"When I was making this particular album, I just had a specific thing in mind," Springsteen told Rolling Stone. "It had to be just a relentless . . . just a barrage of that particular thing." That obsession was the aftermath of the epic romanticism of his first three records: songs about people struggling with collapsed dreams. This was tough music, inspired by tough movies by Sergio Leone and John Ford. Recorded after a long absence from the studio (due to a lawsuit against his former manager), Springsteen and the E Street Band played rockers such as "Badlands" and "Promised Land" with barely contained passion.

(Rolling Stone)

Total album sales: 3 million
Peak chart position: 5

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Coming three years and one extended court battle after Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town was highly anticipated. Some attributed the album's embattled tone to Bruce Springsteen's legal troubles, but it carried on from Born to Run, in which Springsteen had first begun to view his colorful cast of characters as "losers." On Darkness, he began to see them as the working class: his characters, some of whom he inhabited and sang for in the first person, had little and were in danger of losing even that. Their only hope for redemption lay in working harder, and their only escape lay in driving. Springsteen presented these hard truths in hard rock settings, the tracks paced by powerful drumming and searing guitar solos. Though not as heavily produced as Born to Run, Darkness was given a full-bodied sound; Springsteen's stories were becoming less heroic, but his musical style remained grand — the sound, and the conviction in his singing, added weight to songs like "Racing in the Street" and the title track, transforming the pathetic into the tragic. But despite the rock & roll fervor, Darkness was no easy listen, and it served notice that Springsteen was already willing to risk his popularity for his principles.

(by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

Kenny Wheeler's beautiful sound on trumpet and his wide range are well-displayed on his four compositions, three of which are given performances over ten minutes long. With the assistance of ECM regulars Jan Garbarek (on tenor and soprano), guitarist John Abercrombie, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnette and (on one song) guitarist Ralph Towner, Wheeler emphasizes lyricism and romantic moods on this fine set of original music.

(by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide)

Patti Smith came back from the year-and-a-half break caused by her fall from a stage in January 1977 without having resolved the art-versus-commerce argument that had marred her second album, Radio Ethiopia. In fact, that argument was in some ways the theme of her third. Easter, produced by Bruce Springsteen associate Jimmy Iovine, was Smith's most commercial-sounding effort yet and, due to the inclusion of Springsteen's "Because the Night" (with Smith's revised lyrics), a Top Ten hit, it became her biggest seller, staying in the charts more than five months and getting into the Top 20 LPs. But Smith hadn't so much sold out as she had learned to use her poetic gifts within an album rock context. Certainly, a song that proclaimed, "Love is an angel disguised as lust/Here in our bed until the morning comes," was pushing the limits of pop radio, and on "Babelogue," Smith returned to her days of declaiming poetry on New York's Lower East Side. That rant (significantly ending, "I have not sold my soul to God") led into the provocative "Rock n Roll Nigger," a charged rocker with a chorus that went, "Outside of society/Is where I want to be." Smith made the theme from the '60s British rock movie Privilege her own and even got into the U.K. charts with it. And on songs like "25th Floor," Iovine, Smith, and her group were able to accommodate both the urge to rock out and the need to expound. So, Easter turned out to be the best compromise Smith achieved between her artistic and commercial aspirations.

(by William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide)

Das Ende von The Band sollte allerdings ein besonderes Fest werden. Und der neue Robertson Buddy Martin Scorcese sollte es filmen.

Das Abschiedskonzert fand schließlich am Thanksgiving Day `76 im legendären Winterland zu San Francisco statt. Dessen Inhaber Bill Graham brauchte zwei Wochen und 500 Angestellte, um seinen Ballroom für diesen historischen musikalischen Event umzubauen. Der Bühnenaufbau stammte vom La Traviata Set der San Francisco Opera Company und die Kronleuchter hatten ihren ersten Auftritt in „Vom Winde Verweht“. Natürlich mußte auch für die 7 Kameramänner Platz geschaffen werden.

