GILGAMESH

One of the band's that emerged after the Canterbury's heyday nevertheless responsible for tethering together two prominent acts in the Scene, namely the extraordinarily larger-than-life supergroup Hatfield and the North and the also late to the scene but equally relevant National Health. GILGAMESH, named after a historical Sumerian king of the city-state, Uruk, was formed in 1972 by Alan Gowen, who entered the music world through the Afrobeat fusion band Assagai in 1971 before joining the ranks of the Canterbury jazz club.

After three years of various lineups including such Canterbury stalwarts as Richard Sinclair and a veritable who's who cast in the Canterbury world, a self-titled debut finally emerged in the final year of first run with the lineup of Gowen (piano, synthesizers, mellotrons), MikeTravis (drums), Jeff Clyne (bass) and Phil Lee (guitars). There are a few brief appearances by Amanda Parsons whose angelic ethereal siren effects clearly bring the Hatfield and the North connections to the forefront.

What comes off as a more straight forward jazz-fusion album than contemporary Canterbury music of the early 70s with a more orchestral sort of flow to the album, GILGAMESH still contains an ample dosage of angular harmonic complexities laced with subtle self-deprecating humorous effects most obvious in the track titles as well as on the album cover that depicts the game Chutes And Ladders depicted in a life on the road, the musician's guide approach.

Musically this debut is more airy with a floaty feather in the clouds sort of feel with the harshness emerging in the free-for-all compositional twists and turns that are presented in the three tracks that contain mini-suites however even tracks like "Notwithstanding" present some challenging jazz workouts that implement that indescribable Canterbury warmth that separates it from the rest of the jazz-rock world.

While clearly derived from the Hatfield and the North projects with Dave Stewart even joining in for vocal arrangements and co- production, GILGAMESH not only eschews the pure copy and paste approach by adding different stylistic meanderings but in retrospect provides the bridge between H&theN to the more dynamic complexities that Gowen would fully come to master on the National Health albums.

While tracks like the lengthy cumbersomely titled "One End More / Phil's Little Dance - For Phil Miller's Trousers / Worlds Of Zin" are quite exciting with all the unexpected twists and turns through dynamic, tempos and angular jitteriness the Canterbury Scene presupposes, there are lazy lackluster tracks such as the piano ballad "Lady And Friend," which sort of lollygag in a linear direction and provide nothing more than nice dinner music for an ear sensitive date.

GILGAMESH may not have released the most memorable slice of Canterbury with their eponymous debut but there is still a lot to love here with unexpected frenetic outbursts of creativity emerging between longer bouts of placidity. This album is also an important bridge between the two more important supergroups that rank amongst the best the Scene offered. The band would break up after this debut only to scatter and rejoin other groups but Gowen would reform the band with yet another lineup for the 1979 followup "Another Fine Tune You've Got Me Into." In short, not the best Canterbury album but well worth the time.

3.5 but rounded up for the excellent musicianship on board