With Drummer Peter Erskine and Bassist Jaco Pastorius tied up on other projects and tour dates looming fast Weather Report mainstays Joe Zawinul (Keyboards) and Wayne Shorter (Saxophones) were desperately in need of a new rhythm section. Drummer Omar Hakim came highly recommended and he brought along Bassist Victor Bailey and Percussionist Jose' Rossy. By the time they came to record Procession they'd had the opportunity to tighten up as a band on the road and the new blood seemed to revitalise the band, their previous couple of albums generally regarded as a disappointment.

The title track kicks off the album quietly and subtlely with Zawinal's Synth lines quickly joined by Bass and Drums. Hakim's Drumming is very tasteful and being a guitarist as well gives his playing a very musical feel rather than being simply rhythmic. The track picks up in intensity midway before quietly fading away towards the end. This is a Zawinul composition and he tends to take the front seat here, Shorter's sax playing a secondary roll. Procession is followed by Plaza Real where Shorter does make his presence more felt on this slow Jazz piece; indeed it's his composition.

The explosive Two Lines follows; the band is really on fire on this up tempo track. Each and every band member gets to shine here, particularly Shorter's superb Sax playing and the rhythmic interplay between Bailey and Hakim is excellent. This is eighties Jazz Fusion as good as it got. Seven and a half minutes is not nearly long enough for this brilliance!

Where the Moon Goes is a little unusual. It features the processed voices of vocal group Manhattan Transfer. No doubt the band inspired to use them after their interpretation of the Weather report classic Birdland. The track starts quietly underpinned by a Zawinul synth line with a slow build climaxing with some more excellent Sax from Shorter. The Vocal's are used as another instrument rather than singing a more traditional sort of vocal melody and it works very well. The tempo really picks up towards the end, Hakim really driving the piece home. A bit of light relief in The Well follows, an atmospheric piece featuring only Keyboards and Sax. The album then closes with a Hakim composition, Molasses Run. It's another lively bit of Fusion. Once again some excellent Drums and Bass work and Hakim also plays Guitar too.

If you're looking to discover Weather Report this may not be the best place to start, see their seventies work for that but there's no denying that this is an excellent piece of Jazz/Fusion from one of the seminal bands in the genre and comes highly recommended to fans of this type of music.

Domino Theory continues in the same vein of slick Jazz/Fusion as Weather Report's previous album, Procession. The line up remains the same and fans of Procession will find much to enjoy here too.

Can it be done opens the album with an atmospheric Keyboard dominated start before turning into a smooth Jazz Vocal track featuring guest Vocalist Carl Anderson. Pleasant enough it is but much better is Db Waltz which follows. Driven along by Omar Hakim's superb Drumming this track really kicks ass. Stabby Keyboard parts, smooth Bass and rich Saxophone with a few scat style Vocals thrown in for good measure. The band take it down a couple times before exploding again with full force, this really is an excellent piece that'll have you hitting the replay button.

The Peasant brings things down somewhat being much more subdued having an almost Indian vibe to it. It's an atmospheric piece which although quite enjoyable outstays its welcome a little at just over eight minutes long.

Predator opens side 2 of the original vinyl version with its offbeat rhythmic structure though its still played in 4/4. Omar Hakims Drumming shines again, embelished by Jose' Rossy on Percussion though a tip of the hat also goes to Joe Zawinul for his interesting Keyboard textures, Victor Bailey for some nice Fretless Bass work and Wayne Shorter for his never less than excellent Sax playing.

Blue Sound Note 3 starts off atmospherically before a build only to be taken right down again in the mid section full of Zawinul's interesting keyboard textures. Swamp Cabbage is more upbeat with its insistant 6/8 rhythm and one of my favourite tracks on the album. The title track, Domino Theory closes and features some excellent Bass from Bailey underscored by Hakim's once again excellent Drumming, mainly Hi-hat and Bass Drum at the start building with a few well placed snare beats and heavy use of China cymbal later, Shorter's Sax not really making it's prescence felt until later and Zawinul also taking a back seat providing sympathetic keyboard textures.

So if you enjoyed previous album Procession then you may want to add this to your collection. Though Domino Theory is a very good album it doesn't quite match its predecessor for quality. Another killer track like Db Waltz might have just lifted it to be its equal but still worthy of 3 ½ stars.

Way back in the seventies a drumming acquaintance of mine knowing that I was also a drummer was kind enough to put together a compilation tape of some of his favourite drum moments for me. One of the tracks featured the wonderful drumming of Lenny White of Return To Forever. I knew who the band was, but he failed to list tracks and having lost touch with him spent years trying to track down the excellent piece of music he'd recorded for me. Buying Return To Forever albums at random, after much excellent listening pleasure from some of their other albums I finally found what I was looking for on my fifth purchase of the band, No Mystery.

