Второе дыхание / SECOND WIND

In 1985 Arsenal return with their third studio effort, the album ''Second wind''.Compared to the previous line-up Kozlov had retained much of the former musicians and expanded his supporting armour with two new keyboardists, Alexander Beliaev and Andrey Vinogradov, as well as pianist Michail Alperin.Needless to mention that Melodyia was again the distributing label.

Arsenal had become masters on mixing ethereal Fusion instrumentals with a bit more fascinating and challenging offerings and the result is an atmosphere rarely seen, where Lounge Jazz textures with melodic saxes and discreet synthesizers are met with dense and intricate moves on guitar and keyboards, which can only be found in progressive groups.Of course the band still shows a strong sense of melody with Kozlov's emotional sax tunes in the forefront, offering themes inspired both by Jazz and Classical Music, and a nice supporting team of keyboards, electric piano and electric guitars backing him up.But the album will often sink into a more complex mood with CAMEL and FOCUS underlines, the guitars become more pronounced, the keyboard work alternates between light electric piano and sharper synthesizers and then come Kozlov's turn for a more emphatic sax performance.And then there is some touch of humour and joy in the process, like on ''Funky-Charleston'' and the overall vintage style of funky and 30's-flavored tunes and the following ''Provincial tango'' with the Latin-spiced touches and the surprising use of an accordion.I am quite surprised by the instrumental diversity of this classic Russian combo, while Jazz seems to be the main source of inspiration, there is so much going one here to simplify the music as Jazz-Fusion.Symphonic keyboards, ethnic tunes and even beats of Electronic Music pop up here and there.

While not flawless or masterful, ''Second wind'' is definitely a winner among Fusion releases of the mid-80's, keeping the spirit of adventurous music up high.Recommended to all fans of jazzy Prog Rock or instrumental Fusion...3.5 stars.