5000 zahlenden Gästen (25 $ pro Kopf) wurde ein traditionelles Truthahn-Dinner serviert, dazu spielt das 38-köpfige Berkeley Promenade Orchester. Um 9 Uhr abends betrat The Band die Bühne und spielte einen einstündigen Set mit ihrem klassischen Repertoire von „Up On Cripple Creek“ über „The Weight“ bis zu „The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down“. Dann folgte Höhepunkt auf Höhepunkt, denn Robertson & Co. hatten sich Freunde, alte Helden und Wegbegleiter eingeladen: Neil Young, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Hawkins, The Staples, Paul Butterfield, Dr. John, Eric Clapton, natürlich Bob Dylan und viele andere mehr. Jeder spielte einen oder mehrere Songs, musikalisch unterstützt von The Band, die das Fremdrepretoire in einem unnachahmlichen Crash-Kurs vorher einübten. Zwei Jahre später erschien das Werk als Film und auf Vinyl.

Produced and recorded by Dave Edmunds at Rockfield Studiosin Wales, this 1978 janglefest put the San Francisco based cultband back on the map at the height of the punk/new wavemovement.

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The Flamin' Groovies veröffentlichten 1978 ihr fünftes Studioalbum »Now«. Das Album brachte ihnen ein internationales Publikum, das von der Post-Punk-Ethik der Einfachheit geprägt war, die mit ihrem klassischen melodischen Pop der Westküste harmonierte. »Now« wurde von Dave Edmunds produziert und enthielt sowohl Eigenkompositionen als auch Coverversionen von Künstlern wie Gene Clark, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles und Cliff Richard.

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It looks like listeners are destined to rely on imports for most of the Groovies' Sire catalog. In 1978, the group was getting all kinds of great press, and even some radio play from their comeback Shake Some Action album on Sire, and embarked on a national tour playing clubs like the Bottom Line in New York in front of every rock V.I.P. who could wangle a ticket. And to accompany the tour, they put out Flamin' Groovies Now!, an album of more British Invasion tracks. The sound on this record, produced and engineered by Dave Edmunds, was a notable improvement over Shake Some Action, and the group had lost none of its flair for the period or the style, though there was also precious little new ground covered. The range of styles embraced on this record was astonishing -- "Between the Lines" and "Take Me Back," and especially "Good Laugh Mun" were examples of Edmunds emulating Phil Spector, and had the Groovies sounding like the Beach Boys of "Don't Worry Baby" and recalled the way the early Kinks covered American music; "House of Blue Lights" gave nods to both Merrill Moore and Chuck Berry, as well as the Stones. The songs off of side two were harder, giving them more the kind of edge one associated with the Stones or the Rockin' Vickers. But their version of Gene Clark's "Feel a Whole Lot Better" was the crowning achievement on this record, the best contemporary cover of a Byrds track ever done, and one so good that some fans thought a re-formed Byrds should have done a cover of the Groovies' "Shake Some Action" in return.

(by Bruce Eder, All Music Guide)

Issued half a decade after his first solo LP, Ace (1972), Heaven Help the Fool is the antithesis of Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir's debut effort. Although initially dismissed by critics and Deadheads alike as a slick, soulless, L.A.-sounding disc, the passage of time has somewhat mitigated that assessment -- but not by very much. One of the primary factors in the decidedly over-produced and at times uncomfortable-sounding approach can be directly attributed to the absence of his Grateful Dead bandmates. This is in direct contrast to Ace -- which was, in reality, a full-blown Dead album in disguise. Another common thread is producer Keith Olson. As he had done with the Dead's Terrapin Station (1977) long-player the previous year, Olsen obscures some uniformly interesting melodies with disco-laden arrangements, the most blatant offenders being "Wrong Way Feelin'" and a reworking of Marvin Gaye's "I'll Be Doggone." They're abused with synthesizer-drenched rhythms and disposable, generic backing vocals. Even the array of studio talent -- which includes Waddy Wachtel (guitar), David Foster (keyboards), fellow Bay Area Sons of Champlin-founder Bill Champlin (keyboards), Mike Porcaro (bass), Tom Scott (woodwinds), and former Elton John bandmembers Nigel Olsson (drums) and Dee Murray (bass) -- is unable to salvage a majority of the material on Heaven Help the Fool. However, it is Weir's uniformly strong original compositions -- penned with longtime lyrical collaborator John Barlow -- and well-conceived choice of cover tunes which suffer the most. Those wishing to hear infinitely more tolerable interpretations of tracks such as "Bombs Away," "This Time Forever," "Shade of Grey," and Lowell George's "Easy to Slip" should seek out Weir/Wasserman Live (1998). Likewise, the more industrious enthusiast might even wish to locate the Grateful Dead's very occasional live versions of "Heaven Help the Fool" and "Salt Lake City."

