Passport Of A Different Color
Andre S. Grindle | Brewer Maine | 10/31/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I've been heavy into Passport....pretty much since the turn of the millenium since my dad hipped me to his old vinyl copy of Looking Thru. But for a long time I thought that was their first album;over time I actually found out they actually have a long and varied behind them and perhaps ahead of them as they are still recording in some way. But the beginnings of their career have been pretty much unknown until the first two Passport albums were released on CD-first as expensive imports and finally here by Wounded Bird. This is Passport's first album.The only real member in all lineup's (as is here) is Klaus Doldinger-on this Klaus shares tenor sax duties with a guy named Olaf Kubler. One thing this does as a result is establish the aggresive "saxaphone attack" Doldinger was known for in Passport. Another difference is the nature of the material. Whereas later Passport albums were more electronic and funky this version of Passport's fusion has heavier rock overtones.Since the main fusion bands of the period like Return To Forever,Mahavisnu Orchestra and Tony William's Lifetime were all more on the rockish side this is not surprising. The funny thing about this material is that much of it doesn't exactly leap out at you-it starts with "Uranus" and ends with "Madhouse Jam"-both are two of the strongest (and funkiest) pieces on the album. "Lemuria's Dance" is a cut people remember from this album but I can't say it's my favorite."Continuation" is quiet and mellow but doesn't really develope-these songs tend to be more about instrumental ideas then composition,something common in early jazz fusion. But as with me you may need to put some time into this album. And of all the fusion bands around in this era it could be said that this band and Weather Report were the most obviously jazzy to.....well the untrained ear lol. Either way this is nice to have out to hear the sound as Passport when they were just starting out and to find out how their music grew and developed"
Track Listings (7) - Disc #1