TURNING POINT

Vanishing Dream features seven previously unheard live studio recordings. The two versions of The Eppik, are totally new to listeners having never been released in any form. The performance throughout will satisfy anybody who appreciates Turning Points easily identifiable and unique sound. This release shows that Turning Point were able to create memorable hooks and highly accessible melodies. Nevertheless, they skilfully manage to maintain interest with complex and contrasting vocal and instrumental passages. The live nature of the recordings enables the band to take the opportunity to stretch out and develop ideas and motifs merely hinted at in the original versions. Perhaps more importantly, Vanishing Dream shows how Turning Point were able to seamlessly blend jazz and rock into a fascinating stylistic fusion.

The medieval-styled cover only heightens the parallels between Turning Point's work and jazz fusion as practiced by Return To Forever, though once again Silent Promises delivers something a bit more than that. With touches of a Canterbury-styled "voice as instrument" approach courtesy of Pepi Lemer (who would later be the Spice Girls' vocal coach!), the album largely continues the approach of the band's debut album - indeed, the most convenient way to get this, outside of the 2012 CD rerelease in Japan, is as part of a 2009 compilation on Vocalion bringing this together with the debut album, and the two go together so smoothly that you can't tell when one ends and the other begins. That's positive in terms of consistency, but also suggests that the band didn't have that deep of a bag of tricks - perhaps explaining why this was their swansong.

Jeff Clyne and Brian Miller's post-Isotope project produced this debut album for the Gull label, which is mostly known these days for having been Judas Priest's home for their first two albums. No metal here though - instead, jazz fusion in the school of Return To Forever is the order of the day, along with wordless vocals from Pepi Lemer in a voice-as- instrument style reminiscent of many Canterbury groups. (Indeed, the band would support National Health on some concerts during their brief existence). It's a solid album which, naturally, sank like a stone in the commercial environment of the time, but thank goodness groups like this were defying fashion and continuing to carve out a space for progressive music in a time when the industry had decided to largely turn its back on this sort of thing.

TURNING POINT were a British Jazz-Rock/Fusion band of the late 1970's with two albums to their credit:- "Creatures of the Night" (1977) and "Silent Promise" (1978). They emerged from the remnants of another short-lived Jazz-Rock/Fusion band by the name of Isotope. Turning Point are closely associated with the Canterbury Scene, ably supporting National Health on their U.K tour in 1977. After a final tour in 1980, Turning Point broke up and went their separate ways. "Creatures of the Night" contains four pieces of music around the five minute mark on Side One, with three longer improvisational tunes of seven or eight minutes duration on Side Two. Although the mostly Jazzy instrumentals don't contain any actual lyrics, there's a stunning vocalese performance from Pepi Lemer to be heard throughout the album.

Put your feet up and relax because we're getting into a mellow mood for the album opener "My Lady C", a nicely laid-back piece of instrumental Jazz, featuring delicate percussion, soothing guitars and a subdued brass section. Listen carefully for the hauntingly beautiful wordless vocals from Pepi Lemer too. They really add a whole extra dimension to this captivating piece of music with its hypnotic enchanting rhythm. "My Lady C" is the smoothest of smooth jazz and marks a very auspicious opening to the album. It's easy to see why Turning Point would have been the perfect match made in Jazz heaven when they supported the Canterbury Scene band National Health on their 1977 U.K tour, as the music of Turning Point is very similar in style to the aforementioned band. The obvious similarities between the two bands are even more prevalent on the second piece of music: "The Journey". Again, it's another warm-sounding and melodious tune, with the added benefit of those heavenly vocalise overdubs from Pepi Lemer. The Canterbury Scene vocalise trio of Barbara Gaskin, Amanda Parsons and Ann Rosenthal immediately springs to mind from both the Hatfield & the North and the National Health line-ups. In fact, the sophisticated Jazzy music of Turning Point is as close to the Canterbury Scene sound as you can possibly get without actually being *IN* the Canterbury Scene, so you'll know exactly what to expect from this album if you're at all familiar with the Canterbury Scene sound. The third song "Vanishing Dream" is a two-part piece of music, with the first part sounding like some horrid musical nightmare, with its discordant improvisational mish-mash of sounds. Thankfully, this manic free-for-all only lasts for just over a minute before the music emerges like a beautiful butterfly into a tranquil dream of smooth and melodious Jazz. We now arrive at the title track "Creatures of the Night" for the closing song on Side One. It's a lively and up-tempo instrumental Jazz number following in the best traditions of Hatfield & the North and National Health. "Creatures of the Night" is a remarkably uplifting piece of music for a song without lyrics, and that accolade applies to the album as a whole too.

"Princess Aura" is the first of the lengthier songs on the album, running at over eight minutes long, so there's plenty of time for some Jazzy experimentation here. The music alternates between gently laid-back tunes, interspersed with lively outbreaks of intricate and complex Jazz. This is the kind of wild improvisational Jazz where a drummer really gets to test his mettle with some very tricky offbeat time signatures. The end result is a very diverse and endlessly entertaining piece of music that deserves repeated listening to admire the expert musicianship on offer here. The dynamic keyboard player and spirited horn section sound like they're having a real blast, and there is of course the added princess-like aura of Pepi Lemer's wordless vocals to add sheer delight to the overall sound of "Princess Aura". We're slowing the pace down somewhat for "Rain Dance", a laid-back groovy Jazz number featuring a sensational sax solo and a sassy synthesiser in accompaniment, ably aided and abetted by a funky percussionist beating out a syncopated rhythm. If it's damp and dismal outside, then what better way to pass the time than listening to "Rain Dance" inside. The weather outlook is looking good now as "Better Days" are on the way. "Better Days" is the seventh and final piece of music on the album, featuring a simply stunning synth solo and a rousing horn section, and just as you'd expect from the concluding song, it's an emotionally uplifting piece of music to close out the album in fine style. All of the music on the album is of a consistently high standard, but in a classic case of saving the best song till last, Turning Point have really delivered their ace in the hole with "Better Days". This talented bunch of musicians have graduated with flying colours and full honours here in the University of Jazzy Prog.

Turning Point's very impressive debut is an album with obvious appeal to fans of the Canterbury Scene sound of Hatfield & the North and National Health. "Creatures of the Night" also has the added benefit of being far more approachable and listenable than the endlessly complex music of Hatfield & the North. If you've already tentatively dipped your toes into the Canterbury Scene with the melodic music of Caravan, then this album would make an ideal turning point on the long and winding Canterbury Scene trail. Turning Point's sophomore album "Silent Promise" (1978) might be worth checking out too if you like this album.

Including two members of UK fusion band Isotope (Jeff Clyne and Brian Miller), Turning Point released two albums (1977, 1978) on the same label (Gull). Without the "fire and fury" of Gary Boyle's guitar (wonderful though it was) Turning Point offered us melodic jazz/fusion in the same area as Ian Carr/Nucleus and, to some extent the "Canterbury sound" bands of that decade. (Indeed Clyne also played in Canterbury scene band Gilgamesh). Featuring the wordless singing of Pepi Lemer, the music is at times light and airy, sometimes thoughtful and reflective, always imspiring.

This is the first of their two albums, which are similar and together offer nearly an hour and half of excellent music. In fact both were reissued as a 2CD pack by Vocalion in 2009 (the year Clyne died) and are still available. First class.