- LP
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- New Release
Pyramid
Pyramid
Outernational Sounds - Cat No: OTR021
- updated:2026-07-07
1980年にメルボルンのインディペンデント・レーベル〈East〉から発表されるも、長らくオーストラリア国外では流通せず幻盤となっていたPyramidの1stアルバムが〈Outernational Sounds〉より正規再発。ピアニスト/コンポーザーDavid Hirschfelder、ドラマーDavid Jones、ベーシストRoger McLachlan、トランペットのBob Venierによるカルテットが残したオーストラリア産ジャズ・フュージョンを代表するファンキーな裏名盤。
Track List
Available for the first time since its original release in 1980, this is compelling, funky, exploratory jazz from Melbourne, Australia.
The album opens with the floating Song For Bobby, a downtempo gem with the heartbeat aura of Herbie Hancock’s Butterfly; Orchestral Excerpts (From The Symphony Of Life), In The Basement and City Of Stone are high-grade fusion jams with one eye on Weather Report and Return to Forever, the other on the organic Australian sound of Alan Lee and John Sangster. The album closes out with the completely improvised Universal Suite, a 17-minute excursion which begins with a cinematic opening reminiscent of electric Miles at his most introspective before taking flight on passages of hard-driving Latin percussion, shimmering fusion and gritty funk. Slick, cultured and in close dialogue with the most advanced sounds of the era, Pyramid documents one of Australia’s great fusion bands at the height of their powers.
The album opens with the floating Song For Bobby, a downtempo gem with the heartbeat aura of Herbie Hancock’s Butterfly; Orchestral Excerpts (From The Symphony Of Life), In The Basement and City Of Stone are high-grade fusion jams with one eye on Weather Report and Return to Forever, the other on the organic Australian sound of Alan Lee and John Sangster. The album closes out with the completely improvised Universal Suite, a 17-minute excursion which begins with a cinematic opening reminiscent of electric Miles at his most introspective before taking flight on passages of hard-driving Latin percussion, shimmering fusion and gritty funk. Slick, cultured and in close dialogue with the most advanced sounds of the era, Pyramid documents one of Australia’s great fusion bands at the height of their powers.
Herbie Hancock「Butterfly」を思わせる心地よい浮遊感の「Song for Bobby」でスタートし、Weather ReportやReturn to Foreverを彷彿とさせるフュージョン・ジャム「City of Stone」「In The Basement」など、緻密で洗練された楽曲群はいずれも演奏力の高さと豊かな即興性が見事に融合。圧巻は17分に及ぶ完全即興「Universal Suite」。内省的なエレクトリック期Miles Davisを思わせる静かな導入から、ラテン・パーカッション、煌びやかなフュージョン、ファンクへと姿を変えながら展開していくダイナミックな様は、バンド4人のテレパシー実験のよう。2作を残し活動を終えたオーストラリア屈指のフュージョン・バンドによる濃密なデビュー作。マスタリングはDubplates & Mastering。180g重量盤。 (足立)