(by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide)

Als Televisions Meisterwerk gilt bekanntermaßen Marquee Moon. Wer hingegen den Einfluss Televisons auf die Initiatoren der Garage-Retro-Welle The Strokes nachprüfen will, kann getrost zu Adventure greifen: Als Anspieltipp genügt das liebliche »Days«. Das 1978 veröffentlichte Album stand wohl auch Pate für den grüblerischen Sound der englischen Indie-Ikonen Felt in den Achtzigern, um nur auf einige Einflüsse dieses Werks Bezug zu nehmen.

Freilich: Wer netten, gemütlichen Indie-Schrammelpop sucht, wird auch hier nicht fündig. Dafür hatten Tom Verlaine & Co. musikalisch einfach zu viel drauf. Als Ganzes gesehen vermag das zweite Album zwar vielleicht nicht ganz den Spannungsbogen des Debüts zu replizieren, die Qualitäten liegen jedoch woanders: Ein weicher Sound, geprägt von subtilen Arrangements durch die Hinzunahme von Piano, Keyboards und mehrstimmigen Vocals. Balladen haben die nervösen Songs Marke »Friction« abgelöst: Was auf dem ersten, bahnbrechdenden Album noch die Ausnahme war (»Guiding Light«, »Torn Curtain«), ist auf hier dann die Regel. Zwar ufert kein Song so aus wie der zehnminütige Titeltrack des Vorgängers, die Songs aber sind introspektiv und kontemplativ. »The Fire« oder »The Dream’s Dreamer« erwecken das Gefühl von Zeitlosigkeit, und noch immer begeistert das Zusammenspiel der beiden Gitarristen Richard Lloyd und Tom Verlaine.

Now here's something you don't hear everyday -- a space rock saxophonist, stripping down to near acoustic basics, and dedicating not just an album, but an entire band and stage show to the spirits of ancient Egypt. Nine tracks recorded with a veritable space rock supergroup (sundry ex-Hawkwind and Gong members, Steve Hillage, Morris Pert, and more) should, if track records are anything to go by, have delivered an album of almost unrelenting heaviness and weirdness. Instead, released today Xitintoday would be categorized "mystic new age" and praised (or buried) accordingly -- thank goodness such meaningless terms didn't exist in 1978, and this magical, mysterious, and, most of all, moody album was greeted on its own terms. Songs as such do not exist; rather, lyrics and arrangements follow an atmosphere-licked destiny of their own making, to take the listener deep inside some forgotten pyramid, to witness the spectral rituals being enacted therein. Liberal use of a vocoder adds to the listener's dislocation, and the only caveat is -- don't buy the 1994 CD. It's an almost completely different record!

(by Dave Thompson, All Music Guide)

Nachdem sie kreuz und quer durch Amerika getourt waren und etwa 250-300 Auftritte im Jahr hinter sich gebracht hatten, standen ihr Sound und das Repertoire fest. Prompt bekam dieser Jazz-Fusion-Klassiker von 1978 nach seinem Erscheinen Gold. Auf Pat Metheny Group findet man schon all die vertrauten Zutaten, die die Band in den folgenden zwanzig Jahren noch weiterentwickeln sollte: Methenys dunkler, halliger E-Gitarrensound und seine anmutigen Akustikgitarren. Hinzu kam Pianist Mays Mixtur aus Kirchenklang, Bill-Evans-Soundverschnitt und orchestralen Synthie-Effekten. Drummer Dan Gottlieb steuerte seine rollenden Grooves bei. Schließlich rundete Mark Egan das ganze noch mit seinen von Jaco Pastorius inspirierten, melodischen Bassläufen ab.

Auf "San Lorenzo" und "Phase Dance" bot die Band ein Beispiel ihres Stilmixes aus elektrischem Jazz, progressivem Rock und ihren tiefen, amerikanischen Wurzeln. Das country-artige Intro zu "Jaco", das romantisch-akustische "April Wind" und die jähen Wechsel in der Jazz-Samba "Lone Jack" zeigen den breiten musikalischen Horizont Methenys, seine Vorliebe für ausgedehntere Stücke und seine hohe Improvisationskunst.

(Chip Stern, amazon)

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Pat Metheny and his newly christened group (which now featured Mark Egan on bass) returned to Oslo in the winter of 1978 to record his third album, simply titled Pat Metheny Group. As often happens (and numerologists can speculate among themselves), the third time was a charm for Metheny. The album showcases the guitarist’s unique vision for jazz: the dreamy textures that would soon be associated with New Age, the warm and lithe melodies that now clearly display Latin fancies, the sense of soaring in a vibrant landscape borne of a fond memory. Metheny was clearly working toward this style on Watercolors, but that album was too literal an interpretation of the elements, unable to conjoin the images of fire and water in a single picture. From the opening “San Lorenzo,” it’s clear that the Group has made leaps in comfort and ability. If “Watercolors” felt like a warm bath, “San Lorenzo” is a simmering sea of expression. On this track and the even better “Phase Dance,” Mark Egan’s bass works under the radar, twisting the notes up and down like a gentle prodding of the subconscious, while Metheny and Mays share the leads in a subdued act of showmanship. In fact, their solos usually work as if scratching the surface of a spice plant, releasing a fresh and stronger wave of the same scent that’s been wafting in the air all along. This allows the band to stretch their legs without straying from the original melody, a trait common to smooth jazz that makes the listening experience less daunting to fans of popular music. You could even make the case that some of this is pop music; “Jaco” feels like a Steely Dan song, while “Aprilwind” and parts of “April Joy” invite comparison to the work of Steve Hackett. Metheny, Mays and company were clearly crossing over into new territory here, bound to the traditional technical accomplishments of jazz on the one hand, and drawn by the guitar’s affinity for melodyspeak on the other. Throw into the mix a willingness to incorporate elements of progressive rock and electronic music on occasion, and you have a different sort of fusion that suited the electric guitar extremely well. It’s ironic that such a popular instrument (the guitar) had yet to gain a foothold in jazz, and this album goes a long way toward correcting the omission by showing how it could sparkle in the right setting.

www.connollyco.com

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The first recording by the Pat Metheny Group features the innovative guitarist along with keyboardist Lyle Mays, bassist Mark Egan, and drummer Dan Gottlieb. The music is quite distinctive, floating rather than swinging, electric but not rockish, and full of folkish melodies. The best known of these six Metheny-Mays originals are "Phase Dance" and "Jaco." This music grows in interest with each listen.

(by Scott Yanow, All Music Guide)

Essentially a Hawkwind spin-off band, the Hawklords' run barely lasted a year, but proved significant in convincing founder-guitarist Dave Brock to give his parent band one more shot. The initial impetus grew from Hawkwind's six-week support stint in the U.S. between February and April 1978. Brock reportedly found the exercise so dispiriting that he sold his guitar just minutes after the final gig in California. Hawkwind manager Doug Smith convinced Brock to reconsider. To avoid the contractual and legal snares of using the Hawkwind name, Brock called his new band the Hawklords, which formed during the summer of 1978. The lineup included former Hawkwind stalwart Bob Calvert (vocals), as well as Harvey Bainbridge (bass, keyboards); Steve Swindells (keyboards) (of String Driven Thing and Pilot); and drummer Martin Griffin.

Hoping for a Jefferson Airplane-to-Starship-style transition between the two names, the Hawklords embarked on a 25-date autumn 1978 U.K. tour to push their 25 Years On album and "Psi Power"/"Death Trap" single. The classic Hawkwind sound still shone through the new material -- albeit with a rawer edge that also attracted younger, punk-era fans bemused by the band's reputation as unrepentant '60s-era holdovers. "Psi Power's" classic lyric about an unwilling recipient of extrasensory ability became the most enduring Hawklords song, at least for a while (it opens the 1984 live album This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic). But efforts to establish the new band grew complicated after the third reissue of Hawkwind's classic space rock anthem "Silver Machine," which reached number 34 on the U.K. charts.

Predictably, Brock's and Calvert's ever-fractious alliance didn't survive intact for long, either; in January 1979, Calvert left to pursue his on-again, off-again solo career. Griffin also departed, enabling Simon King to retake the position that he'd held in both bands between 1975 and 1978.

Now pared down to a compact quartet, the Hawklords suffered a further blow when Swindells defected, too, leaving Brock and Bainbridge to carry the flag for a few more aimless months. Almost on cue, Charisma issued the PXR5 album in May 1979 -- which had been recorded by the last Hawkwind lineup, but shelved due to the confusion surrounding the parent band's future.

