VOLCANO

This German act is really a pleasant surprise for all lovers and collectors of 70s jazz-fusion and jazz- prog: founded in Nuremberg at the beginning of the aforementioned decade, Cry Freedom delivers a vigorous, playful sort of jazz-rock that in the debut album "Vulcano" comprised some aggressive sonorities very much in tune with the krautrock loose standards, but mostly, Cry Freedom belongs in the breed of Embryo, with noticeable flirtations with Egg-style Canterbury rather than with the lysergic deliveries of Exmagma, Gila or Dzyan. Good vibes are the main components of the band's compositions and arrangements. The opener 'Euthanasie-Suite' gets started with a warm rhythm that allows the band to display its positive vibe: as much as the Group shows its well-amalgamated feel, there is obviously a room for the wind player to shine in a particular way whenever he takes center stage. The song's sung portions remind me a bit of Zappa, but it is the Egg factor that prevails all the way through. 'Ländlich' follows a much more colorful path, based on the elaboration of effective melodic developments that flaunt their inherent sophistication through the various pace shifts. This is the closest that the band gets to the standards of essential prog rock, without really letting go of the Canterbury element. 'Epitaph', despite the title's deadly allusions, happens to be an extroverted exercise on jazz-prog that pretty much reminds the listener of the opener. The track's concise framework makes the band sound a bit tighter across the developing swing, which in turn reminds me of Nosferatu. The follower is a 10 ½ minute piece structured around a solid jam in which the musicians take turns to state sonic sources of fun and joy, as well as showing their respective skills. Every one here reveals how capable they are, but my personal preferential vote goes for the drummer, the owner of a peculiar swing full of rocking nuances; another special vote goes for the bassist, who provides pertinent melodically driven ornaments to his robust interventions. 'Mambo Auf Burg Eckbertstein', since it bears the word "mambo" in its title, may lead us to supposed that it is leaned toward Latin-jazz, and for the first section our idea is quite accurate. A later section, without letting of the sheerness, shifts toward denser moods that lead - once again - to Canterbury flirtations ("Soft Machine Vol. 2"-type). 'Bayrisch Blue' closes down the album on a humorous note, filled with airs of circus background music and ye-ye rock'n'roll (a Supersister influence, maybe?). While not a great masterpiece, "Volcano" is a very good exhibition of inventive jazz-fusion: Cry Volcano is a most interesting item in any good prog collection. 3.40 stars for this one.