COSES NOSTRES

The opening short track has you heading down symphonic prog boulevard and you would have been admiring the view and sounds as it has promise. But then a sharp left (track 2) into JR/F avenue leaves you in no doubt where you are heading. Let's pray it won't be a cul de sac....Nova...the second track is firmly in the Return To Forever town planning oeuvre and not a hint of a smooth and lazy by numbers design. Plenty of guitar/keys mirroring and for once a bass player with chops but also the knowledge that it is his job to provide the solidity for what else is being layered on top. Twists and turns and no straight road...dynamics and atmosphere. Marvelous. This bleeds into the third track with a detour via ECM stylings and a prog layering of synths and I suppose being Spanish ... the old Scottish cattle prod comes out....or acoustic if you prefer (this will not translate well/reference may be lost on many) but only the merest suspicion of flamenco is in there. The only slight downer is the synth sound is a little thin and not as rich as I assume they were aiming for. La D'En Kiftus is my standout. And not just because they employ a guitar sound similar to Micky Jones of Man in parts. Loads of freak out keys/guitar response that works for me every time. Then a slurred bass riff takes this somewhere else before the guitar and keys guys decide they want to play the same thing before the bass and guitar man want their turn .More time changes and proggy keys builds. They know their stuff. Actually they do throw some flamenco scales and chordings into track 5 but it is subservient to the JR/F imprint. I can't make my mind up about the guitar man. Oh he can play and he certainly is attacking rather than carefully constructing and is probably close to Al Di Meolaesque with a nod to Akkerman and Bill Connors. I think, like I mentioned re synths earlier, it is a thin sound that stops me short of really singing his praises. This being 1976 it was unacceptable to put out a JR/F album without a funky track (A Valencia). This one has a Nektarish feel too, surprisingly. And doesn't dote on the funk. And you wouldn't expect to find BJH referenced either but some of the keys wash would fit with/from them. We close with 11/8 Manifest....now there's a time signature that makes my dancing make sense...and while it goes nowhere new from the above, it underscores how good this band/album is and I would take this/them all day long over say Brand X (far too polite). Sometimes obscure gems turn out to be diamonds and this lp plus Sentiments (1977) really are worth mining for. I can't vouch for the rest of the catalogue but it doesn't matter. These two albums are the business. Proper, proper JR/F.

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