KENSO II

Kenso

Jazz Rock/Fusion

4.08 | 85 ratings

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I found this in a junk shop in Coventry (you don't want to know the story..) and knew nothing and was the one of the '5 fer a tenner' I had least expectation of.

Before we were given the PA guidelines for catagorising, am not sure I would have put it as JR/F either as ...and this is no bad thing...a fair few other bases are touched if not hugged tightly. As I mentioned above, it comes to pass that the one we buy/put on as an afterthought is the one that makes us sit up and take notice. After many years acquaintance I can now also see the minor flaws/drawbacks. But we are about to dive into a solid 4 star review. Buckle up!

When an opening track can go from hints of Be Bop Deluxe, via Tull (it's a flute thing I guess) and all the Canterbury JR/F acts you can shake a stick at...and they have the audacity to pull out some symphonic prog tricks too...yep, I am staying on this ride. But, the time/getting to know better thing flaw is in there. I guess any band in this genre will have 5 or 6 top musicians of their chosen instrumentation. Trouble is, they all seem to want to jump to the fore at the same time rather than spend any being 'the accompanist' to whoever is have a bit of a show off. It jars and distracts. I know, for a minor quibble I have said a fair bit about it...but, balance and all that yes? Also am not sure the production helps at those points either....but please don't let that put you off.

Frozen Island nods to traditional Japanese/Eastern scales. Brand IX...does sound like Brand X on speed....with a bit of a quirky diversion...and a healthy dose of RTF to perhaps bring things down to earth. Toward The Land Beyond is pure symphonic prog, no matter how twiddly the bass man gets or how 'unclever' the backtape' vocals are and the drag slowdown to fade...Moon is an ethereal vocal meets keyboard wash and we are heading into some ECM label bands territory. Goodbye Prog is obviously heavy on the irony but it is a good err fusion of prog and jazz-rock although the flute is a bit early 70's US soundtrack to 'a serious programme'...but as I like that 'sound' than all is good.

Yes they all overplay a bit and don't give the individuals enough space but there is a verve, it is never 'smooth' and for 1982 you would take this over 99% of what else was out there anytime.

And release seat belt...

Nickmannion | 4/5 | 2024-7-20

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