Syncrisis - Reflections In Musical Power (1981 Germany).
Syncrisis - Sunny Crisis (1982 Germany). Syncrisis were led by guitarist Titus Köstler-Philipp, and his superior technical playing on “Sunny Crisis” is featured throughout. Similar to other German fusion bands at this time like Lindwurm, but with more emphasis on the smoking guitar. I also hear some of the same type of sounds as on the Red album (an obscure 1983 UK fusion group), which may be the first time I’ve ever said that. With the technical fast playing on the guitar, one can’t help but to compare “Sunny Crisis” to Al Di Meola’s best work like “Elegant Gypsy” or “Casino”. The debut “Reflections in Musical Power” isn’t quite as successful. Here Syncrisis trades in on some jazz fusion cliches like swapping guitar/keys solos, breezy tropical themes and the requisite tedious drum solo. Would be nice to see both of these on the same CD. Köstler-Philipp is still playing today and his latest group is called Dokapi.
Michael Borner’s Sun - s/t (1981 Germany). Borner is a lead guitarist and his band Sun is somewhat dominated by his playing. There’s also some “smooth jazz” style sax. The fusion on display here is fairly typical for the era, with a light, sunny tropical sound. Some reggae, funk and fuzak - along with a clear dose of “Borboletta” era Santana (and the only parts that carry any kind of edge). I was reminded of the To Be album on the Brain label, as well as some of the Surgery album I mentioned a couple of weeks back. A nice record, but nothing extraordinary. No CD exists. Michael Borner’s Sun is a different band from the Sun that released one album in 1980 (and I think THAT Sun is a later incarnation of the group that had one side of music on the “Proton 1″ album released on Kerston in the early 1970s).
Sixty Nine - Circle of the Crayfish (1973 Germany).
Sixty Nine - Live (1974 Germany). Sixty Nine were a rock based instrumental organ drums duo following in the footsteps of Hansson and Karlsson. Given the limitations of such a small setup, it takes quite a bit of imagination and sound variation to keep things interesting. On “Circle of the Crayfish”, they do manage to get some outlandish sounds out of the organ, and combined with the riproaring tempos, the group do keep things hopping for the most part. There’s even an introspective electronic piece. Even with all of the innovations applied, the album still sounds too monolithic for its own good. As expected, the live album loses some of the studio effects, and is even more one dimensional than the debut. Sixty Nine are to be commended for their mighty efforts, and both of these do deserve a CD reissue. But it’s for a niche within a niche audience.