Amalgam (Watts / Clyne / Stevens / Guy)

Prayer For Peace [VINYL]

Label: NoBusiness Country: Lithuania

"[...] The first one is Amalgam's Prayer For Peace, recorded in 1969, and it might well be the re-issue of the year. The band is Trevor Watts on alto, Jeff Clyne on bass and John Stevens on drums, with Barry Guy playing bass on the title track.

"Tales Of Sadness" starts with arco bass and a wonderful melody on the alto, slowly, very slowly increasing the intensity till they're playing up a storm after a while,with especially Watts doing an extraordinary expressive piece while staying within the tune, overblowing like crazy, till absolute madness, relentlessly, without losing sight of the melody which suddenly comes shining back through the mayhem like a sudden smile breaking through the tears on a face full of agony and fear. This track is nothing short of phenomenal, and by itself worth buying the album for.

The second piece, "Judy's Smile 1", is less intense, yet equally beautiful, and it is continued on the second side of the vinyl LP with "Judy's Smile 2", which starts slowly with great bass-playing by Clyne, and perfect accents by Stevens for a quiet almost gospel-like melody on the alto. Then Stevens starts pushing up the tempo, and the piece gains again a strong momentum, going beyond bop in a more free fashion.

Also the last piece, with Barry Guy on arco, lifts the music into high spheres, fully delivering the title's content, without any need for further explanation, reverent, expansive, spiritual and full of inherent beauty and emotional depth. Magnificent!"-Stef, FreeJazzStef