DJABE & STEVE HACKETT: FREYA - ARCTIC JAM

Steve Hackett is the man behind the greatest Genesis records, known for their brilliant solos and his beautiful, atmospheric guitars. His solo career is truly amazing, with records that rank among the best of all time, such as Voyage of the Acolyte and Spectral Mornings.

Talking about him in a place like this may seem redundant or even irrelevant, but it's good to clarify certain aspects: Steve Hackett's career practically stagnated after the 1980 album Defector. After that, he released very little?or almost nothing?until the mid-'90s, when he began to squeeze the juice out of his work with Genesis. Those amazing reworkings took him to the Olympus of music, resurrecting his career. His quality as a composer is undeniable, and his guitar playing is truly exceptional. Along with Steve Howe and Robert Fripp, Hackett is one of the most creative guitarists of the golden age of progressive music and a pioneer of a unique sound and style.

Hackett has always leaned toward experimentation and innovation, so his latest work with DJABE comes as no surprise.

DJABE is a Hungarian jazz-fusion band formed in 1995 by bass guitarist Tamás Barabás and composer/percussionist Attila Égerházi. Their music blends jazz, progressive rock, and world music, often featuring complex rhythms, rich melodies, and atmospheric soundscapes. The band's name, DJABE, comes from an African Ashanti word meaning "freedom." Over the years, DJABE has worked with several notable musicians.

Freya Arctic Jam: This album is beautiful?a musical odyssey through landscapes and moments that unfold with each chord, with each sound. Now, if we consider it prog, it has elements here and there, but not much. It's like a Hackett album, except this time he has donned a costume and transformed into Pat Metheny. DJABE, for their part, doesn't sound like DJABE either. Despite being an exceptional album, it feels like an indulgent exercise in late '80s jazz fusion.

This is not the first collaboration between these two musicians, but it is the one where Steve Hackett is least noticeable and, as I said before, he shifts roles.

Personally, I think this album, beyond its intrinsic beauty, loses strength as the minutes pass. Despite being extraordinary, it becomes stagnant and weak at times. However, whenever it falls into those gaps, the music flows again?like an iceberg slowly beginning to liquefy.

But, this album has its own thing. It's not exactly a masterpiece, but it's a fusion album with Steve Hackett playing; that's as progressive as it gets. But as a jazz fusion album, it's extraordinary, very much in the Pat Metheny vein, but with that European taste. A great show for lovers of good music.

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