Steps, England

Steps. 1977 EMI

Steps seems to be a popular word in the jazz fusion world. We just recently featured an album called Steps by Sangi. There's the Japanese fusion group Side Steps, and of course John Coltrane's jazz classic Giant Steps. And then there's the Australian fusion group Stepps (of Waltz for Tiger Joe fame).

This is one of many AC contributions to the CDRWL. La Discographie du Rock Francais describes the album as "This English trio (keyboards, sax, drums), helped along by a bassist on this album, plays a solely instrumental music in the same vein as SOFT MACHINE on Fourth. This record reveals a brilliant, united and gifted line up, made up of individuals full of talent such as drummer Roy DODDS with his fine and nuanced style, saxophonist Steve MULLIGAN and keyboardist Steve FRANKLIN. All of them are greatly inspired during their interventions or in the construction and development of the themes. This album is essential for those who love Fourth and that kind of cold, and at the same time inflamed, jazz rock which was played by RATLEDGE, DEAN and others."

The AC says "One interesting thing is that Hanny Rowe of Gong plays bass on about half of the tracks. Also, it comes in a really cool gatefold sleeve with very weird artwork. Musically, I'd say they were heavily influence by mid-70s Soft Machine. The second side features some slightly more original ideas, with a couple of moody synth-driven pieces." I agree, this one had a bit of an edge, moving closer to my personal target zone. And where that angst shows up most is in the drumming, which is very active and drives the music forward in an exciting way. Make no mistake, this is late 70's fusion - the ever present lead soprano sax guarantees that. But it's a good example of the style, and I think the fusion heads out there would go nuts over this one.

Priority: 3

At the time of this entry, Steps was an unknown on the internet. Today you can find details about the album on Discogs.

3/9/11 (new entry)