Search - Various Artists :: Jazz Fusion 2

Better than Glue

TUCO H. | Los Angeles, CA | 11/13/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here's a refreshingly varied collection of some of the best jazz-rock fusion music from Rhino, who are really masters at digging up little-known gems to put beside the more famous ones in their compilations. This collection is much better than Jazz Fusion Volume 1 at displaying the true hormonal magic and utterly unique musical plane that can result when, rare enough though it is, all the elements come together in a virtuoso jazz-fusion group. Where else can you find hard-to-find stuff like Steve Khan's Casa Loco, to go along with Miles Davis's brilliant late-period "Mr. Pastorious," Jean-Luc Ponty's classic Enigmatic Ocean, parts I to IV, Bill Bruford's Hell's Bells, Ronnie Montrose, The Brecker Bros. and the Dixie Dregs' "Take it Off the Top" on the same CD? And if all that still doesn't kick your mule sore, turbo-charge you hormones and make you macho, here's something even more gaucho: just play "Nuclear Burn" by Phil Collins' monster '70s fusion group Brand X with the volume knob at 11, and call me if your brain isn't an omelette after you're done. Rounding out the diverse appearnces are the legendary "Point It Up" guitar solo from Larry Carlton, and, as a sort of breather from all the fire-breathing, John Mclaughlin's gorgeous and ultra-sophisticated flamenco-jazz-Brazilian-fusion acoustic piece "Belo Horizonte." So, if you can put your envy aside and just accept the fact that you'll probably never be able to play your instrument half as good as any of these guys (the skin-flute excluded), there is some extremely good music to be discovered in the much despised and ignored "Jazz Fusion" genre. This disc is a great place to start."