M.Neumann Saxophone ace Klaus Doldinger's second PASSPORT album saw the band, in 1971, still trying to find its musical feet. Unlike the more refined electronic jazz rock of their upcoming albums the sound here is closer to pure fusion, if that isn't an oxymoron, and surprisingly funky coming from a quartet of such scruffy looking young Germans (the blond, bespectacled Doldinger is the notable exception to the group's hirsute grooming policy at the time).

But a certain focus was still lacking at this early, embryonic stage of their career. It would take another few albums for technology to catch up with Doldinger's ambitions, judging from the yardstick of this album's limited keyboard array: mostly primitive electric pianos and clavinets, with a few modest synthesizer runs and a little un-credited mellotron flute.

And the band itself still needed some fine tuning. The lean, clean voice of Doldinger's trademark tenor/soprano saxophone is, as always, the axis around which everything turns, but the classic Passport line-up wouldn't emerge until the album "Looking Through", two years later. In retrospect the obvious weak link here is drummer Brian Spring, a serviceable musician for the time but no match for the nimble pyrotechnics of his replacement, the amazing Curt Cress.

Still, the music shows a youthful vitality that can still be invigorating, from the upbeat, toe-tapping energy of the album opener "Mandragora" to the playful curtain closer "The Cat From Katmandu" (love that title). "Fairy Tale" is a luminous, luxurious vamp on a well-known traditional melody, with a cool ersatz bossa-nova vibe to recommend it, and John Mealing's over-cranked organ solo over the slow, heavy 3/4 shimmy of "Registration O" wouldn't be out of place on an early Can or Amon Düül recording. The latter half of the album (Side Two, on my still pristine vinyl copy) in particular stretches out more, with extra room allowed for open improvisation.

It was never too challenging an album, even its day. But this is easily the best of Passport's early releases (at any rate it's the only one I still own, which says pretty much the same thing). Plus it sports another cover of unique, Magritte-inspired surrealism from the same Hamburg art studio that designed all of the group's classic '70s albums, providing a distinctive visual hallmark for Doldinger and his band.

FunkFreak75 Klaus Doldinger's second album using the "Passport" moniker, for which he had to get an entirely fresh set of musicians to try to support his vision, his compositions, including two Americans, keyboard artist John Mealing and drummer Bryan Spring. This marks the beginning of bassist Wolfgang Schmid (later known as Wolfgang Schmid- Grandy)'s six-year, six album commitment to Klaus. 1. "Mandragora" (3:46) very modern synth, clavinet, and electric bass noises open this one before drummer Bryan Spring and bassist Wolfgang Schmid align in an awesome cruisin' groove with clavinet right there with them. Though Klaus' multiple saxes present the main melody, it's his funky synthesizer that takes the first solo. In the third minute it's time for solo tenor sax. The melodies are okay, but it's the rhythm track that is so winning! (9.3333/10)

2. "Nexus" (5:23) here the rhythm section have some fun playing around with a wild game of tag before settling into a surprising R&B groove for Klaus to solo over while John Mealing plays around with his electric piano somewhere in the middle. Bassist Wolfgang Schmid and drummer Bryan Spring are playing like Titans (or monsters), as if they're in The Flintstones primal drum band--a theme that becomes even more pronounced in and throughout the fourth and fifth minutes. Not even Klaus' emotional soprano sax can take my attention away from this primal groove--not until the final 15 seconds when the band wind it down does the hypnotic effect fade. Nice! (9/10)

3. "Fairy tale" (7:32) gently echoing soprano sax notes float off into the mountain foothills while the gentle breeze tinkles the wind chimes and cymbals. Electric piano and bass notes join in slowly, transforming the porch-view into a trek into the foothills. Beautiful melodies issued by Klaus are apparently borrowed from a famous German folk song (which is even credited in the album's liner notes). Pleasant Herbie Hancock-like pastoral electric piano play during John Mealing's solo in the fifth minute. How can people discount this artist's abilities?! There is so much feeling and nuance in his play (not all flash and flare). Klaus returns with his soprano sax in the sixth minute as the rhythm section tightens up a bit--but not too much: just raising the tension levels a notch or two--but then Klaus' hypnotic echoed- melodies convince everyone to back down again to the gentle support roles they initially exhibited. Nice song! (13.75/15)

4. "Get yourself a second passport" (4:03) another funky clavinet-led R&B opening and acceleration is enhanced noticeably by the wah-wah and volume pedal modified rhythm guitar. (Wolfgang?!?!) Nice rhythm play beneath Klaus' soprano sax and "flute" synth solos. Wolfgang is really on fire in the "Can't Get Next to You" third and fourth minutes. Klaus switches to multiple instruments on multiple tracks to issue the main melody. Pretty cool! (8.875/10)

