Thursday 6 February 2014

Fuchs-Goos-Band's Chameleon 2 from 1981 and Chameleon 1979, by request







A really beautiful Euro-fusion album, which is unfairly ignored and forgotten.

This band comprises the following highly talented German jazz musicians: Christoph Spendel (keyboards), Joachim Fuchs-Charrier (percussion), Knut Rössler on saxes and flute, Werner Goos of course on guitar, and Paul Muller on bass, and this is apparently their only output.  Between this one and the earlier Chameleon from 1979 the only man in common was Knut.  So I can't say for sure the title implies a follow-up installment to the earlier record, which was more energetic and synthesized, understandably, since as we've seen before, the eighties brought in a trend towards more acoustic music.  Notice that Knut was also in the amazing ethnic-fusion band Orexis, virtually all their albums, so you get an idea of how much a part of the progressive fusion scene he was.  The album "Three Chairs" he did with Goos and Spendel later (in 1982 I think) is also highly recommended but was far more acoustic than even this one.

On to the music, which as usual with these great Euro-fusion records is well written, interesting, never boring, and with chamber music importations.  Consider the marvellous track "Song for a Lady" which recalls multiple previous flute/guitar tender tracks like Gong's Mireille for ex.  Here the playing of Knut is utterly out of this world:





As is his soprano sax playing on top of phasing electric guitar arpeggio series on the drawn-out but never tedious "Zyklus One": 





















12 comments:

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  2. I used to have the first lp Chamelion, but it was trashed long ago and gone. I'd love to hear it again, any chance of that be posted ? Can't find it anywhere now. :(
    thanks

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  3. Actually I was going to post that one too but I completely forgot. I will do it.

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  4. What a Champion !! Well done my friend. :)

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  6. This is way cool....thanks a lot for this one :)

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  7. Always reminded me of Passport, Klaus Doldinger

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  8. Chameleon one
    https://www.sendspace.com/file/dko6r8

    Chameleon two
    https://www.sendspace.com/file/h7gcvw

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  9. Thanks also for this
    I forgot ..... I hope you had a good Christmas, here in Italy we see Dragons, I don't think it's the effect of alcohol because we were quiet, at home with the VIRUS .... mmuuahahaha. ...did I scare you?
    Okay, I wish you a Happy Better New Year (it shouldn't be hard, but you never know) before I forget it.
    Thanks for all :-)

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