FROGG CAFÉ

The first time you listen to this CD you might be wondering what kind of music this band is playing? Is it jazz? Probably, but listen to this CD more and more and you would smell some sort of influences of previous bands' styles ranging from Frank Zappa to Return To Forever to Dixie Dregs to Gentle Giant (in a way) and probably Mahavishnu Orchestra to Canterbury! Whatever you call it - the band's music is excellent and impressive!

I only got this album after I knew and I enjoyed "Creatures" and "Fortunate Observer of Time". But I'm lucky because I got the re-mastered edition with top notch sonic quality and bonus track (live).

Starts off with "Deltitnu", you might guess it's a jazz band and nothing wrong with you at all. But it's not purely jazz as there is no repeated rhythm section and one instrument takes the solo journey on top of that rhythm. This is the part of jazz that I usually don't like. But Frogg Café takes its approach differently even though it has an intense jazz music in it. Bill Ayasse is the violin virtuoso as he plays melodic and dynamic lines in almost all tracks featured in this album. The two-part "Candy Korn" blends the components of jazz and vocal line that might bring you to Kansas - but it's not really, because it's different. "Old Souls" has a complex guitar and violin over vocals.

This CD is the kind of music that blow me away at first spin, and in fact I tend to reject it. Thanks to the high quality sonic production with this remastered issue that stimulates me to have another spin. After four or five spins I can then enjoy the music. It's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. If you like jazz-influenced music, this is a MUST for you to have it. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW