Rhesus O were an early French jazz rock group who dabbled with the oncoming progressive rock movement. Opener 'Cigue' is most auspicious and is exactly the kind of music I love. Melodic with a jazzy backbone and some excellent analog instrumental textures. There are plenty of other similar segments of music throughout that will have you tapping your toes and swaying your head. Rhesus O is one of those albums that requires some thought as to where it belongs in the collection. For years I had it as part of my progressive rock section, but really it belongs to jazz. And it's the more hardcore aspects of that sound that lower the grade (slightly) for me. Alain Hatot's saxophone is far too unhinged for my liking, and a little discipline (which he shows on occasion) would have gone a long way to putting this in the highest rating category. There are free jazz elements here that rattle one's teeth. But hearing it with a mind towards jazz helps with the appreciation of its contents. Rhesus O is a relatively short album, so not enough material to bury the bad parts, and one keeps hoping there may be more solid compositions in a drawer somewhere for a future archival release. Rhesus O are a band that oftentimes gets lumped in with the Canterbury scene, but that's a pretty loose definition of said sound. And while the best moments here do recall Moving Gelatine Plates, they are fleeting, and not really what Rhesus O were about. Worth noting, Rhesus O are also famous for featuring future Magma bassists Francis Moze and Bernard Paganotti. Though, once again, this is far from the Zeuhl world. Though, as we mentioned recently, Magma's debut has a similar jazzy disposition.
A friend from Paris adds more: "Regarding Rhesus O's Magma connections : pianist Jean-Paul Asseline was also in Magma for a short spell circa 1973 (apparently, he abruptly left the band due to heavy mental health problems - he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophreniac), and Alain Hatot actually played as a guest on Udu Wudu.. Artistic director Claude Delcloo was actually involved in free-jazz and the BYG/Actuel record label (he even recorded a rare album as a leader for BYG/Actuel if I remember well..)."
Ownership: CD: 1996 Musea. The first copy I owned was the original LP on Epic, picked up from a mail order dealer in the early 90s. It wasn't in the best condition, and this kind of jazz was pretty far away from my interest area back then. So off it went in trade. Around 2003 or so I decided to pick up the CD and the music was far more welcoming by then. As usual, Musea provides excellent historical notes (in both French and English, though the French is one page longer). Unfortunately there are no bonus tracks, and this is an album that could have really used them.
Ownership: CD: 1996 Musea. The first copy I owned was the original LP on Epic, picked up from a mail order dealer in the early 90s. It wasn't in the best condition, and this kind of jazz was pretty far away from my interest area back then. So off it went in trade. Around 2003 or so I decided to pick up the CD and the music was far more welcoming by then. As usual, Musea provides excellent historical notes (in both French and English, though the French is one page longer). Unfortunately there are no bonus tracks, and this is an album that could have really used them.
1/2/10
No comments:
Post a Comment