LAND OF GREEN AND GOLD

The first time Maestro Antony Kalugin has been able to work with his Karfagan collaborators in a couple years, they team up here to produce some top-level prog, mostly instrumental, and more jazz- and blues-influenced than we've heard in a while.

"Chapter 1: Land of Green" 1. "Kingfisher and Dragonflies (Part 3)" (2:11) beautiful instrumental with classical guitar and synths. Very ANTHONY PHILLIPS-like. Absolutely gorgeous melodies and themes. What a start! (5/5)

2. "Land of Green (Part 1)" (11:00) sounds/feels to me like a modernized, watered-down take on Miles Davis' Sketches from Spain--a SYNERGY, TONY BANKS, or Smooth Jazz approach to such a theme. (17/20)

3. "Land of Green (Part 2)" (3:30) instrumental jazz and blues prog. (8.75/10)

4. "Solis Festum" (1:39) Fender Rhodes play joined by others in the second half and then finishing with classical guitar and accordion-led European street feel. (4.25/5)

5. "Land of Green (Part 3)" (4:58) cheesy keys and jazz sound palate gives this one a rather dated, Adult Contemporary feel--until Alexander Pavlov's high class guitar solo in the second minute. Soprano and tenor sax solos in the third minute only add the Smooth Jazz feel. Alexander's next solo in the fifth minute brings us almost into the New Age jazz category. (8.25/10)

6. "Pastoral" (1:34) solo classical guitar. (4.25/5)

"Chapter 2: Land of Gold" 7."Garden of Hope (Part 1)" (7:49) Smooth Jazz artists like Joe Sample, Ronnie & Hubert Laws, and Najee/Kenny G come to mind as I listen to this--and then Spock's Beard as I hear the vocal section. (13/15)

8. "Land of Gold" (13:20) piano and electric guitar(s) open this one. I love the pace, the solos and sounds, the bass play, and even the vocoder. My favorite song on the album. (27/30)

9. "Garden of Hope" (Part 2) (4:31) sounds like the Devonshire Canterbury band MAGIC BUS. Like the fretless bass and peaceful, pastoral keyboard and electric guitar riffing. Nice song. (8.75/10)

Bonus tracks: Chapter 3: Land of Jazz (bonus tracks) 10. "Land of Jazz" (6:37) another venture into the proggy-fusion world of the late 70s jazz artists as listed above for the "Garden of Hope (Part 1)" song--especially Hubert Laws--with the addition of Narada Michael Walden and even some of the later RTF/Chick Corea stuff--which I loved. (9/10) 11. Land of Jazz (outro) (0:44)

Total Time 57:53

Other reviewers have mentioned a CAMEL-like sound or influence to the music here, I'm not as sold on that angle though I do hear it--I do get it--especially some of the guitar sounds chosen. There are just too many disjointed motifs present here for me to endorse that perspective. I really like the contributions of Antony's two guitarists--both with very distinctive styles--as well as his bass player. Nice work, guys!

B/solid four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.