Short Reviews [Clint Bahr - 2022 - "Puzzlebox"]

All the way back in 2003 I reviewed an album by TriPod, which was one of the first releases on the fledgling Moonjune Records label. While I was pulling together all my old reviews for the first three volumes of The Progressive Underground Clint Bahr from that band got back in touch and I have been waiting for this album for quite some time. Clint has not only brought in old TriPod (and Television, among others) drummer Billy Ficca but he has gathered around him musicians of some note. I’m not going to mention all of them, but any album which features the likes of David Jackson (VDGG and so many others), David Cross (King Crimson etc), Peter Banks (Yes, Flash) and Colin Carter (Flash, Camel) is certainly going to pique the interest of many. Add to that additional instrumentation such as sitar and trombone, while multi-instrumentalist Bahr goes through various basses, stick and so much more. The album itself is a combination of songs and instrumentals, which are at the focal point of avant-garde jazz, progressive rock and art rock, combining together to create something which is true to the original approach of the genre as opposed to sounding like anyone in particular. The one thing it does do is feel British as opposed to coming out of New York, but with so many classic UK musicians involved perhaps that is not too unusual. This is one of those albums which musically is almost impossible to define, as it continually moves and changes, bringing together items that are obviously improvised on the spot with numbers which have more structure. It owes a great deal of debt to King Crimson and VDGG, although one could also argue that from the American viewpoint that Beefheart and Zappa have also had a part to play in its development. This is progressive music which truly is that, fascinating and moving through styles and themes, which may be returned to, or may not, all with a healthy dose of jazz for good measure. Clint is the only person who plays on all tracks, and sometimes it can be a duo or as many as a quintet, but given Clint plays multiple instruments each time it never feels less than a band. For example, only trombonist Dick Griffin appears on both “Plate” and “Shelter”, and while they do sound as if they possibly could be from the same band, they are very different indeed. Fresh and interesting, this is an album which hearkens back to a time when anything was possible and belongs far more in the late Sixties/early Seventies than it does today, and is all the better for it.