ERNA MORENA

ASSOCIATION PC formed in 1969 and were originally known as ASSOCIATION before adding drummer Pierre Curbois' initials to that name. They pretty much operated as a four piece, except for live shows where they brought in a guest adding either sax or flute as the solo instruments. And it's their first two live records including this one that I seem to be allergic to. I am a fan of "Ear Wax" from 1970 and "Sun Rotation" from 1971, their first two studio albums, but man that free jazz element is amped way up when they play live.

The live "Mama Kuku" featured american Jeremy Steig on flute and he was relentless to the point of ruining it for me. So I picked up "Erna Morena" their first live release, basically because I knew Jeremy wasn't on here, and as I said I am a big fan of their first two studio albums so they deserved a second shot. We get a sax player on here as a soloist, also playing clarinet. This really comes across as a band improvising and jamming, mostly on the two final suites which represent about 37 minutes of music.

The opener is my favourite as they begin with bass and drums before keys then sax join in and away we go for 8 minutes. Man these guys can play. I just wish I liked the style of music they were playing more. When the sax steps aside the guitar kicks in, then the keys replace the guitar as the solo instrument. I really like the drumming throughout this release, and the album ends with a drum solo.

This record was recorded by SWF on April 25, 1972 at a Jazz Session at Freiburg University in Germany. And while I think that keyboardist Jasper Van't Hof is the most talented player on here, we get a talented drummer along with Toto Blanke on guitar. Not too shabby. And I like how this band has always been a collaboration of German and Dutch musicians. I will stick to those first two excellent studio albums and leave the live records for the more adventerous music fans. 3 stars is all I got.