The inevitable happened when Brock reverted to using Hawkwind's name by the summer of 1979, which only made sense -- since several of the same people had played in both bands, anyway. With King back in the fold, guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton and ex-Gong keyboardist Tim Blake joined the resurrected Hawkwind in time for the year's first gig at Leeds' so-called Futurama Festival. Brief as it was, the Hawklords' run became an exhibit of "business as usual" -- even if the principal players took an unusually circular route to get there.

(by Ralph Heibutzki, All Music Guide)

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Beset by sufficient personnel difficulties to provoke a virtual band breakup, Hawkwind nevertheless regrouped almost immediately under the revised band name Hawklords, to cut an album that stands alongside Quark Strangeness and Charm as the very best full release of the band's late '70s. With Robert Calvert, Dave Brock, and Simon King joined by the bassist Harvey Bainbridge and drummer Martin Griffin, ex-member of Ark, and former Pilot keyboardist Steve Swindells, the opening "Psi Power," "Twenty-Five Years," "Flying Doctor," and the remarkable "(Only) The Dead Dreams of the Cold War Kid" all reveal Calvert at his lyrical peak, penning sharp commercial songs that utterly foreshadowed the synthesized pop boom of a year or two hence. Indeed, had Hawkwind only been more fashionable, the band might even have led that movement, instead of being sidelined among its lesser-referenced influences. And that remains one of this album's strongest points: beyond the brilliance of music and lyric, and the driving energy that was always the Hawks' calling card, it is a great electro-pop record.

(by Dave Thompson, All Music Guide)

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Neue offizielle Wiederveröffentlichung des Klassikers aus dem Jahre 1978 auf dem Atomhenge Label, dem neuen Sublabel von Cherry Red, auf dem der Hawkwind-Katalog aus den Jahren 1976 bis 1997 wiederveröffentlicht wird. Digital remastert von den Masterbändern. Mit umfangreichem Booklet und zahlreichen Bonustracks.

Ein Album für Ornithologen und Folkfreunde

»Avocet« ist das zwölfte Studioalbum des 2001 verstorbenen britischen Singer-Songwriters Bert Jansch. 2016 präsentiert Earth Recordings ein Reissue des legendären Longplayers, der im Original 1978 in Dänemark und ein Jahr später in England erschienen war.

In insgesamt sechs Songs trifft auf »Avocet« traditioneller Folk auf Folkrock. Bei allen Stücken handelt es sich um reine Instrumentalstücke. Unterstütz wird Jansch, der auf dem Album Gitarre und Piano spielt, von Martin Jenkins an Bassmandoline, Violine und Flöte sowie von Pentangle-Kollege Danny Thompson am Bass.

Der Titel des Albums und des Titeltracks stammt vom gleichnamigen Watvogel »Avocet«. Auch alle anderen Songtitel auf dem Album benannte der Musiker nach einer dieser besonderen Vogelarten.

»Avocet« gibt es jetzt erneut auf CD und LP. Die Linernotes verfasste der Jansch-Spezialist Colin Harper. Er ist unter anderem der Autor von »Dazzling Stranger: Bert Jansch and the British Folk and Blues Revival«.

Ein legendäres Album neu aufgelegt. »Avocet« von Bert Jansch ist eine Hommage an die britischen Vögel, ebenso wie an die Freiheit und die Musik.

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Barockmusik, Psychedelic, Jazz, Folk und Anklänge an indische Raga gingen bei diesem Konzeptalbum eine höchst harmonische Ehe ein.

(Stereo, Mai 2016)

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Vor einigen Jahren lud Neil Young den Songwriter und Gitarristen Bert Jansch zum Essen auf seine Ranch ein und legte ihm nahe, gemeinsam auf Konzertreise zu gehen, damit der Brite endlich ein größeres Publikum erreiche. Jansch, frei von Eitelkeit, fühlte sich geehrt aber zögerte, denn die Vorstellung, von kleinen Clubbühnen in Mehrzweck-Arenen zu wechseln, schreckte den Künstler ab. Zugesagt hat er dann aber doch. Er habe noch mal erleben wollen, wie es sei, auf den ganz großen Bühnen zu spielen, erinnerte er sich später. Also begleitete der introvertierte Jansch den Grummler Young einige Monate lang durch amerikanische Stadien und Arenen. Das war 2010. Ein Jahr später starb Jansch im Alter von 67 Jahren an Krebs.

