MASTER CYLINDER

One of the rarest Canterbury Scene worshippers, MASTER CYLINDER emerged from one of the least Canterbury locations i can think of, Ft Worth, Texas, USA. Only The Muffins who came before really represented the USA in any way, shape or form when it comes to the Canterbury Scene and while that Washington, DC band has become somewhat of a cult favorite, MASTER CYLINDER remains firmly in the obscurity bins scarcely known even by self-proclaimed Canterbury freaks. Perhaps the only other act i can think of who beat them both to the punch is the even rarer example of Richie Duvall and Dog Truck. The Muffins surely must've provided inspiration for the band.

Considering the jazz-rock sounds of the Canterbury Scene have a decidedly English flavor it's even more surprising how extremely well MASTER CYLINDER adapted the tones and textures of early Caravan and Isotope with the more stellar compositional fortitude of the master of the CS, National Health. Led by keyboard virtuoso Joe Rogers, the band's sole album ELSEWHERE featured finger breaking piano rolls in league with jazz greats like McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor. The band also consisted of Robert Atwood on guitars, Jack Carter on basses and Eddie Dunlap on drums. Four additional musicians provided the big band sounds from several brass and wind instruments.

ELSEWHERE has been described as typical English jazz-rock fusion that incorporated the warmth of Canterbury primarily in the light breezy delivery of bands like Gilgamesh only with Caravan's clever hooks and National Health's ability to make hairpin turns seamlessly. There is also a clear Happy The Man symphonic presence which adds atmospheric knottiness to the whole affair. The band was amazingly accomplished and seasoned as musicians and the tracks are diverse and sustain interest throughout the seven tracks that just miss the 44 minute mark. ELSEWHERE appeared in 1981 on the Inner City Records but was quickly forgotten considering the age of prog had fully waned and new wave, post-punk and heavy metal were the new kids on the block dominating the music scene.

While i find the album's primary sensual breeziness to be the dominate factor, the band resonates as finding its main inspiration in Gilgamesh yet achieves much more interesting compositions than that band ever did. Through the course of this album's run, MASTER CYLINDER showcases its mastery of the jazz-rock fusion scene with a whole slew of influences such as Weather Report, Return To Forever, Isotope and myriad Canterbury acts amongst others. Starting square away with the opening "Overture" the music displays strange jazzy chord progressions, loads of time signature changes, dramatic shifts of dynamics and instrumental interplay. Tracks like "Isabelle" feature the laid back smoothness of the album which dominates the entire run but there are more than enough uptempo outbursts and moments of strange avant-garde passages.

While one hardly associates the 1980s with anything remotely Canterbury, especially the complex adventurous styles that had climaxed with bands like National Health only a few years prior, MASTER CYLINDER swam upstream to release this sophisticated slice of Southern USA Canterbury which still seems hard to believe that such an exquisite work of this style came from such a place! Apparently there was only one vinyl release and all desires to reissue on CD were crushed when it was discovered that the masters had been lost. Hopefully someone will digitally record from the album at least because this album truly is a beautiful specimen of Canterbury jazz-rock splendor that far exceeds the talents of many similar minded bands that came before. Well worth multiple listens.

I've been aware of Master Cylinder since 1996. I certainly regretted not trying them earlier because I was truly amazed! Given their sole album Elsewhere came out in 1981 and this band hailed from Texas, I didn't expect them to be remarkable, or the music simply too '80s sounding for my liking. When I think Texas, I think of blues-based rockers like ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Master Cylinder is totally unbelievable: a Fort Worth band playing Canterbury music that's not a million miles from the likes of Hatfield & the North, Soft Machine, Gilgamesh, even the Muffins. Like the Muffins the group is all-instrumental. What blows me aware other than all that, is this group not only managed this in 1981 but can hold its own with the likes of the Muffins as well as the UK bands of the '70s. The tragedy is this was only released on vinyl on the Inner City label and never reissued in any capacity whatsoever (I could see this on Cuneiform Records). This has everything I came to love of this kind of music, very creative jazzy passages, nice use of analog keyboards, all '70s, even the music sounds like it made in the 1970s, not the beginning of the '80s. The music is often complex and challenging. The cover depicting, which I guess to be chaos at a New York City intersection, gives no clues what amazing music you'll be getting within. How did these guys pull this off in Texas? Especially in Fort Worth. Regardless a huge surprise for me, and clearly one of the best albums from the early '80s I've heard.

