Andre Fertier - Clivage (1977) LP

An excellent French band led by guitarist and keyboardist Andre Fertier, who have released three albums since the second half of the 70s. The debut album, presented to your attention, combines the best ingredients of the team's sound: relaxed tabla tapping, sparkling saxophone, vague violin, unobtrusive double bass, ethereal flute and a barely noticeable keyboard background in the background. An almost perfect combination of Indian ragas and jazz fusion musings. Especially in this context, the saxophone of Jean-Pierre de Barbat stands out, which almost always gives the music a touch of progressiveness and takes it away from purely traditional oriental interweavings into other steppes and distances. The band's music is often compared to Aktuala, Third Ear Band, Oregon or Shakti, and in some places it is indeed very similar, although Clivage goes further into the jazz-prog jungle based on Indian music, and such a mixture sounds more organic to me from these Frenchmen. 4 long compositions with an average radius of 10-12 minutes are filled with stunning rhythms, howls of the saxophone in the style of Didier Malherbe, violin strums and dynamics that are not childish for this kind of music. Indo-prog at its best! Excellent work that is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent. Highly recommended!!!