js This album came out during a short period in music when the worlds of jazz-rock fusion and progressive rock were moving closer to each other. Return to Forever's prog-rock leaning 'Romatic Warrior' and Yes' addition of fusionist Patrick Moraz to their lineup and their subsequent albums with him epitomized this tendency. Meanwhile rock and RnB artists from EW&F to Frank Zappa were freely mixing elements from both genres. With its mix of grandiose synthesizer constructions, hyper funk-fusion workouts and virtuoso synth and guitar leads, David Sancious' 'Transformation (Speed of Love)' had all the right elements together at the right time.

This album opens with 'Piktor's Metamorphisis', a jazz-rock processional tune with lots of great synth soloing that is equal parts Jan Hammer and ELP. This is followed by a Jimi Hendrix tribute called 'Sky Church Hymn #9' in which David shows that he isn't too bad on the guitar too. This song shows what The Experience could have sounded like if they had a bass player as good as Sancious' bassist Gerald Crosby, who along with drummer Earnest Carter is one of the best rhythm sections in a genre full of great rhythm sections. Sancious plays this song with the expected Hendrixisms, but David turns it up to eleven by adding some nice McLaughlin and Jeff Beck licks too.

Side two is a long jazz fusion suite that features many high powered synth workouts plus a beautiful choir section with Gayle Moran and others on vocals. Unfortunately this album slipped through the cracks at the time of its release, which is a shame because at that time 'Transformation' was exactly what a lot of people were looking for.

Sean Trane Sancious is a bit of an exception in the jazz rock world, as part of his background is deeply rooted in rock (he was after all part of Springsteen’s E-Street Band and will later play with Peter Gabriel and Sting), but his oeuvre is also extremely drawn from classical music. With only a drummer (the good Ernest Carter that played some sessions on Born To Run) and a bassist (a very noticeable Gerald Carboy), Sancious manages to make an extraordinary Classical-jazz-rock album with his wide range of keyboards (and obviously a lot of dubbing too). This album is produced by the familiar Billy Cobham, who also contributes some percussion instruments on half the tracks

Starting with the amazing symphonic Suite Cassandra, Sancious should marvel those symphonic rock fans that always fear the jazz tonalities: if one album could convert them, this might be it. Followed by the funky and energetic Come On, where Sancious’ guitar leave nothing to envy to others, David veers into a calm Asian tune where Indian and Far-East music merges (this is fusion like we are not used to and the track’s title East India confirms it) to some of Billy’s percussions and chimes from Alice Coltrane. Herbie Hancock is not far away in this track. The inaptly-named Dixie is anything but Southern Dixie-jazz sounding (even if Sancious is making an anti-racist statement in this track) and presents another steaming fusion of styles, this time nearing Ponty’s later 70’s albums and some Tangerine Dream-like electronics, if you can picture that!!!

With the title track comes the album’s last lengthy track (a small 8 minutes and the start of the second side), where the mood is more into RTF and Chick Corea’s world. A short funky Joyce is followed by a “Crystal Image”-clear classical piano. One Time plunges us into an Emersonian realm, but I think Keith would have to bow out, as he would’ve not managed to play (or write anyway) this classical piece with the jazz feeling that Sancious dares. Absolutely stupendous!! The title’s track’s reprise is again in the Ponty register.The album’s CD version gets a bonus track, the short, ultra calm and reflective Promise Of Light, which blends in on the album quite well, but is nothing that special, but can serve as a very apt outro.

If you notice, a lot of the references or comparisons I gave while describing the tracks date after this album’s release, and if not on purpose, I don’t think this is an accident either. Sancious seems to be much a precursor with this album.

Sean Trane Sancious second album came a bit bizarrely with a similar artwork of orange skies at sunset, just like its previous and debut album To say that if the container looked the same,and deduct that the content was the same as the debut is something I wouldn’t do, but there is a bit of that. The awesomely gifted Sancious was breaking grounds with his risky mix of jazz and symphonics without actually sounding cheesy or cliché or being part of Sinatra’s generation. The man was using modern jazz rock/fusion ala RTF or later WR, but instilling a good dose of classical music, a bit like McLaughlin had done with MO, but quite achieving the same results, which is where Sancious innovates. This album is actually attributed to DS and Tone, which is his back up band, roughly the same players than on the debut, including bassist Carboy and drummer Carter, and an appearance of Gayle moran, already a guest on the previous album.

Just four tracks on this album, three of them medium-sized on the A-side, but the longer of these Sky Church Home is good blues but overstaying its welcome at 9 minutes. The other two tracks are much more interesting for the progheads, as the opening Metamorphosis takes you through a bunch of challenging rhythms, and entwining solos of keyboards and guitars (both handled by Sancious) and even gets a bit of growled vocals in until you feel dizzy. After Sancious’ fiery guitar pyrotechnics on the blues tracks, Play And Display Of The Heart is a welcome rest, a slow-starting fusion piece starting on a classic piano (and later a slightly more jazzy guitar, but not at first) and remains in the mostly in the symphonic (sorry to use this word for a sole piano) realm.

The flipside’s sidelong Transformation returns more to the enthralling music of Metamorphosis (mmmhh!! I think the titles are a solid hint), slowly rising from the ashes under a hundred percussion instruments slowly crescendoing (a bit like the Moody Blues had done so typically in their classic period), and once the track is under way, it turns out that it should’ve been subtitled speed of light or speed of sound rather than Love.Sancious’ rocky guitar histrionics are much of the appeal on this album and the groups support him well, providing studious and well kept rhythm. All I heard from Sancious is the first two albums, but this mother is definitely his better tracks spread over the two discs. After a dizzying quarter hour of all-out music reaching some real heights, the track slowly fades with the same percussion instruments that had started it. Outstanding playing from everyone, even if Moran’s voice is an acquired taste (not by me), but her interventions are rather insignificant in regards to the tracks’ enormous stature. Its amazing that Sancious’ two epic label albums didn’t get more recognition (although they sold rather well, back then) and is not a household name among fusionheads. Part of the explanation might be that both album were out of print for many years, and only received a reissue in Columbia’s Master Of jazz Rock in the early 90’s, and now finally a third recently. Both his first two albums are very much worth your investigation, the forst being more even, while this one is presenting Sancious’ masterpiece.