ONE SHOT

One Shot started in late-90's as a project of former Magma members Emmanuel Borghi (keyboards) and James MacGaw (guitars).To complete the line-up they recruited another ex- Magma member, bassist Philippe Bussonnet (also a collaborator of Francois Thollot and later member of BBI) and drummer Daniel Jeand'heur (member of Francois Thollot's group, Amygdala and Pienza Ethnorkestra).One Shot started as a live band and actually their self- produced debut from 1999 was a one-day recording of tracks presented live at the time, which took place on 22th February, 1999 at Le Moulin de Villery and eventually saw a reissue by Soleil Zeuhl as ''Reforged'' in 2010 with a bonus track.

Good and challenging electric Jazz-Rock is the style met in the album, totally instrumental, and having a tendency towards furious grooves and dark dissonances.A pounding and powerful rhythm section leads all tracks, where MacGaw and Borghi are given plenty of space for full- blown interplays, solos and improvisations.There is a breezy air of a ''live'' atmosphere throughout with long breaks full of jazzy atonal battles, coming out of MacGaw's fiery guitar playing and Borghi's frenetic electric piano.The longer tracks are not surprisingly the more interesting ones with a variety in tempos and moods, being also more tightly structured, though a sense of free performance is always around.''One shot'' is among the most interesting pieces with a feeling of Electric and Canterbury Jazz-Rock dominating the sound in a mid- tempo delivery.The same atmosphere follows ''La Main du Diable'' and ''Un Jour dans l'Est'', two pieces divided into smooth jazzy interplays and heavy Jazz-Rock explosions with great performances by the members.The rest of the tracks are partly dissonant and hard-to-get-into pieces or heavy Jazz-Rock with a more dynamic atmosphere.

The material on ''One Shot'' is the result of a band wanting to put together the free sense of jamming with the more constructed face of Jazz-Rock, ending up to be a very long piece of music characterized of the fundamentals of these styles.Powerful, energetic and challenging, this release has a great luck to satisfy all fans of jazzy instrumental Rock music and even more.Recommended.