HAZARD

This is the third and probably the best album of PREDMESTJE, a Slovenian based fusion combo from former Yugoslavia. For this occasion the group line-up radically changed leaving keyboardist Andrej Pompe as the sole founding member. He was accompanied by the four of earlier disbanded jazz-rock group IZVIR, which for their own part released their only, excellent self-titled debut in 1977.

Sound of "Hazard" is fresh and well-produced, introducing elements of funk and jazz-funk, in the vein of Herbie Hancock. Solo parts are tasteful and just in right places. This is especially evident for lead guitar, electric piano and synths. Addition of timbales invokes a SANTANA's Latino feel. Vocals are reduced to only one singing track ("Mislec sveta"), while scat vocals are used more frequently, which better suits this style of music. They are used efficiently as an additional instrument. All the tracks are excellent, offering an extremely pleasant listening experience, while "Aleja" contains a nice and melodic main guitar theme that keeps listener wishing to replay it again and again.

At times, particularly in the vocal moments, PREDMESTJE again sounds like jazzier incarnation of CAMEL from the "Moonmadness" period. Along with early LEB I SOL albums, "Hazard" is one of the best jazz-rock albums of the era and is therefore recommended to all prog/jazz/rock lovers.

3.5 stars. A perfect rating for me, it's in the middle of the pack of the Jazz and related albums I have heard since last September which is a ton of music. "Hazard" is the third of four studio albums that this Jazz/Rock Fusion band from Yugoslavia recorded and this is from 1980. Very interesting that the sole original member(keyboardist) basically hired everyone from the band IZVER but their keyboardist of course to create this third album plus he added a sax player who adds both tenor and soprano. I have that IZVER album from 1977 and would rate this one a half star better.

One of the songs I really like is "Aleja" with those vocal melodies which will stop when the drums kick in. The guitar solos tastefully over top. More vocal expressions around 1 1/2 minutes but not for long then some nice guitar 4 minutes in.The vocals return late to end it. My favourite though is "Mislec Sveta" surprisingly because it's the only song with straight up vocals in their own language too but it's all good. He was good on that IZVER album too. I like the spacey synths and guitar as well. The title track would round out my top three. Mostly for the guitar after 4 minutes but we get sax and piano as well leading the way after a mellow start with the wind blowing.

A nice album, very well done but not without issues for me which I won't pass on right now. Just my tastes.