It captures the band during the second phase of its early transition, Jeff Clyne and Chris Spedding having left some months earlier. They were replaced for the European tour which included this gig, by Roy Babbington on bass guitar and Ray Russell on guitar. Babbington remained for a while but Russell was more of a guest star as he had his own band and several albums under his belt or underway. Unlike some 'live' albums, this presents an early Nucleus gig as it would have happened, complete with an intermission between the two CDs.

The two CDs comprise the 'First set' and 'Second set' respectively, CD1 kicks off with 'Song for the bearded lady' which begins rather eerliy before launching into Jenkins' memorable theme after which Carr is heard soloing followed by Russell in excellent feisty form. Tracks 2 and 3 are essentially collective improvisations over chords or riffs. 'By the pool' features Russell and Brian Smith on folky, almost Jethro Tull-esque flute. This is followed by a Karl Jenkins oboe solo. 'Kookie and the Zoom Club' begins with an electric piano riff sounding slightly reminiscent of the fourth part of Jenkins' 'Hazard Profile' from Soft Machine's 'Bundles' album except of course that this recording pre-dates 'Bundles' by some four years. The first solo is taken by Carr with guitar heard in strident accompaniment followed by a full-blown Ray Russell 'take no prisoners' solo. Carr returns over a steady rock rhythm and the band breaks into track 4, 'Torrid zone', with a flute solo by Brian Smith. The first set closes with a lovely, aleit short, Ray Russell ensemble piece, 'Zoom out' which demonstrates just how good a composer this talented guitarist is.

The second set commences quietly with Carr's 'Snakehips Dream' from 'Solar Plexus' with first Karl Jenkins soloing on oboe and then succeeded by Russell on guitar. Track 2 is a combination of Jenkins' 'Oasis' and a collectively improvised piece called 'Money Mad' with some great soprano sax from Brian Smith. Another collectively composed piece, 'Dortmund backtrack' features collective improvisation over electric piano and guitar with more solos by Smith on soprano, Russell on guitar and finally Ian Carr, which introduces his elegant solo spot, 'Bremen dreams'. Carr's solo melds nicely into 'Elastic rock' in which Carr continues to solo after which we hear some effervescent tenor sax from Brian Smith. John Marshall has a drum solo in a piece he entitled 'A bit for Vic' and not surprisingly Marshall's drumming is an object lesson in how to play his instrument. The closing finale, short but crisply effective, is Carr's 'Persephone's jive' and is literally a show stopper.

So this, the first new Nucleus album for 15 years, is a piece of musical history, a must for anyone serious about British modern jazz let alone jazz-rock. Also, as the packaging points out, three members of this Nucleus line-up went on to play in Soft Machine. It also, incidentally, demonstrates how brilliant and underrated Ray Russell is as a guitarist par excellence. The Cuneiform packaging is fantastic, the gold and predominantly red coloured explosive cover epitomising Nucleus' iconoclastic nature. Aymeric Leroy's sleevenotes, including an interview with Ian Carr, are an added bonus, as are the great photographs of the band provided by John Marshall. In all, a very important, nay essential, album.

Roger Farbey, March 2003

Back to home page