HAT AND FIELD

Wonderful Canterbury-inspired instrumental jazz fusion from Japan featuring some highly skilled (and classically trained) musicians in this reboot of the 1980 band that released the highly acclaimed (but more classically-oriented) A Story of Mysterious Forest.

1. "The Swan Lake" (5:45) quite CAMEL-esque (and quite nice). (9.5/10)

2. "Little Pieces part 1" (1:34) Fender Rhodes and synth washes. Pretty. (4.25/5)

3. "Suite - Hat and Field" (10:02) a beautiful and highly engaging suite. (18.5/20): - a) Triple Echo - opens with a FOCUS feel--with some tinges of Spanish and classical influences. - b) Hat & Field - other than the Jan Akkerman-like guitar play, this movement does have some Hatfield and the North feel to it. - c) Deep Feelin' - like this section with its acoustic guitar lead and rich keyboard and bass support (a little like something from Narada Michael Walden solo albums of the late 70s/early 80s) - d) Triple End - keys (Fender Rhodes) get the triple effect this time. - e) Spanish Channel - Not to sure about the "Spanish-ness" of this movement--other than a kind of tribute to Santa Esmeralda.

4. "Mizzle" (3:41) very tight whole-band jazz-rock fusion with everybody showing their skills and discipline. The drums are especially awesome but the bass track feels a little off-set. (8.75/10)

5. "Canterbury Tale" (for Pye Hastings & Richard Sinclair) (2:57) sounds rife for some Richard Sinclair vocal whimsy. (8.5/10)

6. "Magic Carpet" (6:57) some sophisticated time and polyrhythms conjure up the tighter songs on KING CRIMSON's Discipline but then move more into the realm of RETURN TO FOREVER. Nice melodies and performances throughout. The keyboardist's sounds and styles bear a striking resemblance to those of Chick Corea while the guitarist is more akin to Larry Coryell (to my ears). (13.5/15)

7. "Little Pieces part 2" (2:31) repeat configuration of the previous "Little Pieces" piece with a little more developed ABACAB structure. (4.25/5)

8. "Pipe Dream" (7:53) though starting out leaning to some of the more serious jazz-oriented Canterbury artists (like Hatfield, Gilgamesh, and later Soft Machine), the second section that begins at 3:50 is something straight out of a Camel album. Interesting amalgam! (13.75/15)

Total Time: 41:20

While all the players are deserving of praise and superlatives, I kept finding my ear paying attention to the drums and bass play. Great mastery of cymbal play from the former and nice melodic lines from the latter. The guitarist and keyboard player feel more chameleonic--prone to be more imitative of others.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of progressive rock music with a Jazz-Rock Fusion orientation.