THE COMPLETE RADIO SESSIONS 1972/1974

Nurt was a band from Poland playing some sort of jazzy prog, though very eclectic in the sense that they seemed to plaý whatever came to them. That can be a good thing but could also spell confusion and bewilderment. But! I do feel that they get away with it.

The sound on this album is very raw and though recorded in the studio for radio airplay I get the feeling that this is the way they sounded live and that makes me very interested indeed. The music is very bluesy and quite typical, to some extent, of the early progressive scene that came out of jazz, rock and blues. You won't find many classical ingredients, rather a stripped down and dirty progressive rock, bordering on hardrock.

The two opening tracks are great stuff, especially the second. It's heavy and raw bluesy, progressive rock. The fourth track, Syn strachu, reminds med of Deep Purple bar the organ but holds a surprising trumpet solo, performed in a sort of primitive Miles Davis fashion. Interesting track, which leaves the Purple territory and heads into some sort of ballad and back to the jazzy menace of Davis vs. Purple. Morze ognia is more hardrock, Holograficzne Widmo is progressive and Gato is simply raucious but great.

It is an interesting piece of history, this compilation. It showcases the diversity of Eastern bloc progressive. I like it because of the rawness but also the vision of music as something more than genres and cohesiveness. Interesting but not for everyone. I would rate it three stars but some of the music is worth more. Still, I would never part from it. It attracts me in a primitive, earthy way.