AUGUST

Probably Ken Baird's strongest album, his debut features more concise phrasings and a less forced Mike Oldfield inspiration. This can be felt from the very first track which is like a hybrid of "Ommadawn" and "Incantations", albeit substantially less well developed. "Trio" is, appropriately, a three part instrumental that is very pleasant as well, while "Evening" is predominately a piano solo that works in its simplicity, whereas Baird's later works tended to be shrouded in a sort of facade of complexity. The album has very few vocals, but on "Song of Summer", Baird's collaboration with Sue Fraser is gently persuasive. As to be expected, he goes against his better judgement in the "August" suite that really is a collection of less well formed motifs barely held together. Still, this is at times an august album that is definitely the place to start if you must pluck a Ken Baird album from the virtual close out bins on the web.