In 2012, record producer and
Yes bassist
Billy Sherwood assembled a star-studded cast of prog, jazz, funk, and metal musicians including
Rick Wakeman,
Mel Collins,
Jerry Goodman,
Chester Thompson,
Percy Jones,
Steve Hillage,
John Etheridge, and many more. They issued an eponymous long-player in 2012 on
Purple Pyramid that won global attention from the jazz, prog, and fusion communities. Unfortunately, it appeared to be a one-off; no tour or subsequent recordings followed -- until now.
Cleopatra staff producer
Francisco Perdomo resurrected
the Fusion Syndicate project, did his own recruiting, and came up with
Speedway on Saturn's Rings, a second album, with another already in the can. The cast contains some repeat players, namely
Thompson and
Wakeman, but it goes wider.
On the title-track set opener,
Thompson is joined by bassist
Jah Wobble (they serve as the rhythm section more often than not) and guitarist
Al Di Meola. A striking bit of fusion introduced in a minor key with a charging guitar and bass riff,
Thompson is the glue keeping spiraling, funky impulses from the guitarist and bassist in check. The track loosely recalls
Jan Hammer's and
Jeff Beck's fusion classic "Freeway Jam."
Wobble and
Thompson also accompany guitarist
Chris Poland (
Megadeth) on "Planet 15," wedding jazz syncopation, metallic guitar riffs, and a startlingly colorful chord progression.
Wakeman composed the wonderfully bombastic, soaring "Io," layering keyboards above
Wobble's downtuned bassline. A reading of "The Bottle" by
Gil Scott-Heron and
Brian Jackson is rendered with a socially concious, nocturnal jazz-funk by
Jackson, bassist/vocalist
Bootsy Collins, and drummer
Carmine Appice. Dutch guitar legend and
Focus co-founder
Jan Akkerman joins
Fusion Syndicate for a knotty exercise in hard prog on the appropriately titled "Blasting Off." Former
Gong saxophonist
Didier Malherbe joins the lineup for "Lunar Rover on Mars," an exquisite exercise in lithe, canny, swinging jazz-rock. The official closer is "Coming Back Home." A vehicle for guitarist
Steve Stevens and bassist
Alphonso Johnson, it weaves together layered acoustic guitars and banjo in the backdrop as
Stevens erects a minor-key electric progression effortlessly moving between jazz, psych, and blues atop shimmering percussion, floating keyboards, and a clean, winding bassline.
The Fusion Syndicate recorded far more material than what is included here. For
Speedway, they tack on four remastered cuts drawn from their eponymous debut. Remarkably, they fit the album's musical aesthetic perfectly.
Fusion Syndicate and
Perdomo also held back ten tracks from these sessions for the November 2024 release
Beautiful Horizon. These records amount to an early holiday surprise for fans of fusion, prog, and excellent playing. ~ Thom Jurek