The track in question turned out to be Celebration Suite, the highlight on this cd. Although that tape has long since gone the track was as good as I remembered it to be. It's divided into two parts, closing the album. It has a strong Spanish feel to it and the four piece line up of master musicians of Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola and the afore mentioned White play brilliantly; fourteen minutes of some of my favourite Fusion from the seventies when there was so much great music in this vein around. White's drumming is very dynamic, just about stealing the show here and I particularly love Corea's electric piano sound, particularly on the beautiful lull in the middle of this explosive track.

Although we're listening to Jazz Rock much of the rest of this album has a strong funk vibe, no doubt down to Clarke's influences whose solo material often has strong funk leanings. The first two tracks fit this category, Dayride and Jungle Waterfall. Neither blow me a way but Flight of the Newborn is better, still having a funk feel but at seven and a half minutes the band can stretch out a bit more and features an excellent guitar solo from DiMeola and some nice bass work from Clarke.

Sofistifunk as the title suggests is more funk though with an interesting rhythmic structure from White. Don't be fooled by the title, Excert From the First Movement of Heavy Metal is not that, but after a dramatic piano intro from Corea has quite a rocky riff from Dimeola and a more simplistic driving rhythmic structure from White and Clarke.

Title track, No Mystery is a mellower affair and leaves the funk behind. Dominated by Corea's piano with some tasteful acoustic guitar touches and acoustic bass too which is also prevalent on Interplay.

Whilst No Mystery is not my favourite Return To Forever album for the sheer brilliance of Celebration Suite it's worth buying for that alone. It's a shame that the rest of the album though some very good moments are present doesn't quite match the quality of this piece. 3 ½ stars.

My first encounter with Elephant9 came after a track from Walk The Nile was included on the cd with an edition of Classic Rock Prog. The track in question was Hardcore Orientale and being impressed by the Hammond fuelled mix of prog and jazz I had to investigate further.

Walk The Nile is the second album from the Norwegian trio and they create a pretty compelling sound. A driving and powerful rhythm section lays the ground with some jazz patterns yet played with a rock mentality that provides a solid foundation for the vintage keyboards; Hammond organ playing a major role alongside some electric piano.

The six compositions vary between the more energetic shorter tracks and the more experimental nature of the two longer pieces, the title track and Habanera Rocket. Walk The Nile features a largely repetitive and heavy rhythm section which underpins a droning Hammond which also subtlely solos over the top, creating musical textures rather than dazzling keyboard gymnastics. It does overstay its welcome slightly, not particularly going anywhere but enjoyable enough nevertheless. Habanera Rocket is the better of the two which creates more musical tension and moves through a more varying musical landscape.

As good as Habanera Rocket is I find Elephant9 more enjoyable on the shorter compositions. With less time for self indulgence they largely get straight to the point with some exciting and memorable instrumental interplay. This is perfectly demonstrated with the stabbing Hammond of opener Fugl Fønix, which also has some fine electric piano soloing and the up tempo shuffle of closer John Tinnick. Best of the lot though is the dynamic Aviation which from a restrained start builds to an edge of seat musical frenzy.

Overall Walk The Nile is an impressive instrumental collection, so much so in fact that I've made it a high priority to get to know their 2008 debut DodoVoodoo as soon as possible.

I dare say that Stanley Clarke's solo work is always going live in the shadow created by his former band, the highly regarded fusion giants Return To Forever. That's not surprising really as although I only have a handful of his solo albums in my collection, the ones I have heard rarely, if ever scale the heights of excellence that RTF achieved. That's not to say he hasn't produced anything worthwhile and Rocks, Pebbles and Sand does have some fine moments.

Naturally he's assembled an excellent cast of high calibre players including the superb drummer Simon Phillips. Musically the material incorporates elements of jazz, funk, rock and soul and of course Clarke's trademark bass sound, often hitting more than one note at a time and part slap and pull funk, is all over the place. Overall, side one (of the original vinyl version) is the better, side two being marred by the drippy soul ballad You/Me Together and the novelty funk of We Supply. A bit better is the three part The Story Of A Man And A Woman which moves disappointingly from a high octane fusion start, She Thought I Was Stanley Clarke into the soul-lite A Fool Again. Fortunately for the third part, I Nearly Went Crazy (Until I Realized What Had Occurred), things improve as it moves back into jazz rock territory.

Getting back to the more consistent side one, Danger Street is heavy rock and All Hell Broke Loose incorporates a more funky and fusion vibe. The title track is a showcase for Clarke's bass work as he weaves around a simple soulful keyboard line aided by some soaring lead guitar. Underestimation is a good side closer and is an upbeat blend soul and funk with rock overtones.

Not Clarke's greatest solo outing then but the consistent side one lifts things enough to warrant a 3 star rating.