FIRYUZA — Фирюза (review)

Album · 1979 · World Fusion

5/5 · 2024-08-23
FunkFreak75

An incredibly skilled and seasoned band from the former Soviet Union--from Turkmenistan!

Line-up / Musicians: - Dmitry Sablin / keyboards. band leader - Evgeny Nochevniy / guitar - Michail Mamedov / guitar - Sabir Ryazaev / sax, flute - Alik Nifchenko / bass - Igor Gordeev / drums With - Gasan Mamedov / violin (not credited on the cover)

1. "Ашхабад / Ashgabat" (7:43) piano and electric instruments enter separately and eventually congeal in the second minute into a very familiar European-style folk jazz motif--but only for a half a minute, then things slow down and spread out so the electrified instruments can each display the subtleties of rich sounds they can create. At the end of the fourth minute, however, everyone steps back into the fast lane to cruise down the city street with another very-European sounding melody--but, again, only for a brief duration of time: at the end of the fifth minute the band shifts again, this time into a series of more jazz-rock motifs that carry Eastern European melody lines. The music is so clever, so intricate and well-timed (and conceived) that I feel as if I'm listening to a soundtrack intended to accompany a silent film from the 1920s. (13.75/15)

2. "Край Родной / Native Land" (9:46) everybody knows how much I love music that is inspired by the band members' own ethnic cultural traditions and this song jumps straight out of the blocks in this fashion. In fact, it's not until the third minute that I detect much influence of Western style as only the electric guitar seems to "feel" out of place. Saxophone, drum kit, electric bass, and electric piano join with the sax flute, traditional percussion instruments and colloquial melodies and eventually establish quite a lovely melody-centered piece in the fifth minute. The four-octave bass lines alone are just killing me, but all of the emotion being put into each instrumentalist's contribution to the weave and overall melody is just heart-wrenching. It's like a classic of Motown Soul! At 7:18, however, the band shifts gear, racing down the mountain side with some very impressive subtleties presenting in several of the instrumental performances (especially electric guitar and drums). But then in the middle of the ninth minute the band reverts back to the heart-wrenching Soul melodies for a beautifully conveyed finale. Wow! I was not expecting this--this beauty! This emotion! This skill! Superlatives abound! I would not change anything about this song: it is absolute perfection! (20/20) 3. "Чапыксуар / Chapyksuar" (8:33) opening with a collection of hand percussion instruments woven together with clapping until violin joins in at the end of the first minute expressing a Fiddler on the Roof-like melody. The joinder of the electric guitars in the third minute cause the band to change directions, shifting slowly to more funk and R&B sound palette--and they do it well--especially the guitars and bass but also the sax. At 3:40 there is another shift into a bit of a Caribbean/Latin with, oddly enough, organ leading the way. A minute later we are again changing direction with some "Shaft"-like cymbal play marking the shift into some different folk-R&B stuff. Then at the six-minute mark the fast-playing note play of an electric guitar, accented by a mirroring Igor Gordeev on drums, takes us into some more jazz-rock styles with piano, sax, and muted rhythm guitar strumming to follow, sounding very much as if we'd entered a Wild West salooon with a piano bar. My least favorite song on the album but still overwhelmingly impressive! (17.5/20)

4. "Диалог В Ауле / Dialogue in the Aul" (7:44) opens with solo electric guitar chord play that sounds so much like some of JIMI HENDRIX's playing around (without all of the volume and distortion, with wah and flange used instead). Drums, bass, and violin join in to create a slow, plaintive jam, with saxophone soon joining in to play off the heart-melting melodies being made by the violin. What a duel of gorgeous melodies! How can this kind of beauty even be possible! Then at 2:50 the band pauses to let a bagpipe-like instrument lead them into a new, more up-tempo motif, one that actually shifts a couple of times through several different styles including more jazzy, more serious rock-oriented, and more (I'm assuming) locally-folk-oriented styles before settling into a great folk jazz motif that sounds a bit like early JEAN-LUC PONTY stuff. While I absolutely adore the opening three minutes of drop-dead gorgeousness, I am blown away by the dextrous and seemingly-facile shifts through a series of very different motifs in that second half--and by the fact that each individual motif was so perfectly and richly conveyed: as if they could each one have been developed separately into their own individual song. Amazing! (14.5/15)

Total Time 33:46

While the band's choice to "show off" with its rapid shifting from style to style within the confines of eight and nine minute songs, the flow can get a bit taxing on the diminutive brain of the average 21st Century Homo sapiens sapiens. At the same time, the band's skill level and dexterity in stylistic adaptation is nothing short of breathtaking.

A/five stars; a full-blown masterpiece of impressive and eminently enjoyable Jazz-Rock Fusion. Though I understand that not every progster is a lover of jazz-rock fusion, I consider this an absolutely essential listen for anyone calling themselves a music lover.