VOYAGE TO URANUS

A few months album the debut's release, Clive Stevens returned to the studio, but this time, the line-up is less stellar, even if Ralph Towner (keyboards) and John Abercrombie (guitars) are still present, with the former also toys with 12-string guitar. Stu Woods (bass) and Mike Carvin (drums) replace the MO alumni rhythm section along with Johnson on percussion. Again recorded in a NY studio and still released in 74, the album's cover with an intriguing flowing naked humans tripping out on whatever they took.

Opening the album, Shifting Phase is hotter and faster than anything on the first album, nearing RTF or MO execution speed (Aber even sounds a bit like McL), but this is not the case of the next few tracks, Inner Spaces And Outer Places even using a strong mid-tempo riff, while Aber, Towner and Stevens are jumping stars and galaxies with superb mastery, especially Aber's guitar. However the album takes on a contemplative turn with the really slow Un Jour Dans Le Monde, an ideal vehicle for Stevens' soft sax playing.

The flipside is definitely slower and more introspective, but it is no less hot-er than the afore- mentioned Shifting Phases track, even if the almost-9mins Water Rhythms is like a supernova exploding your mind. The album close on the aptly-titled Return To Earth and indeed it was a cool cosmic glide between galaxies, black holes and other spaceships, with Stevens shifting to a calm flute.

With its second and final album Voyage To Uranus (ever wonder why Uranus and never Neptune??), Stevens would not renew the experience again (most likely for sales and visibility issues - JR/F groups abounded in a more or less closed microcosm - and the project ends with this album. Just two largely forgotten albums, but well worth the hunt if you're into that trip. And I am.

Clive Stevens and "friends"' second and final album together--both published within the same calendar year. Multi- instrumentalist Ralph Towner and guitarist John Abercrombie return from two years before while the rest of the rhythm section has been replaced.

1. "Shifting Phases" (6:55) a great galloping horseback riding rhythm track over which John Abercrombie's jazz guitars and Clive Stevens' saxophone swoop and soar; great energy straight off the bat with the bass, drums, and rhythm guitar's funky groove. Great engineering in that every instrument is fully defined--though I don't like the dirty distortion effect used on Ralph Towner's Fender Rhodes electric piano. I like the fact that each of the instrumentalists remains actively engaged and creatively contributing while other band members are having their turns soloing. I'd give this full marks were it a little more memorable in the melody department. (14/15)

2. "Culture Release" (6:50) The song opens up with some impressive whole-group showmanship over the course of 30- seconds of complex chord and melody transitions but then the song settles into a high-speed R&B form within which clavinet, guitar, and soprano sax trade lightning fast bursts of soloing; it's constructed like a geometrical mathematical until the soloists (clavinet, electric guitar, sax, electric bass, and drums) start trading barbs at the end of the first minute, then it sounds like Todd Rundgren's first Utopia album. Drummer Michael Thabo Carvin gets the clear-out effect for an extended isolated solo in the third and fourth minute, and then everybody comes back together just like at the beginning as if they were calmly starting over: no problem! And the jam continues! Great performances--even Michael Thabo Carvin's extended drum solo--considering the lightning speed of the main rhythm track. Never quite heard the clavinet solo like Ralph Towner plays it here. Very impressive--though, again, I wish there were more attention to melody than riffing. (13.5/15)

3. "Inner Spaces and Outer Places" (5:15) slowing it down with some low-end chord play from Stu Woods and Ralph Towner while John Abercrombie's guitars and Clive Stevens' multiple horns loosely provide a lazy, unsynchronized melody over the top. In the second minute the sonic field thins as the low-end chords stop while two guitars solo, at the same time, as if in completely different universes! Saxes and Fender Rhodes give a kind of Steely Dan support while the rhythm section offers a solid foundation beneath. Weird that I find myself listening more to Ralph Towner's chord play, Stu Woods' bass lines, or David Earl Johnson's congas more than the rest; I guess I'm not much of a fan of either of the guitarists' sound choices or their soloing styles. (8.875/10)

4. "Un Jour Dans Le Monde" (4:43) aqueous and dreamy soundscape established by Ralph's Fender and Clive's saxophone. The gentle arpeggiating of the guitar tracks also helps. This is the kind of song that is challenging for percussionists to contribute to without disturbing the mood--bass, too--but Stu, David, and Michael do a fair job. Nice melody established from the beginning and perpetuated nicely by Clive and the John Abercrombie throughout the entire song. Nice song texturally but sometimes a little draggin' (9/10)

5. "Voyage To Uranus" (5:52) opens side two as if a continuation or variation on the previous song with sax leading the melody and guitar, Fender, and percussion helping to fill the field with gentle, dreamy stuff. Once the intro is moved passed, the rhythmatists establish an equally-gentle and -melodic foundation over which Clive solos. There's a little Bob James-like feel to this music despite a slightly-more-active bass and percussionist. Clive's solos are rather engaging, not off-putting as so many sax solos can be (for me), but Ralph's Fender Rhodes work (and John Abercrombie's rhythm guitar work) is a bit too saccharine like so much of Bob James' arrangements. (8.75/10)

6. "Electric Impulse From The Heart" (4:15) opening with a rather mysterious yet-melodic arpeggioed keyboard chord sequence similar to many of JEAN-LUC PONTY's songs over the next ten years but, at the same time having a little RETURN TO FOREVER/MAHAVISHNU edginess to it--all in rather gentle support of Clive's effected saxophone play. The hypnotic song slips by so quickly that I find myself surprised each time when it ends. (8.875/10)

7. "Water Rhythms" (8:44) a one minute long intro that seems to be built around a jazz-rock-infused R&B motif turns into a more forward-moving smooth jazz motif with some heavier drumming, more dynamic soul-R&B rhythm guitar strumming, slightly more brash sax and Fender Rhodes soloing--all of which takes it out of its smooth categorization and places it firmly into the realm of some kind of neighborhood-cruising R&B. In the last two minutes a rising-and- then-falling sequence of full chords of ominosity repeat themselves a few times before the band brings it all to a crashing end. Interesting. Not my favorite but a solid, decent song. (17.75/20)

8. "Return To The Earth" (5:15) Clive on flute is supported by 12-string guitar picking and delicate bass and drum play with rich electric piano arpeggiations and chord sequences. At the end of the third minute John Abercrombie's electric jazz guitar solos as Ralph Towner accompanies on one of the 12-strings. This is more like the kind of stuff I was hoping for! With all of the tracks of guitars plus Fender Rhodes it is obvious that Ralph and John are each using multiple tracks--and these are the tracks that my brain gravitates to. An interesting--and totally unexpected--way to end the album! (8.875/10)

A collection of very impressive performances, to be sure, coming through in interesting, unusual compositions. Though I like the sound engineering better on this album than it's predecessor, I like the dynamic diversity and whole- band entanglement of their debut better; this album feels more like a Clive Stevens album whereas the eponymously- titled debut felt more reliant on collaboration.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of melodic jazz rock fusion. While there are some songs not to be missed here, there are several that just miss the mark.