BIRDS OF FIRE – Novenquarto (String City)
This Italian band have given themselves a lot to live up to by naming themselves after one of the best jazz-fusion albums ever recorded, and while the style of jazz is less fusion and more jazz-funk, this is still a very enjoyable album. After a short intro the first track proper – ‘Double’ - opens with some Seinfeld-style jazz bass guitar before developing into a pleasing melodic piece of jazz-funk. ‘Scherza Noo!’ is a showcase for the jazzy guitarwork of Nicola Fassi and gives drummer Paolo Frigerio the chance of a solo, while ‘Dica 33’ is more riff-led and is more in the style of Jeff Beck’s mid 70’s albums. ‘The Birds Of Fire’ brings all these strands together, and ends up being the most overtly jazz-rock track on here so far. Underscored by a great heavy riff, and also featuring some searing guitar-work and a nice Hammond organ solo courtesy of guest Massimo Annoni, this track is one of the highlights of the album. ‘The Birthday Song’ has a lovely tune running through it, and benefits from some fine alto sax from Maurizio Signorino, making a welcome melodic interlude amongst the rest of the tunes. ‘Muscon’ makes use of some extremely unusual time signatures and yet still manages to hold the tune. ‘Acqua Di Cielo’ is another piece with a memorable tune running through it, but does feature an almost free jazz sax solo which tends to detract from the melodicism of the track. ‘Victory Tales’ ends the album on a high, with a rondo rhythm at the beginning before the guitar comes in for some great riffing and soloing. Yet another blind buy from GFT, and considering that it was based almost solely on the band’s chosen name I think that I have come out of it pretty well with this first rate jazz/funk/fusion album, which can hold its own among the rest of its genre in the collection.