ZAZU

This is an odd piece of crossover prog, from a band that only produced this single album, back in 1975. It's a blend of prog and southern rock. It's not as exceptional as The Dixie Dregs, but it is unusual. The primary sound is seventies southern rock, mostly like The Allman Brothers Band, but with some lighter, more harmonized southern as well.

It's the keyboardist, John Melnick, who provides the prog. Even in the most basic southern rock tunes, he inserts fills and riffs that to me sound like he is trying to emulate Keith Emerson.

The two best songs are Upon the Island Unisphere, which features some cool Hammond jamming, and the pure symphonic prog of Ittsanottasonatta, But It's Close. On the latter, the ELP/Nice imitation is boosted by drummer Mickey Lehocky's Carl Palmer-like use of cowbell and gongs.

Unfortunately, despite these two very good tracks, most of the songwriting is under par. So the best I can give them is two stars.