Isotope - Illusion LP (canterbury, fuusio)

GULL GULP 1006

England 1973

Ex

Ex-

Hieno, vaikkakin ehkä vähemmän tunnettu genrensä edustaja tämä LP

Hugh Hopper soft machine canterbury fusion jazz gary boyle

Hiukan Mahavishnu tai Weather Report tyyliäkin...

netistä: This British jazz-rock group was founded in June 1972 by guitarist Gary Boyle, who had previously played with Dusty Springfield, Brian Auger and Eclection, as well as guesting on numerous jazz sessions. The original line-up of the band featured former Nucleus bassist Jeff Clyne, as well as two unknown young players he'd met on the jazz circuit : keyboardist/composer Brian Miller (who wrote almost all the tracks on the band's eponymous debut) and drummer Nigel Morris. The original line-up briefly featured Stan Sulzmann (sax) and Aureo De Souza (percussion°. The band soon signed with Gull Records in England and Motown (!) in the USA, and started touring colleges and clubs around Britain, as well as touring on the continent - France, Germany and Scandinavia. In March 1974, shortly after the release of the first album, a clash of egos led to Miller and Clyne suddenly leaving. They were replaced by Laurence Scott, a semi-pro keyboard player, and Hugh Hopper, whom Boyle had met while working with Stomu Yamash'ta. The new line-up embarked on a UK tour in June and July, followed by dates in Germany and the Netherlands in August. They then entered the studio, with Poli Palmer (ex-Eclection and Family) producing, to record Illusion. The writing was now shared equally between Boyle, Scott and Hopper. Intensive touring in Britain followed, and a US tour was undertaken in March and April 1975. Percussionist Aureo DeSouza was then added to the line-up for a European tour, and drummer Jeff Seopardie also reinforced the band for British dates later that year. In December 1975, Scott left and was replaced by Frank Roberts. At that point, management problems resulted in a very difficult financial situation and Hugh Hopper decided to leave.
In March 1976, a third album, Deep End, was recorded (production duties were handled by Brand X's Robin Lumley), with Hopper playing on only his own composition "Fonebone". Bassist Dan K. Brown and second keyboardist Zoe Kronberger were added at that point, but gigs became sparser. There was one last line-up change in 1977, with only Boyle surviving from previous incarnations, alongside Geoff Downes on keyboards (later in Yes and Asia), Steve Shone on bass and Colin Wilkinson on drums, but this new Isotope never went beyond the rehearsal stage, only recording a couple of radio sessions. Gary Boyle subsequently embarked on a solo career.

kehua: After playing with Brian Auger, Stomu Yamash`ta and many leading Jazz ensembles, guitarist / composer Gary Boyle, one of the most innovative and technically brilliant players on the British scene, eventually founded his own quartet, called Isotope. In retrospect, Isotope was one of the finest early British Jazz-Rock ensembles, which played ambitious music and included some of the best players on the scene at the time. But as usual, playing fine music made it difficult to keep the group going for a long time, so after recording three excellent albums and sticking together for a few years, Isotope disappeared into oblivion. This was their 2nd album and the quartet included keyboardist Laurence Scott, great bassist Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine) and drummer Nigel Morris (Hopper and Morris played with Boyle in Yamash`ta’s group). The music is brilliant from start to finish, slightly resembling Mahavishnu Orchestra, but of course completely original. This is an absolute must to all early British Jazz-Rock connoisseurs!