Die zahlreichen Nachrufe auf Bert Jansch waren voller Superlative, mit denen noch einmal verdeutlicht werden sollte, was für ein begabter und einflussreicher Künstler da abgetreten war. Tatsächlich ist die Galerie der Musiker, die Bert Janschs Einfluss auf ihr Schaffen preisen, lang und beeindruckend, sie reicht von Jimmy Page über Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Donovan und eben Neil Young bis hin zu Johnny Marr, Laura Marling, Graham Coxon, Bernard Butler und Pete Doherty. Trotzdem ist Bert Jansch überwiegend nur ein Titan unter seinesgleichen geblieben. Nie wurde er so populär wie viele der Kollegen die er prägte.

Jansch selbst war das allerdings ziemlich egal. Er wurde lieber in Ruhe gelassen und ging schien jeder größeren Aufmerksamkeit instinktiv aus dem Weg zu gehen.

Der in Glasgow geborene Jansch fiel früh als hochbegabt auf, ein wortkarger Wuschelkopf, der als Teenager bei Konzerten ganz vorne stand, den Musikern auf die Finger starrte und das, was er dort sah, nach der Show besser beherrschte als seine Vorbilder. Was er sich bei anderen abschaute, erweiterte Jansch zu einem eigenen Stil, der von lustvoller Improvisation geprägt war. Obendrein mischte er die Folkszene auf, indem er sich nicht, wie so viele seiner Zeitgenossen, auf Protestlieder und Standards beschränkte, sondern auch eigene autobiografische Songs vortrug.

"Dauerrausch" mit Pentangle

Sein 1965 veröffentlichtes Debüt-Album "Bert Jansch" sorgte für Aufsehen in der Szene. Led-Zeppelin-Gitarrist Jimmy Page gehörte zu den Beeindruckten und sagte einst, das Jansch "allen anderen weit voraus gewesen sei". Er habe die Kunst, Gitarre zu spielen, "neu erfunden", attestierte ihm Johnny Marr, der mit The Smiths bekannt wurde. Jansch erweiterte damals Folksongs um Blues- und Jazz-Elemente und erzeugte so innerhalb des Genres ein völlig neues Spannungsgeld.

Ende der Sechzigerjahre startete Jansch dann mit seinem Gitarristen-Kumpel John Renbourn die Folkband Pentangle, die überraschend erfolgreich wurde. Zu Beginn der Siebziger, nach der Implosion der Beatles, herrschte in der britischen Musikwelt eine gewisse Ratlosigkeit. Damals einigten sich viele auf eine Sehnsucht nach Traditionen, wozu ein Folk-Revival gut passte. Bands wie Fairport Convention, The Incredible String Band und eben Pentangle begeisterten ein großes Publikum.

Dem Eremiten Jansch war die Sache allerdings nicht geheuer, so dass er sich jedes Konzert schöntrinken musste. Kein Wunder, dass er die Jahre mit Pentangle als "Dauerrausch" beschrieb. Endgültig zog er 1973 die Bremse, verließ die Band und versteckte sich für zwei Jahre auf einer Farm in Wales, um Schafe zu züchten. Als ihm das zu eintönig wurde, zog er zurück nach London um weiter zu trinken. Für Musik interessierte er sich erst wieder, als ihm die Ärzte ins Gewissen redeten. Damals, 1978, spielte er "Avocet" ein. Eine Platte die erneut die Kritiker euphorisierte, nur in kleiner Auflage erschien, rasch vergriffen war und dann ein teures Sammlerstück wurde.

Nun wurde dieser späte Höhepunkt aus Janschs Karriere restauriert, um ein herrliches Booklet erweitert und frisch aufgelegt. Das ungewöhnliche Werk, eingespielt als Trio mit dem Pentangle-Bassisten Danny Thompson sowie Martin Jenkins an Flöte, Geige und Mandoline, klingt wie die Ruhe nach dem Sturm. Über die Distanz von sechs instrumentalen, nahezu meditativen und nach Vögeln benannten Songs, variiert Jansch Folk mit Jazz und Kammermusik zu einem wundersamen Tagtraum-Sound, der damals, als Punkrock begann, wie aus einem Parallel-Universum wirkte.

