Friday 6 September 2019

Oregon - Crossing (1985)


The 12th album from this US band.

The band is a quartet with a lineup of sitar, piano, bass, drums, woodwinds, flute, tabla, percussion, synths and guitars.

Oregon is one of the jazz bands who operates within a pretty wide variety of what can loosely be labeled "jazz". Sometimes, they have also crossed over to fusion. Hence my interest in them as jazz is a bit too far out for me...... at the moment.

This album starts with a lot of tabla and the label "raga-rock" springs to mind. That changes though and we get treated to some cool jazz.

Lots of woodwinds here supported by tabla, guitars, sitar and piano. That and the drums and bass.

This is essentially a jazz album. But not a trad. jazz album. The band still have a foot dangling around in raga rock and avant-garde rock.

I really like Oregon and has developed quite a soft spot for them in my heart and brain. Their music is challenging........ and rewarding.

This album is no exception. It is slightly a step backwards in quality and my Good rating is both weak and shaky. It is still an album I am pretty sure I will like more and more in the years to come.

Hence my enjoyment of this album. Yes, Oregon will be one of my pathways to jazz.

3 points

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