MASTER CYLINDER were based out of Fort Worth, Texas and released this sole album back in 1981. Keyboardist Joe Rogers was the driving force of this band and he was greatly influenced by the music of Frank Zappa and SOFT MACHINE before getting into WEATHER REPORT and Chick Corea. So the music here is very jazzy, and most places I've looked have tagged this album as Canterbury just to give you an idea of the sound. THE MUFFINS and even NATIONAL HEALTH could also certainly be mentioned when talking about this all-instrumental record.

"Overture" certainly changes tempos a lot from the uptempo keyboard led intro where we get some excellent bass lines to the calm that follows. Flute before 2 minutes as it has picked up again then it settles right down again with piano and horns coming and going. It's building again but again it settles back quickly. Full speed ahead before 4 minutes as jazzy drums and bass help out. "Isabelle" is laid back with piano, bass and drums before synths and more join in as it picks up. This is very jazzy especially before 1 1/2 minutes with piano, drums and bass. Back to that opening theme before it picks up again.

"Elsewhere" is the longest track at over 10 minutes. Cymbals to start as the sound swells and recedes over and over until after 2 minutes when drums and a darker sound take over. I like this. Horns join in but it's relaxed until it picks up around 3 minutes, jazzy is the word. Nice bass solo a minute later and I really dig the jazzy piano, drums and bass after 5 1/2 minutes. Even the guitar sounds jazzy after 7 minutes. It starts to settle back before 9 minutes.

"Silhouette" is led by keys, drums and bass in this energetic intro before it settles right down with synths and more. Piano after 1 1/2 minutes then this almost silent calm follows with faint sounds until the bass, cymbals, synths and more arrive. It's still relaxed until it picks late to end it. "Sleep 1937" is another jazzy uptempo number with horns, bass and drums standing out. It does settle some after 2 minutes with intricate sounds coming and going before it settles even more with random drum patterns and other sounds. Electric piano 4 minutes in as it starts to build with drums and synths. It's uptempo again after 4 1/2 minutes. Jazzy bass a minute later then horns. Nice.

"Plus 3" has this pulsating rhythm before it calms down around a minute. Keys join in as well and lead the way before that pulsating rhythm returns. Keyboards come in over top then we get a calm as this intricate drum solo takes over but it's brief. It's pulsating again. A calm 7 minutes with melancholic synths and more. Bass to the fore after 7 1/2 minutes. It's fuller and brighter before 9 minutes, guitar as well to the end. "Hobb & Geeb" features some impressive drums work and I really like the electric piano and bass. A calm before 2 1/2 minutes with flute and intricate sounds. Picked guitar late joins in this uptempo soundscape. There's even a Classical vibe the way it ends.

Kind of a cool album cover that connects with the title of album. I don't love this album as sometimes it comes across as little lightweight for my tastes at times but overall I think it deserves 4 stars. There's some really impressive moments and passages that make me look forward to spinning this one.

Master Cylinder is an obscure american band who manage to release only one album in 1980 named Elsewhere isseud at unknown label Inner City Records . A jazz rock band clearly influence by canterbury movement with National Health or Caravan as similarities but I can trace some Happy the Man progressions in their music aswell. This is quite good release, a total unknown and forgotten album that might be considered as a lost canterbury treasure. Not much is known about this band, they gone into oblivion fast but there are some nice synth parts,jazzy brass arrangements aswell primarily constructed with progressive flavours. 3 solid stars maybe 3.5 in parts.