5. "Registration O" (9:24) Opening like a kind of campy burlesque song, the bass and low-end heavy drums are reinforced by a low-end organ bass as Klaus blasts away rather wildly on his tenor sax. I find it interesting how Klaus has mixed the organ's bass pedal line as the most forward, highest volume track in the song. Synth "saw" solo in the fourth minute is followed by a searing organ solo. But the biggest surprise (and highlight) to this heavy, MAGMA-esque tune is bassist Wolfgang Schmid's very good wah-ed electric guitar solo in the fifth and sixth minutes--it's even rousing enough to rile Bryan Spring into some risky drumming. But, with the advent of the seventh minute, everybody congeals again to a uniform goal, allowing the main bass melody to carry everybody to the eighth minute where they devolve the song in order to break into a new up-tempo motif with a cruisin' groove similar to that of the album's opening song. This then plays out in a jam as John and Klaus express their unbound feelings through organ, electric piano, and sax. Weird but powerful and definitely memorable. (17.5/20)

6. "Horizon beyond" (6:46) a fairly straightforward composition that is made so dynamic and entertaining by Wolfgang and Bryan. Plus, the sax play on this one (soprano) is one of the better/more accessible ones (for me). Even John's Hammond organ solo in the fifth and sixth minutes is great (though, admittedly, made better by Bryan Spring's drumming and Wolfgang Schmid's matching bass play). Nice melodies coming from both Klaus and Wolfgang. (14/15)

7. "The cat from Katmandu" (4:38) opens with a bass-and-drums straightaway: and then the multi-track conglomeration of several of Klaus' saxes presenting the melody (which is also quite catchy). And the throbbing organ chords in the background add a ton to the groove--a groove that becomes rather trance-inducing to we on the dance floor! This is also a sound that previews the sound that American saxophonist David Sanborn becomes so well known for. (9.75/10)

Total Time: 41:32

Due to superior production attention and techniques, even in 1972 Passport was exhibiting sound far in advance of that of most record companies in the USA; the production value here sounds like something from 1975 or 1976! (I urge you to compare this album to other 1972 releases in the jazz, rock and prog world: you will be very hard-pressed to find anything to measure up to this one.) The band have Dieter Dierks and Jörge Scheuermann at Dieter's state-of- the art home-based recording studio in Stommeln as well as bandleader (and producer) Klaus Doldinger's almost anal- retentive attention to detail to thank for this. The music, however, is often built around either 1) rather simple ideas and structures or 2) Klaus' fiery saxophone solos. Though there is no denying that Klaus is a very skilled saxophone player, his sound and style does absolutely nothing to help win me over into the crowd of saxophone fans. I'll even go further in saying that it is most often the work of his band mates that engages me despite my aversion to saxophone leads. While many reviewers find it difficult to find skill or accomplishment in the instrumental performances on this album, I find myself so impressed that I wonder if I'm listening to the same album these other reviewers are listening to. Drummer Bryan Spring and certainly bass player Wolfgang Schmid are very dynamic, engaging, even exciting to listen to, while keyboardist John Mealing is definitely no slouch. What are these other reviewers hearing/seeing that I'm missing? The sound recording is so clear and pristine that each musicians' contributions are fully on display; there can be no questioning their skill and talent--and with the knowledge of Klaus Doldinger's rather exacting expectations and standards, I find it hard to find fault in these performances: they're most likely doing exactly what Klaus has asked of them--and I hear a ton of creative inputs coming from each and every musician through each and every song!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of rockin' and funky Jazz-Rock Fusion that feels two to three years ahead of the curve on the historical J-R Fuse trajectory. The sound production alone is well-worth any prog-lover's attention and appreciation: You gotta hear it to believe it!

seyo The second PASSPORT album continues building upon the solid foundations of the debut. "Mandragora" is a nice melodic opener with prominent use of electric piano/Clavinet and of course Doldinger's wild sax. More aggressive "Nexus" is interesting for a short bass pedal works (wah-wah). "Fairy Tale" is a slower tempo, gentle theme with very good bass lines although sax gets sometimes too improvised. "Get Yourself a Second Passport" contains some nice unison bass and electric piano parts. Second part of album is not so good and gets repetitive with aimless soloing, starting from too long "Registration O" till the album end. This album is much less interesting than the debut but is still a decent jazz-rock work, especially if you are a follower of this music style.

Warthur Whilst the debut Passport album was on what was then the cutting edge of fusion, the second release the band stepped back a bit into more comfortable jazz territory. This isn't to say this is a pure jazz album - in particular, opener Mandragora incorporates a powerful funk bassline - but it does err towards the jazz side of the jazz-rock spectrum. Standout performer here is Klaus Doldinger himself, whose saxophone and synthesiser contributions dominate the band's sound. It's a shame the band chose to play it safe here rather than attempting to continue the more daring approach of their debut, but this is still a pleasant listen which will offer fans of Weather Report or Return to Forever much that is of interest.