DEDALUS

Just who are those four dudes hiding behind the clocks on the album cover? Must be DEDALUS! This band emerged from the Turin, Italy scene in the early 70s and delivers some of the most varied and interesting jazz-fusion from the era on their eponymous debut album. The name DEDALUS apparently comes from Daedalus who was the inventor of the labyrinth in Greek mythology. Like their namesake, this band delivers a labyrinth of extremely well-crafted jazz- fusion that holds up well after many decades. This was another good find for the short-lived Trident Records which also hosted some other greats like Semiramis and Biglietto per l'Inferno. There was another folk rock band with the same name from Italy just to confuse everyone!

This album is really a brilliant concoction of steaming jazz-fusion laced with healthy doses of space rock. In fact at times they drop the jazz-rock all together and venture into Krautrock territory. This is an all instrumental album that finds Fiorenzo Michele Bonansone (keyboards, cello, vocals), Marco Di Castri (guitar, sax), Furio Di Castri (bass) and Enrico Grosso (drums) synergizing their energetic and eclectic talents to create a nice mix of styles that takes a little from the jazziest sounds of the Soft Machine and mixes in some highly eclectic avant-garde jazz, psychedelic freak outs and energetic solos. The sound despite the tempo is always warm and inviting and can range from frantic Mahavishnu Orchestra type workouts to subdued Weather Report passages.

This one has really been a grower. Although i liked it a lot upon first listen, it has managed to burrow deep into my psyche. It just incorporates enough diversity and technical prowess to keep me thoroughly entertained upon repeated listens. If dreamy syncopated rhythms with tasty solos and tight group interaction is what you're craving in your jazz-fusion experience then you should look no further than this debut album by DEDALUS. This delivers for both jazz lovers and progressive rock lovers alike. Unfortunately they would never release another album like this again and moved into even more experimental musique concrète for their second release. If you have one of the newer remastered versions of this you will find the second album tacked onto the end. In my case it's not even listed as being on the album. It's just a surprise! 4.5 rounded up!