After hearing Street Talk and doing some follow-up research, In Search of the Ghost looked like the best bet. In fact, given that it basically takes Jeremy Steig's band along for the ride, I figured this might even better than Street Talk especially given that it was one year earlier. Well... it didn't surpass, but as a whole, it definitely falls into the great category. In Search of the Ghost takes a lot longer to get going. Eight plus minute opener 'Israela' is primarily acoustic. Which is fine, but that's not what I was looking for. The 9+ minute title track begins to hint at the Street Talk sound. There are periods here where it seems Ratzer is ready to take off. But he pulls back. It seems he's shy, or feels the rest of the band should have a chance to shine. It takes a couple of listens, but it does transcend the genre norm. Excellent track. The flip side starts with two shorter numbers 'Jump Street' and 'Prime Mate', both of which are pretty standard late 70s jazz fusion fare. I was losing faith that In Search of the Ghost was going to be anything special. Until the closing 7:40 minute 'Asteroids'. If presuming this was recorded chronologically, then one could see Ratzer's anger building up throughout. Holy Moly, does he let loose here! It has the intensity of classic Mahavishnu Orchestra, but it's unhinged and unfocused. A big sloppy mess - just the way I like it! An unknown classic of the genre, one that awaits discovery. Special mention must go to the rhythm section of Joe Chambers (drums), Eddie Gomez (bass), and Ray Mantilla (congas, percussion) as these guys are on fire throughout the entire album, even if Ratzer is half asleep for most of it. Steig of course provides some fine flute, similar to his own solo albums. Only saxophonist Bill McPhearson seems to be largely absent from the entire album (not always a bad thing when it comes to the instrument...). In conclusion, after having a scare that this would fall into the "nothing special" category, it was saved by the intense closer, which also put the excellent title track into perspective. So about 17 minutes of killer music and another 17 minutes of typical jazz fusion fare (though still well done). Very pleased.
Ownership: LP: 1978 Vanguard. Recent online acquisition as noted above. Single sleeve with a very intense looking Ratzer. We learn that Ratzer had been living in New York City for 5 years by the time of this album. Like with Street Talk, this album is flying way under the radar, so it remains a cheap, but unknown, item. Vanguard were always such an unusual label. They never really had hit makers outside of the folk genre, and seemed to champion music over sales. Have to respect that. No reissues exist.
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