Barry Miles - Fusion Is

In spite of its title, “Fusion Is”, released in 1979, is not as ‘fusionish” as its predecessors. Instead it is a bit mellower. But don’t underestimate the power of Miles playing. This is still a superb album full of fierce moments, but Miles incorporates more acoustic piano than before providing a different tone to these great compositions. Tracks "Tandoori" and "Country" remain truthful to Miles past fusion releases, while "Fllow Me", "Sunrise" and "Streams" are more acoustic, even incorporating acoustic guitar, kind of reminiscence of Return to Forever ‘s acoustic tracks. The album closes with the amazing be-bopish "Routes" containing great soloing from guitarist Vic Juris. Terry Silverlight’s drumming is as good as ever. Musicians are: Barry Miles on keyboards, drums and Vibraphone, Terry Silverlight on drums, John Burr on bass and Vic Juris on guitar.

Track Listing:

1. Tandoori

2. Follow Me

3. Country

4. Sunrise

5. Streams

6. Routes (sampled above)

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Barry Miles & Co. - Sky Train

“Sky Train” was released in 1977. This time Miles Fusion sound gets an uplift from the use of a full horn section, which complements Miles superb soloing on both the Moog synthesizer and on the Fender Rhodes electric piano. Miles also implements the clavinet on this release. Terry Silverlight’s drumming is explosive as it seems to be influenced by drummer Billy Cobham’s style. As with other Miles releases there’s a diverse set of compositional styles ranging from the superb Fusion tracks like “Sky Train” and “The Big A” to the amazing more be-bop oriented “Relay” ending with the incredibly crafted suite “Cityscape”. Personnel are: Barry Miles on piano, drums, keyboards and vibraphone, Terry Silverlight (his youngest brother) on drums, Vic Juris and Jeff Mironov on guitar, Anthony Jackson on electric bass, Eddie Gomez on acoustic bass, Rubens Bassini and Crusher Bennett percussion, Eric Kloss on alto sax, a brass section consisting of Randy Brecker, Tom Harrell, Burt Collins, Joe Shepley on trumpets, Tony Studd, Sam Burtis, David Taylor and Tom "Bones" Malone on trombones, Toni Price on tuba, Brooks Tillotson and James Buffington on french horn, Phil Woods as conductor. Finally this album was released in July 2009 thanks to the hard work of preservation by Wounded Bird Records.

Track Listing:

1. Sky Train (sampled above)

2. Old Man Jack

3. Relay

4. This Is Our Night

5. The Big A

6. A Waltz for You

7. Cityscape (The Fusion Suite)

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