Aurora were from my old hometown of Dallas, and were a fusion band containing violin, guitar, and keyboards leading a traditional rhythm section. With that kind of lineup, want to take a crack at who they were emulating? Yep. Mahavishnu Orchestra. And with violin being the primary over the guitar, you can throw in Jean-Luc Ponty for good measure. And they do cover one track from him, while the other nine compositions are original. Apparently they were to reform when this CD was released, but not much came of it.
In reading the liner notes, some of my earliest music memories were brought to the fore. 1977 is when I really got into FM radio in earnest, and as mentioned here in a couple of places, KZEW was the leader for Album Rock. Therefore, it's no surprise to learn that most of this album is made up of a live recording arranged by the station. The first three tracks are studio recordings, though no better in sound quality honestly. In any case I was still a few years from knowing anything about jazz fusion, and didn't recognize the name Aurora when this CD first arrived onto the collecting scene. Grabbed it not long after release, filed it, and here we are some 25 years later for my first revisit. It certainly deserves more frequency than that.
Drummer Martin Metzgar is more known as Martin McCall. He was the drummer in Hands (later era) along with many other local bands and percussion ensembles. Of personal interest, he was also a guest at our house about 20 years ago after seeing one of his performances with a fellow friend.
Ownership: CD: 1999 Shroom. Jewel case. Contains a full history, photos, and newspaper clippings.
2000 (first listen); 1/20/25 (review / new entry)
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