SEA SON

Out of thousands of PA members so far only 48 have gotten around to rating the Secret Oyster's Sea Son, and there has been only one grassroots review. Well, here comes another one for your kind consideration.

It turns out I have had some Secret Oyster music for years, if not decades. It was quietly sitting "somewhere", along with a few hundred other wonderful pearls of the 1970 like Brigati, Skylark, Bob Crewe et al.

The secret of this particular Oyster clearly lies in the stellar musicianship and fine taste of its members, Karsten Vogel's saxes being the most memorable. I have been reading reviews that suggest Sea Son is somehow exploring the same vein as Mahavishnu Orchestra .. well, it's not, thankfully :). The Sea Son is vigorous and ebullient alright, but there is not a millisecond of cacophony on it. The balance between the full shredding capabilities of the band members and the sensibilities of a happy fusion album for normal listeners is correctly established and maintained for the whole duration of the album.

If you feel you absolutely have to compare the Sea Son to any non-Danish fusion album of the period, you may want to give a nod to early Weather Report or Return to Forever instead. But, as I always say, it would be best if listened to the Sea Son for yourself .. I think you can preview the whole album on YouTube, so you know what you are buying before you reach for your wallet or PayPal password.

To re-state: if I had to reduce my collection to 100 albums only (the hypothetical "desert island challenge", I guess that's what it's called?), I am certain the Sea Son would make the cut.