Nucleus – Under the Sun LP

Description

Reissue, originally released on Vertigo in 1974.Under The Sunis the follow-up to the astonishingRootsand contains yet more absolutely essentialNucleusmaterial. Genius trumpeter and visionary composerIan Carrwas one of the most respected British musicians of his era. In late 1969, following the demise of theRendell-Carrquintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians.Under The Sunopens with the crisp, medium tempo “In Procession”. It’s a typically inventive Carr track with layers of dramatic, riff-led themes and repeating brass blasts.Bryan Spring‘s “The Addison Trip” is a moody funk piece, withKieran Whiteguesting on wordless vocals.Roger Suttoncontributes some fine bass guitar on this track, particularly the great solo at around the two-minute mark. The excellently-named cool, jazzy ballad “Pastoral Graffiti” paints bucolic pictures with its mellow sonics, plaintive horns andBob Bertles‘s flute. Sutton’s superb, bass-driven “New Life” brings a different dynamic. Horns, guitar, and electric piano swirl over the head-nod bass motif and a killerKen Shawguitar solo. A false fade out halfway through brings in a new bass riff that’s picked up by the whole ensemble as Carr wah-wah noodles over the top. The gorgeous, laidback “A Taste of Sarsaparilla” is exactly that — closing out the first side with a cute blast of what is to come over on the killer flip. The whole ofUnder The Sun‘s second side is a suite of three “Themes” written by Ian Carr. The up-tempo first theme “Sarsaparilla” is comfortably one of Nucleus’s best. What would’ve been a cluttered mess in the hands of most is instead an effortless lesson in clarity and zing. BetweenGeoff Castle‘s electric piano solo, the relentless funky drumming and more wild wah-wah trumpet from Carr, Nucleus show you how it’s done. The languid groove of second theme “Feast Alfresco” is much more typical of “classic” Nucleus and sounds like something that might’ve been onRoots. The darker “Rites of Man”, the third and final theme, is a slow build to a solid bass and electric piano riff, shored up by some tricky brass. Remastered from the original Vertigo master tapes. Mastered bySimon Francis. Cut byPete Norman.