Es folgten noch einige weitere Alben, von denen aber keines die Klasse von "Avocet" erreichte. Eine Krebserkrankung setzte Bert Jansch schließlich so zu, dass er nicht mehr aufnehmen konnte. Kurz nach der Diagnose erreichte ihn damals die Einladung von Neil Young, der sich später erinnerte, dass junge Zuhörer tief von Jansch beeindruckt waren; Sie wussten, sagte Young, "this is the real shit!".

(www.spiegel.de)

Das Album wurde am 4. November 1977 im Domicile, München, vom Tonstudio Bauer aufgenommen. Die Besetzung war John Scofield, Richie Beirach, George Mraz und Joe LaBarbera.

Die Musik von Scofield in diesem Live-Set zeigt, wie reif der Gitarrist bereits fünf Jahre vor seinem Eintritt in die Band von Miles Davis war.

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This set features some high-quality post-bop guitar playing by the immediately distinctive John Scofield. The four lengthy selections -- three originals and an over 15-minute rendition of "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" -- find Scofield, pianist Richie Beirach, bassist George Mraz and drummer Joe LaBarbera really stretching out. The music holds one's interest throughout and shows how mature a player the guitarist was even during his early pre-Miles Davis period.

(by Scott Yanow, AMG)

Steel Pulse's debut album set the band decisively apart from its British colleagues. This was not, by any stretch of the imagination, either pop-reggae or lovers rock. Nor was it the kind of dreamy Rasta reggae or art-for-art's sake dub that was popular at the time. Though the subtly jazzy swing that would later become explicit was already informing Steel Pulse's groove, the band's first album seemed not at all interested in generating anything like a party atmosphere. Handsworth Revolution is about politics first and religion second, with a quick nod to the dance ("Sound System") and another to the herb ("Macka Splaff") and not a single love lyric to be found anywhere. This gives the music a certain intellectual urgency, and the band's instrumental virtuosity is impressive given its youth and relatively inexperience. But it also makes for a rather dry listening experience; other than "Ku Klux Klan" and the gorgeous "Prodigal Son," there's not much to hold onto here, melodically speaking -- and even those two songs sound dry in comparison to the band's subsequent work. Still, there's a solidity to these tunes, a sheer tensile strength, that makes them compelling in their own Spartan way. Recommended.

(by Rick Anderson, All Music Guide)

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I'd forgotten just how good this album is! A blast from the past, Handsworth Revolution resurrects the spirit of the time; Rock Against Racism marches, Anti Nazi League protests all rounded up with a party of punks, dreads and like minded people in unison! Enough nostalgia, Steel Pulse's Handsworth Revolution has stood the test of time; smooth vocals over original dub bass representing the struggle of that era all contribute to an album which should be hailed as a reggae classic.

The definitive NRBQ lineup -- Terry Adams on keys, Al Anderson on guitar, Joey Spampinato on bass and Tom Ardolino on drums -- made their studio debut on 1977's All Hopped Up, but it was At Yankee Stadium, released the following year, where this edition of the band really hit its stride. Recording for Mercury Records after four years back in the minor leagues, At Yankee Stadium is more focused and less willfully eccentric than many of NRBQ's albums -- no Sun Ra-influenced jazz numbers, fewer obvious joke tunes -- but the music gleefully reflects the band's playful nature, and the guys swing solidly from front to back. NRBQ rock out like on one's business on "Green Lights," "It Comes to Me Naturally" and a potent cover of Johnny Cash's "Get Rhythm," there's a gently funky sway to "Ain't No Free" and "That's Neat, That's Nice," "I Want You Bad" is a sharp pop tune that should have been a hit single in a world where radio is programmed on the basis of merit, and the spirit of Big Joe Turner lives again in their take on "Shake, Rattle and Roll." NRBQ was also blessed with three first rate songwriters during this period, and Adams, Anderson and Spampinato all contribute great songs to At Yankee Stadium. Coupled with the band's loosely-tight, gloriously intuitive performances, this is as consistently satisfying a set as this band has ever released -- At Yankee Stadium jumps from one style to another with loopy élan and lands on its feet dancing all the way, and if the Q has ever made a masterpiece, this is it.

(by Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide)