes. Bridge at 3:30 leads into a motif shift: this one being more syncopated and funky--especially from Jan Vytrhlík's bass and Emil Viklický 's electric piano. Also the conga play of Jirí Tomek stands out more in this passage as sax and electric piano try leading in the melody-making department while everybody else seems to be having a fantastic SANTANA-like jam beneath them. Rudolf Tichácek's soprano sax playing is okay: always coming in bursts, never smoothing out or choosing melody over dynamics. The next solo is from Emil's electric piano: his being a little smoother than Rudolf's but still conforming to the more-percussive staccato approach for its delivery. But, once he gets going he'll occasionally get into some runs or some cool chord progressions. At 10:20 there is a slowdown and break for transition into a slightly different motif for Lubos to take another try at the lead. His playing approach definitely treads more into the territory of John McLauglin and Larry Coryell, though my brain keeps hearing Jan Hammer more than any guitarist. I like the way Emil Viklický keeps prodding the soloists (not just Lubos) with his keyboard interjections-- pushing them to go further than they might without him. In the fifteenth minute there is a complete deconstruction of the rhythm track while Lubos and Emil continue to play around a bit, then in the first half of the 16th minute the band returns to the opening RTF-like motif as Rudolf takes us out with his soprano sax. (31.25/35)

B1. "Paprsek Ranního Slunce (The Early Sunray)" (4:40) countrified jazz rock that sounds like Jay Beckenstien's SPYRO GYRA merged with the OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS and DIXIE DREGS. Impressive guitar play begins around the two-minute mark and then seamlessly leads the band into a cool Mahavishnu-like motif switch. Now, this is great J-R Fusion! At least until it shifts back to BOB JAMES "Angela" territory at the four minute mark. Luckily it ends with some more of those impressive keyboard-and-electric guitar machine gun runs. (8.875/10)

B2. "Noční Motýl (Night-Butterfly)" (7:50) electric guitar harmonics open this, reinforced with electric piano play--which soon occupies two tracks, the two electric pianos using completely different settings. The more piano-sounding ep begins taking the lead from the guitar with some classical-like runs, but then, in the fourth minute a deep, pulsing, muddy foundation is committed to by the full rhythm section, which sets Emil Viklický off on a Fender Rhodes tirade before heavily-effected (Moog-sounding) electric guitar joins in and pushes his way to the front. A Moog synthesizer enters and begins competing with Lubos for the lead, dueling and playing off one another with a ferocity comparable to (yet never quite achieving the heights of) that of John McLaughlin and Jan Hammer. This doesn't last very long before the band devolves into a rich, Fender-dominated sound field for a lovely finish. Definitely a top three song for me. (13.75/15)

B3. "Apoteóza (Apotheosis)" (2:55) more Mahavishnu Orchestra-inspired Jazz-Rock Fusion that includes another presence of the Moog synthesizer. (8.875/10)

B4. "Ráno (Morning Part II)" (4:05) what starts out as a kind of a loose, unstructured unwinding for all of the instrumentalists turns into a simple conga solo for the fadeout finish. (8.66667/10)

Total Time: 36:55

B+/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you like the dynamic Jazz-Rock Fusion of early versions/experimentations of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Larry Coryell, and Return To Forever.

If you desperately wish the original Mahavishnu lineup had made another album or two, you could do a lot worse than investigating this, though at the same time I don't think Energit build much that is novel on the borrowed foundations they are working with.

I have sampled quite a few non-US albums that purported to be "fusion", and (no names named for the sake of peace), well, they either weren't good enough, or weren't jazz-rock fusion enough. Venezuela .. Brazil .. Hungary ..the UK ... France .. Italy .. Norway .. things just didn't seem to be "fusing" properly in these otherwise lovely places. I couldn't even consider John McLaughlin and Jean-Luc Ponty as "British" and "French" respectively, because they were living and working in the US when they did what they did best in their careers.

With the notable exception of the German United Jazz-Rock Ensemble, and the Russian band Arsenal (to a limited degree), perhaps.

The Czechoslovakia of the 70s was a standalone phenomenon in this respect. Somehow the country the size of Pennsylvania, tucked away behind the Iron Curtain produced 3 world class fusion bands: Energit, Modry Efekt and Jazz-Q within a short period of time.

Energit's Energit is probably my favorite title of all the albums, produced by the said 3 bands in that period. I would be struggling to adequately describe its "features and benefits", but would certainly recommend that everI

With its Inventive and, frankly, refreshing melody lines, highest level musicianship and the contagious upbeat mood Energit could give a head start to just about any of the internationally revered fusion bands.

The best feature of Energit is the smile that it leaves on your face .. I would recommend that you consider treateing yourself to your own copy of Energit!

"Drift" sounds nothing like their debut as we get this funked up sound reminding me of Hancock's Headhunters album. Man this is the funk people as horns blast. We do get some guitar and electric piano taking the lead as well as it plays out. Excellent start. "Stratus" opens with atmosphere and piano as drums and guitar join in. Check out the drum work here ! The guitar is outstanding as well. Horns 3 1/2 minutes in then it settles late with atmosphere to end it. "Jami Rovnodennost" is led at first by piano then the acoustic guitar comes in and leads the rest of the way. "Mobilis In Mobili" is one of my favourites. Raw guitar with electric piano and drums as the horns join in. I like how the horns, electric piano and guitar keep taking turns leading.

"Zapomenuty Ostrov" has this somewhat haunting intro then percussion, horns and electric piano start to lead. Deep bass lines and drums follow. Electric piano leads 2 minutes in. Guitar 3 minutes in but then horns and electric piano return as they trade off. It settles after 5 minutes then starts to pick up before 7 minutes. Great sound ! "Ricni Pisek" has these deep bass lines, solid drum work and more. The sax starts to play over top before 2 1/2 minutes. "Piknik" is uptempo with horns blasting to start. Electric piano leads 2 minutes in then the drums and synths lead after 4 minutes until the guitar kicks in after 5 minutes.

A really good album that's worth 4 stars for sure but get the debut if you can.

Soumrak" opens with electric piano as the bass and drums join in followed by the sax. This is laid back and groovy baby. Love the chunky bass. Electric piano leads after 2 1/2 minutes when the sax stops. The guitar joins in a minute later. Nice. The sax is back to end it as the bass growls.

"Zeleny Saten" is very MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA-like. Absolutely fantastic ! Love the electric piano, drums and guitar. Killer stuff.

Without question a nice companion for the debut studio album. And a solid 4 stars.

I'm using the English song titles. "Morning Part I" is the opening side long suite. Outbursts of sound come and go then percussion only as drums then electric piano join in. Yes we have a drummer and a percussionist (congas) the latter brings SANTANA's music to mind at times. Deep bass lines come to the fore then sax. The guitar after 2 minutes starts to light it up. Sax replaces the guitar around 4 minutes and he's now ripping it up after 5 minutes. Electric piano and percussion also standout here. A calm before 7 1/2 minutes then percussion, electric piano and bass take over. The guitar joins in and eventually comes to the fore after 10 1/2 minutes and proceeds to light it up. It settles right down after 14 1/2 minutes then turns powerful again a minute later with sax playing over top. So freaking good.

"The Early Sunday" sounds great with electric piano, drums and bass leading the way as the sax joins in. "Night-Butterfly" opens with atmosphere as sparse sounds come and go. A change 2 1/2 minutes in as it turns powerful with bass and drums as the electric piano plays over top. The guitar starts to solo 4 1/2 minutes in. it settles back to that intro soundscape before 6 1/2 minutes right to the end. "Apotheosis" features guitar, electric piano, drums and synths throughout. "Morning Part II" is a great way to end the album reprising the opening track. This of course is a much shorter version. Percussion only ends it.

I have to give this 5 stars. So powerful and the guitar and electric piano are intoxicating to say the least.

The self titled debut used free jazz to inspire their rock oriented jamming--Piknik draws more on groove. The musicians are obviously world class and having a great time, and it shows on the record. 8 musicians contribute to the full sound the group achieves, and the dynamic patterns displayed throughout the music enhance the listening experience through gates that transcend nature. Energit came to me at the right time, and the obscure nature of this Czech group add to the appeal for me.

As instrumental pieces, these tracks present quite innovative melodies, which are sometimes hidden so well, that you don't hear any melody at all. I feel need to say that "Luboš Andršť" is rated as one of the best Czech guitarists (oh yeah, our country has few of these remarkably best ones), as shown in acoustic, flamenco-like solo in Jarní rovnodennost (Solstice), which offers the better side of this record.

What brings me to negatives, problem is that I don't hear any. Maybe problem of jazz itself, that it has parts, where nothing's going on. But that's just first look (hear), when you listen closely and concentrate your mind, you'll see these hidden relations between certain parts, which forms musical composition. Indeed, one of the best jazz music from Czech Republic, I even didn't know about this for a long time, but it's over now.

4(-), because it's very good jazz album. But not so good for me, as I'm not the best jazz listener, in fact I'm far from being the best and I'm still so called jazz apprentice. I'm trying, but it's coming slowly. But I can see perfection in this and because of this, final rating is 4.