From the very first notes, I knew this was going to be a special session. 'Mean Time' opens with an aggressive type of jazz fusion, of the kind one usually reserves for Mahavishnu Orchestra. And when guitarist Karl Ratzer enters in and lays down some raw licks, it just takes the whole thing to the next level. 'Side to Side' is the requisite mellow number, but highly enjoyable with some fine melodic lines. Then we enter into that special zone that we sometimes talk about. That X Factor sound that transcends the great from the norm. And with that, the title track starts off similar to the Joe Henderson live album we recently talked about, with a killer rhythmic line, and some fine underground sax from Deszo Lakatos. When Ratzer enters this go round, he isn't foolin' around. His rough and tumble soloing reminds one of the Krautrock masters circa 1971. What a monster of a track! Flipping over to side 2, we start with some massive fuzz bass from none other than Jeff Berlin (how is this album so unknown?) and yet another killer jazz rock track with great solos. 'Mother Song' calms the proceedings down and adds some fine flute, almost bossa nova-ish. And the album closes with its longest cut, the 8 and a half minute 'In the World' which takes us back to the opener's heavy fusion antics, like Weather Report on steroids.
In doing some research, perhaps the biggest surprise is Ratzer was the guitarist for Gipsy Love. This band from Austria is often times lumped in with Krautrock, yet it's far removed from that. More like boogie rock. So even more strange that Street Talk is more aligned with his homeland's historic sound - but not his.
The parallels with Gary Saracho here are immense. Not in sound - that one is even more freaky - but considering they are out-of-nowhere major label US releases that no one talks or knows about. You won't find this in Kozmigroov. Or Gnosis. There are a whopping 3 whole ratings on RYM. It exchanges some coin on Discogs, but what you would expect to pay for a new LP. Street Talk should command way more. Why? Because this brings the good goods, and I can assure you it is not a common record, and no reissues exist. It's time for this album to be recognized. So let's get started here. Second best new discovery of the year for me, after Saracho.
After hearing this, I bought two more albums online immediately. These two seemed like they would be similar to Street Talk in outlook. I held off on this review until I could absorb them. So let's see how they compare (see the next two reviews).
Ownership: LP: 1979 Vanguard. Single sleeve. This was part of the thrift shop buy that made up parts of the Commodity LP postings of chapters 18 to 21. I had fully intended to post it there originally, until actually hearing the contents. This needs to be featured! The delay was due to awaiting the mail-ordered other two albums. No reissues exist.
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