Sean Trane Well, this is a Magma album that won’t openly say it for a few reasons, namely because it’s instrumental, and sometimes wanders away from the Zeuhl genre… But make no mistakes, all four participants were at one time or another in Magma, and most likely simultaneously together in the late 70’s. That was a few years before this album’s release in 81, though. Yup, Jannik’s instantly recognizable bass thumps, Christian’s distinctive skin banging instantly reminds you of the Kobaian bunch, and Benoit’s Rhodes and assorted Kb reinforces the déjà-entendu feeling. Of course, the main difference is that this is only a quartet, and it’s without the typical Kobaian Orff-ian choirs.

The album opens on the 24-mins sidelong epic “GHK Go To Miles” (Davis??), a very moody piece that oscillates between very calm piano to wild fusion, while remaining typically Zeuhl at all times, but that doesn’t go without some typical flaws: Vander’s drums are often too present in the calmer moments. There is a brief Bolero moment around the 20-mins mark as well. The shorter flipside features three tracks, starting with its Harley Davidsonian-opening Overdrive (I can tell you that it’s rather panicking when you’re driving), a 100 MPH piece that has Jannick blowing all four cylinders (uh, I mean bass strings ;o)))) down the highway. The quieter (at first) 7-mins 767 ZX pieces features more Lockwood than all that had gone on beforehand in the album. The album closing slow-starting Reliefs (in French it, means hilly landscapes or sculptural elements or even meal leftovers) slowly climbs up the heavy slopes and even gets quite riffy, but the middle section suddenly drops intensity, tries to capture back the old momentum, but has to find another goat trail, to end up some place else

Does Didier have a presceance as to why this album bears his name (outside the obvious alphabetical order) or why it’s classified under his name? I can’t really say that his presence is determinant and that he’s a bigger cylinder than his other three team mates. Nevertheless, the album is certainly worth a good investigation for Magma aficionados, but it’s relatively unrepresentative of Lockwood’s solo output. BTW, I’ve seen this album with a very different grey, yellow and blue tyre imprint artwork as well.

Sean Trane Second album of this group (despite its Phoenix entendre), but it seems the line-up was fairly stable one. A classic quartet (I’ll include keyboardist Guez as a member, because he’s present on most tracks) backs up Didier’s violin, but we’re definitely in the stinky years (80’s) in terms of music production values and in a cul-de-sac rut for the type of fusion DLG was making (everything having said 10 zillion times before). OK, the musicianship is flawless, the songwriting good (though hardly uninspired or inventive), but something is mildly irritating with P90, though one can survive if played as a soft “fond sonore”. Indeed, the album is rather flawed with the way it was recorded as all the 80’s recording industry vices were used; though for jazz, it might not be as obvious as for the rock and pop realm. In the present case, it’s mostly the synthetic drum sounds that puts me off, but the whole thing sounds too smooth jazz… hardly any fiery soloing or interplay, and if there was any, no doubt it would’ve been eroded by some kind f effect, like a Synclavier.

OK, I said smooth jazz in the above paragraph, but P9O is definitely more than that since there are some funky tracks (Cartoon being the liveliest of the album), and there is an atrocious latino-jazzy number as well, as if they had to show to us they were able to do the genre as well. Songwriting-wise, it’s mostly Didier Lockwood, but guitarist Ecay writes two and helps out on a couple more, plus arranges a few (as does KB-man does as well)

Unless you appreciate fusion albums from this era, you’d better stay away from, because it also bears another flaw of the era: its length. OK, it’s not filled to the brim, but it’s simply too long, especially when it’s a little twee and lame like in the present. It’s not all bad of course, but there are dozens (if not hundreds) of albums that deserves much more attention.

Sean Trane After coming to national attention with his Brother Francis (piano & kb) with The Visitors then passing through the main Zeuhl legends of Magma and Zao, Didier Lockwood embarked on a solo career with his aptly titles Jazz-Rock album in 76. He would record two more a little later on in the decade, but in between working for others (Rahmann, for ex). In the meantime, the Lockwoods had also formed their own group called Surya with Zao’s drummer Truong and two lesser-known but very-capable musicians. Originally recorded in August 77, this album didn’t have much luck and was released only in 80 on the very small label Cornelia, but by this time the momentum had changed for that kind of music.

Lockwood is well within the French jazz violinist after Grapelli and more closely Ponty, but he never enjoyed the high profile of those two. It is of course a little sad, because he’s a very solid virtuoso, as his older brother Francis is as well. Actually, the whole group is a typical example of a JR/F band of the late 70’s and they soundscape are well in line with the monsters groups of the era, especially Mahavishnu (the bros played with McL) and JL Ponty, violin’s presence obliging. Despite having a double KB attack and Didier’s violin (but the Lockwood bros are the youngest by far in the group), it appears that the group was rather collegial as all five had their words in the composition dept.

Their brand of mainly instrumental fusion is typically what you’d expect from the era, but some tracks have a funkier feel, notably on Madagascar-born bassist Sylvain Marc’s two compositions, the rapid-fire Stakau and the choppy Do Anything, which happens to have vocals, though they’re somewhat buried in the mix (more than you’d expect). Opening on the other keyboardist Plouton’s Agartha composition, one can only think of the MO Mk1 albums like Birds Of Fire, but with the notable absence of a blistering guitar. The following Truong composition Aspiring Answer is a much calmer affair, but gradually picks in intensity without losing its subtlety. Didier’s Automatic Man and Francis’ two tracks are more “progressive” in the genre, with long intros and intimate climates, especially Aura.

But as fine as the album is worthy of discovering, you won’t miss much if you don’t either, because Surya doesn’t reinvent the genre or add anything significant to it. Don’t get me wrong, this is genre-consolidating work that can only find a legitimate space in your shelves, but so can a few other dozens of albums. If you want something from the Lockwood bros, this and Didier’s debut album are about as fine as you’ll find.

NB: the few Cd reissues I have seen mostly show the album under DL’s name with Surya as the album’s title, but originally, this was a indeed a full-group effort.