Magma - 1001 Centigrades

After the first album, Magma underwent changes in line-up as well as sonic approach. First, two thirds of the horn section was revamped, with only reeds player Teddy Lasry retained. The new second reed player, Jeff (born Yochk'o) Seffer, brought bass clarinet to Magma's sound. Lasry also plays a soprano clarinet, blending in well with Seffer. There's less flute from Lasry though, which is a shame. Alas, Magma also lost the guitar player, who was not replaced. Pianist Francois Cahen adds electric piano to the mix. The result is that the band's sound on this album is closer to electric jazz/fusion, as opposed to the avant-jazz/psych-rock amalgam on their debut. At times the mix of ominous clarinets, cool electric piano and the driving rhythm section captures some sort of dark mystique, whereas some moments veer close to standard jazz-rock with typical electric piano and sax parts.

Where Magma reaches most of its transcendence on this album is Vander's epic opener "Riah Sahiltaahk". Originally occupying side one of the album, in the space of 22 minutes there are many sectional changes with shifting textural emphasis (brass, woodwinds, acoustic and electric piano) and alternating tempos and time signatures, carrying the operatic, at times chant-like ominous vocals. This composition is challenging, diverting and fairly inventive, while only hinting at the future Magma sound.

The other two pieces that occupied side two on the original vinyl, are more standard jazz-fusion compositions. Out of these, my favorite is "Iss Lansei Doia" (Teddy Lasry)which has all the elements you'd expect from a late sixties, early seventies jazz fusion music: nimble bass lines, electric piano backing and a theme carried by horns, all underpinned by open-ended drumming from Vander. But there's more: three minutes in the horns shift into freeform dialogue emulating traffic jam snarls, followed by a calm, almost classical sounding section with just unaccompanied reeds. Five minutes in, a fairly memorable Kobaian vocal section emerges, where Klaus Blasquiz employs his voice's lower register to a creepy effect. After that, a furious section in 5/4 follows, until the piece winds down.

"Ki Iahl O Liahk", Cahen's composition closes the album. Starts off fine, with a polyrhythmic workout with more sinister clarinet work and with more bizarre singing. Two minutes in, the piece shifts into a calm, melodic section with horns doubling the vocal melody and Vander providing some Elvin Jones like support along with unique syncopation. The sinister riff with clarinets returns, which then speeds up leading to a dissonant piano section with bizarre (and possibly electronically treated?) brass on top of it. And then? All the weirdness ends and the last four minutes are essentially just standard electric jazz jam showcasing electric piano and soprano sax. Not terrible, but too generic or mundane in comparison to Vander's vision. It's not surprising that after Cahen and Seffer left the band to form Zao, most of the jazz-fusion elements vanished from Magma's sound.

When it comes to the first two Magma albums, I largely prefer the debut. Although Vander's "Riah Sahiltaahk" easily rivals everything on the debut. Even though occasionally such criticism was valid, it is safe to say that early pre-MDK Magma was not merely "non-descript jazz-rock" as they're made out to be, but actually brought something uniquely Kobaian to the jazz-fusion table. But the total uniqueness was yet to arrive.