BLUE DOGS

If you can't get enough of The Muffins this is a great offshoot band. Named after their debut album, Manna/Mirage consists of 3 members from The Muffins, Dave Newhouse plays keyboards, woodwinds and drums in about half the tracks here, his son George plays the other half. Billy Swann on bass and Paul Sears appears only on one track Muffin Man Redux playing the drums, the only one missing is Tom Scott. This is very close to what The Muffins were doing in their early period and of course Soft Machine also come to mind. Their fantastic blend of Canterbury, jazz and some avant guarde shines throughout this very short album, only 35 minutes of music. Although the songs are relatively short about 4-5 minutes they sound complete and don't wander off. The playing is of course superb, Dave Newhouse is the main man here, with his masterful arrangements of multiple woodwinds, piano and keys being complemented with bass and drums.

The album opens with the aptly titled Canterbury Bells, this is all Newhouse, keys and horns lead the way on this buoyant journey on top of jazzy piano chords progressions, what a beautiful sound. Duke Street is some sort of a tribute to Duke Ellington so this one goes into jazzier territories, sonds like something out of the 50's with a better production, Newhouse really nails this one with a couple layers of woodwinds. Muffin Man Redux is one of the most diverse tunes in this album, it continues the jazzy mood and welcomes Mark Stanley with his Bireli Lagrene like jazzy guitar runs, Newhouse's piano work goes hand in hand with his multiple layers of horns which sets the ground for some Ratledge fuzzed out keyboard solo. The melancholic Lost In Photograph again derives from its title is a slow contemplative piece, with woodwinds takes the center. Blind Eye probably my favorite tune here adds a few more spices to the mix and goes into Zehul realms, it sounds like something out of the first Magma album as woodwinds sets the ground to a deep pulsating bass, sinister guitar licks and a blaring anguished sax, great stuff and a bit too short maybe. Shwang Time swings like another 50's big band tune where woodwinds again takes center stage, very cool. Rovian Cue is another melancholic tune full of emotion and melodic flair, a beautiful finish to this album.

A very promising debut indeed and a great addition to any Canterbury/Jazz fan. Although a very short release but it's more than rewarding, I sure hope more people will tune in to this great work. Rounded up a bit to 4 stars.