Seffer

Yochk'o Seffer is a Hungarian born musician who is among the finest winds player (mainly alto saxophone) in the history of progressive music…

A French fusion super-group, formed in 1971 by two early members of Magma: François "Faton" Cahen and Jeff "Yochk'o" Seffer, and featuring many other talents of the 1970's prog and fusion fields. Zao took the Magma "Zeuhl" brand of fusion and jazzed it up a bit, adding folk elements of Seffer's cultural heritage, and lots of other unique touches.
After Seffer left, the band became more jazz-rock. They have reformed at least twice since disbanding in the late 1970's.

A French fusion super-group, formed in 1971 by two early members of Magma: François "Faton" Cahen and Jeff "Yochk'o" Seffer, and featuring many other talents of the 1970's prog and fusion fields. Zao took the Magma "Zeuhl" brand of fusion and jazzed it up a bit, adding folk elements of Seffer's cultural heritage, and lots of other unique touches. After Seffer left, the band became more jazz-rock. They have reformed at least twice since disbanding in the late 1970's.

A French fusion super-group, formed in 1971 by two early members of Magma: François "Faton" Cahen and Jeff "Yochk'o" Seffer, and featuring many other talents of the 1970's prog and fusion fields. Zao took the Magma "Zeuhl" brand of fusion and jazzed it up a bit, adding folk elements of Seffer's cultural heritage, and lots of other unique touches. After Seffer left, the band became more jazz-rock. They have reformed at least twice since disbanding in the late 1970's.

This archival Magma double disc album represents a concert recorded on 12th of November, 1971 in Brussels, Belgium at Theatre 140. The septet known from 1001 Centigrades (that is, with the three man horn section and minus the guitarist Claude Engel from the first album) performs a set culling material from the first two albums, plus two later Magma standards that were new at the time…

A varied double live set, where Magma speaks and sings in Kobaïan of course, but also in French and English ; so it can be a good introduction for those who are willing to discover them. The presence of a horn section make them sound much more funky and soulful than usual, and "Otis" is a tribute to Otis Redding…

Outstanding folk-jazz album. I think this is my favourite Garbarek album; it is tightly-focused, composed and performed. The whole album evokes life in the northwoods and carries a real outdoors feel. The best tracks are Molde 4, His Eyes Were Suns, and the title track, but each cut is interesting and moving. My only complaint is that the production is somewhat suspect. I find myself needing to adjust the volume constantly – either the sax is too loud or the background too quiet. I own the original CD, though, not the remaster. Maybe the remaster is normalized a little better.