GAZEUSE!

Allan Holdsworth back in the mid-70's was at his peak proffessionally speaking, starting with his appearance on the killer Soft Machine album, Bundles, after that he had simply been put alongside the names of Al Di Meola and John McLaughlin, participating on some very notable jazz fusion records like Believe it! by the Tony Williams Lifetime, Enigmatic Ocean by Jean-Luc Ponty, Bill Bruford's solo albums, his surprising appearance with Gong on the album, Gazeuse!, and even playing with the progressive rock supergroup, UK, in all these records his unique timbre and way of soloing is featured.

Well, as I already have reviewed some of those works in which Allan participated, it was time to review this one, Gazeuse! by Gong, another high quality and very unique jazz rock effort.

First of all I'll make it clear that Gazeuse! is not the well-known psych/canterbury Gong that prog fans praise, the same goes for Bundles by Soft Machine. Gazeuse! is Gong turning to a more straight- forward Jazz Fusion band leaving the trippiness from their early albums behind.

However, this is not your typical jazz fusion; Gong uses an extensive use of vibes/marimba very alike that of Zappa's great use, which is an amazing feature of the music, just listen to the vibe fest on Percolations. Also, the addition of Allan is another obvious factor that this will not be your samey jazz fusion record, his playing is more loose and expressive from that featured in Bundles, simply listen to his great compositions in this album which are Shadow Of and Night Illusion, totally sublime.

The other three tracks maintain the top-notch musicianship and composition, so as a whole Gazeuse! is a very strong non-typical jazz fusion record which I recommend to anyone who is a fan of Allan Holdsoworth' playing and of Jazz Fusion. However, do not think that this album will be your entry to the classic Gong, since their classic records barely sound anything alike what Gazeuse! sounds like.

4 stars.

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