Short Reviews [Jadis - 2025 - "Live Snapshot"]

The first time I saw Jadis was on the ‘Lurve Ambassdors’ tour in 1992, I also saw the duo of Gary Chandler and Martin Orford play in the Nineties a few times, ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ is (in my opinion), one of the greatest prog albums ever, and my ringtone is “Wonderful World”. It is safe to say it is unlikely I will ever give these guys a poor review, not because I am biased (although that could be debated), but because I honestly think they are incredible and sound like no-one else around. The band is built around the voice and guitar of Gary Chandler, who has been there since the very beginning, some 40 years ago. At one point he was the only person left and it would have been easy to give up, but instead he recruited Martin Orford, Steve Christey and John Jowitt at the end of the Eighties and the band were revitalised. Over the years there have been a few line-up changes, but Gary and Steve have now been together consistently for more than 35 years, Martin is again back in the ranks (he has had some spells away for good behaviour) and “new boy” bassist Andy Marlow joined in 2007. What that means is we have a rhythm section who know and trust each other implicitly, which is incredibly key to the overall sound as while they can provide nuances and additional melodies it provides the stable platform for Gary and Martin, who not only support each other musically but are one of the few prog bands to have two genuine lead singers, although Martin is used primarily to provide harmonies. As if that was not enough, Martin can be called upon to provide delicate flute when the need arises. There have been 24 years between this album and the previous live release, ‘Live Outside’, which had a different bassist and keyboard player, and that in itself was three years on from ‘As Daylight Fades’ which had the ‘original’ line-up. Only one song can be found on all three, the wonderful “Holding Your Breath”, and overall this is a nicely balanced set list as we get songs from the newer studio albums as well as some older classics. I must confess to being quite surprised to realise this is the first appearance of “This Changing Face” on a live set as it is always a song I have loved with the rippling scales at the beginning, the great harmony vocals and the power chords. This is a singalong blaster if ever there was one, and along with “Wonderful World”, are the songs which I would play as an introduction to a newbie. “Wonderful World” doesn’t make an appearance among the 10 songs, which are a tad over an hour in length, but we do get “More Than Meets The Eye”, which still sounds as impressive as it did the first time I heard it, while “Fading Truth” from 2024’s ‘More Questions Than Answers’ demonstrates clearly they are still producing superb music decades on from when they first started. I have never felt that Jadis have ever really gained the true respect they deserve as they have always followed their own path, and as soon as one hears a few bars of their music, they are instantly recognisable, not something which can be said of many. If you have never come across Jadis yet love melodic progressive rock which is led by guitar and great vocals, then seek this out and then work through their catalogue. You owe it to your ears.