Birdland - Darkness of Light. 1980 Serbia

Coming from Serbia, via Switzerland, Birdland debuted with quite a strong statement in the area of jazz fusion. Make no mistake, this one swings far to the jazz side of that equation. There's not much in the way of songwriting, the instrumentation isn't overly amplified, and mostly the compositions stay true to the jazz school. Still, the guitarist has quite the nimble fingers which he displays often. And the pianist is no slouch either. For certain Mahavishnu Orchestra were an influence here, as were many of the jazz masters, and the German MPS label practitioners. Jazz fans dabbling in rock forms will love this, but if looking for some more composition acumen, this isn't what Birdland were about. Closer 'Elements II' is the highlight of the short 4 track set.