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Thread: MATRIX (do you love GREAT Horn sections?)

  1. #26
    WOW...that was some great shiite !

    Must seek this stuff out.

    Thanks for turning me on to yet another band I've never heard of before.....one of the reasons why I LOVE this site !!

  2. #27
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
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    the funny thing is, back in the 80s when I originally bought these albums, I didn't appreciate them since there's no Rock Guitar. Nowadays I find that composition is more important than instrumentation and these guys have it!
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  3. #28
    I'm not lazy. I just work so fast I'm always done.

  4. #29
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER View Post
    Obviously, here at PE everyone immediately thinks Chicago when they think of a band with an outstanding Horn section. Mandrill were another great band. Then theres B, S & T, Tower Of Power and others.
    Not a fan of any of those, but:

    Nucleus
    The FZ '88, Wazoo and Petit Wazoo bands



    The music is thoroughly composed with occasional stretches for assigned for Jazz style improv but this stuff aint yer mommas Jazz. This is Prog straight up with a little Jazz. These guys are more tightly composed than Mahavishnu Orchestra as well as any band with Horns.
    I guess that's where my lack of interest lies.

  5. #30
    What about Mike Westbrook band? Does it fit the topic?

  6. #31
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baribrotzer View Post
    If you click on one of the albums in their discography, sound clips for all of the tracks start playing simultaneously.

    "the Jazz-Fusion Supergroup of the '70s". They sound nice, but I think they misunderstand the definition of "supergroup".

  7. #32
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Sweetbottom - the keyboard player also played sax.

    That's a horn section?

  8. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER View Post
    Who can comment on the reunion album? Is it as good as the 70s ones?
    OK, I have had a chance to hear this release since the thread started, and it's unmistakably Matrix, the core of the group remains, and the full on horn arrangements are ever present, it has a major change in audio quality given the changes in recording technologies, the music isn't quite as lively and adventurous as the older material, yet it isn't that far away, if you recognize the style of hornplay, you will certainly find this album a listenable effort, that will tickle that fusion instinct especially the one that thrives on the kind that features charted horns and lot's of soloing. I still feel Wizard and Whale are the highpoints of the bands output.

  9. #34
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    I think this band was only mentioned for being another Wisconsin based fusion/prog band.

  10. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave (in MA) View Post
    Sweetbottom - the keyboard player also played sax.

    That's a horn section?
    I think this band was only mentioned for being another Wisconsin based fusion/prog band.

  11. #36
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
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    you mean the Sweetbottom mention MJ?

    I have all the Nucleus, Sweetbottom and Chase albums BTW
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  12. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by flytomars View Post
    What about Mike Westbrook band? Does it fit the topic?
    Quite well, as far as I'm concerned, but not too many people here seem to know about them. I'd call The Cortege the standout. It occupies a sort of odd nether-world between actual jazz and the more avant side of Canterbury, and doesn't seem to have ever quite caught on with the prog crowd. Not sure why - maybe too many horns, too many solos, too much of it is swung instead of in square eighths, and the only keyboard is Westbrook's solid but not virtuosic piano. Too jazz, in other words.

    London Bridge is Broken Down has its strong points, too, but the horn section's a bit small: just trumpet, trombone, and two sax players switching around on altos, sopranos, and baritone, plus Kate Westbrook occasionally playing alto euphonium. The orchestra writing is good, though, especially when you consider that this was Mike's first time writing for orchestra. And I like how the piece moves as a whole, from one song to another to another to another.

  13. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER View Post
    you mean the Sweetbottom mention MJ?

    I have all the Nucleus, Sweetbottom and Chase albums BTW
    yes, that was an effort to clarify, however I amy have made it more confusing in the process, sorry, thread hijacks are always fun.

  14. #39
    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
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    well, this thread was intended to bring exposure to the band Matrix...

    but it seems to have morphed into 'name your favorite band with a Horn section'

    and that's ok by me

    so... here's a band with a great Horn section who released 8 albums in the 70s under various names even though it was always the same members in the band. Most of their albums were released under the name ICE but they were also known as The Lafayette Afro Rock Band among other names. Probably no one here at PE owns any albums by them but their music was Afro Prog Jazz Rock Funk. Their first album was recorded (though not released) in 1972 and they were the backing band to many vocalists albums in the 70s. Here's a good piece by them:

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/mrnk8rpd2o...0CUBA.wav?dl=0

    The piece has a real cool Horn chart... you have to click 'download' and then 'open' for your player to play it
    Last edited by MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER; 01-11-2015 at 02:31 AM.
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  15. #40
    Member Sputnik's Avatar
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    So as a result of this thread, I picked up Wizard and Tale of the Whale, which is spinning now for the second time. Gotta say, both of these are definitely keepers for me. Really nice stuff. Nice blend of elements from Jazzy Fusion to Proggy Rock. Super bass playing, particularly on Tale of the Whale. I love the horn arrangements on both these albums, it's familiar but they often do some things that are a nice surprise as well.

    I'm seriously considering picking up the reunion album, which appears to the only other one on CD. Great suggestion of a band I'd literally never heard of before this.

    Bill

  16. #41
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    Just to augment slightly the Wisco bands dialogue, Oceans subsequently morphed again into Streetlife (feat. Warren Weigratz on Tenor & Alto) and remained the Bucks house band. I do remember Matrix, and thanks to this thread will probably pick up something.

    IMO, there was an even better WI band from Appleton. A 3 piece (G,B,D) called Soup, featuring the late Doug Yankus on guitar/lead vox. He was a troubled dude from the beginning. He still is imo, since I first heard him play in 1968, the best rock guitarist that few have heard. They won some kind of contest and got to play at Fillmore East one night. They killed the NYC audience, but in 1970, they didn't have the merch network that's there now.

    Check 'em out.
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  17. #42
    Quote Originally Posted by Sputnik View Post
    So as a result of this thread, I picked up Wizard and Tale of the Whale, which is spinning now for the second time. Gotta say, both of these are definitely keepers for me. Really nice stuff. Nice blend of elements from Jazzy Fusion to Proggy Rock. Super bass playing, particularly on Tale of the Whale. I love the horn arrangements on both these albums, it's familiar but they often do some things that are a nice surprise as well.

    I'm seriously considering picking up the reunion album, which appears to the only other one on CD. Great suggestion of a band I'd literally never heard of before this.

    Bill
    I picked up both of those as well. Good stuff.

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