Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Apprentice - Rough Draft 1982 (flac and mp3)

On fire with a US fusion tear here, from the fantastic shige we have this amazing high-quality rip... This time from the early eighties, you can't mistake those digital keys and splashy drumming style. Musically this album is phenomenal, high energy and great composition. I step back for magister dixit:

"Rough Draft "Apprentice"(1982)...superb USA obscure jazz rock & fusion. Ripped from LP.
Track 7 is the masterpiece !!!!!
Equipments I used are....
turntable....DENON DP-47F
CD recorder....Pioneer PDR-D5
phono equalizer...ONKYO PE-155

James Pastman....Acoustic and Electric Piano,Mini,Micro Moog,Obertheim Polyphonic,Clavinet and Percussion
Mitch Hayes....Acoustic and Electric Guitars
Kenny Nugent....Bass
Jerry Leake....Vibes,Marimba,Hand Drums and Percussion
Frank Stauffer....Drums

Side One
1.Rough Draft (6:02)...James Pastman
2.Barnstorming (6:46)....JP
3.Prank (5:06)...JP
4.Charlie Brown (2:32)...Vince Guaraldi

Side Two
1.P.M.(Privately Maintained) (4:58)....JP
2.Freeze Frame (4:35)....Mitch Hayes
3.Time Change (6:54)....JP
4.It's in the Cards (3:24)....MH

Recorded at Sunset Sound Studios,LA,California,in 1981(?) or 1982(?)"

Very professionally played fusion by this experienced (albeit unknown) team, one throwaway song in the form of the christmas charlie brown song, I think the compositions are really outstanding, you can listen many times to this and always find new ideas to enjoy yourself with...
Track 5 ("privately maintained") reminds me a lot of Finnforest with the circular electric piano pattern and strong electric guitar statements starting with a windy-atmospheric beginning. Definitely my favourite for the aforementioned european sound. Digital strings make an appearance but thankfully are kept subdued in the background. A more unfortunate 80s-sound casio keyboard starts off the next track though-- is it possible we really loved that casio sound back then, 25 years ago? Hard to know. Track 7 is a more progressive shadowfax-like composition with a lot of energy and velocity to drive us through to the end.

Hopefully there can be no complaints about the high-quality, highly-competent rip here, tracklists are included for once in my posts. For those who hated my last two submissions and the fact they were put out publically rather than fantasized about in the privacy of a basement alone, I would appreciate more positive comments if there are any people who are thankful, which, of course, there may not be. Thanks to the two people who posted kind remarks to the last two albums. No thanks to those who complained about the Coalition post, I suggest maybe just deleting the file from your computer if you don't like it, you can right-click on the file if you want and press the 'delete' button.

It seems the old adage "say nothing if you have nothing good to say" has transmuted in blogs to: "only speak if you have a complaint." I don't want to sound too old, but honestly, I couldn't be the only one who finds it depressing that we encounter rudeness everywhere we go in this world today, and I know from travels, that this is a phenomenon that is pretty much worldwide except possibly certain small pockets of Hawai'i.

Finally, we all hope and wish for the best for the people of Japan in this unbelievable tragedy, whose repercussions will continue for a long long time.... A quote again from master Shige:

"Sometimes a little good.
Almost all bad.
They are our lives."

P.M.(Privately Maintained)...
Time Change...

18 comments:

Tristan Stefan said...

FLAC
http://rapidshare.com/files/450524953/RD_1982_FLAC.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/450524203/RD_1982_FLAC.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/450525060/RD_1982_FLAC.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/450524018/RD_1982_FLAC.part4.rar

FLAC
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WE3CQS7B
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MIKPIL47
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PMI4IMGA
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UMHZTF12

mp3 with covers scan
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1ERFXDAR
http://rapidshare.com/files/450525853/Rough_Draft_1982.rar

Andy said...

Agreed, Rough Draft is unknown (for me) masterpiece of electric fusion. Some parallels may exist with Colosseum 2 or Return to Forever. Musicianship is perfect, keyboarder is fantastic. Thanks for flacs.

RickK said...

please don't feel obligated to rip in flac. I, as well as most people, are perfectly happy with a decent mp3 rip. people are jerks to demand flac. I just want to hear the music.

rickk

Dr Dopo said...

Ah, another home run. I've really enjoyed these last few albums you've posted, I'm a pretty big Fusion and/or Jazz Rock fan. Still thinking about posting some of the German stuff you mentioned earlier? I absolutely love the German jazz rock scene in the 70's, but you always seem to have stuff that's more obscure than what I'd ordinarily come across, I was excited to see what you'd come up with for us.

Anonymous said...

superb music mate!

Anonymous said...

I'm not a jerk, but I'll take flac in preference, given the choice. Thanks for offering both for this one :)

Anonymous said...

No complaints at all, I wouldn't dare.
Thanks a lot, for this (truly) masterpiece.
BTW, mp3 sounds allright to me also !

Anonymous said...

Hear hear, re: "finds it depressing that we encounter rudeness everywhere we go in this world today,..." Well said.

Sigh, I sure wish it were otherwise, and glad it's not just me saying "what's with people these days".

Ah well, be of good cheer - it's probably the only way to fight back.

Thanks for being out there posting away!
- jim from mississauga

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this great rip as well as the many fantastic selections you have here. And let me also add a thanks and a vote for the FLAC files. When the care is taken to record an album with attention to detail, it would be nice if its legacy online is an accurate representation of that care rather than an inferior facsimile.

Anonymous said...

Friend, many thanks for this progressive jazz-rock masterpiece. The piano rocks (especially with the mooog on background) and the vibes are awesome. The guitars and bass are terific as well. And yeah, I like the splash drums too:)
Keep progging!
P.S: Coalition was GREAT too!

Anonymous said...

Great! I bought this record 2 years ago on e-bay, but the quality of the vinyl is not so good.
Your rip sounds great, now I can finally listen to it from my iPod.

AussieRock said...

Thanks for the great share Tristan
Some interesting Jazz fusion sounds here as you say - in particular the piano interludes are magic. Reminds me a little of some Larry Carlton albums without the dominance of the guitar
Cheers from Down Under

Anonymous said...

Many many thanks.
I'm so grateful for this diamond.
I love it !!!
Regards from Greece.

microBateur

Anonymous said...

Great music! Thanks a lot for your ripping efforts.

Anonymous said...

The links did not work! Great music!

Anonymous said...

Hello Tristan, is there a possibility of a FLAC re-up of this gem? Thanks a lot for bringing us all these great bands, I'm sure we all appreciate your efforts. Thanks

Unknown said...

WOW ! I have to say that I was/is a HUGE fan of Apprentice! I was extremely fortunate to see APPRENTICE play this entire LP live at some club in Chicago when they just finished the production. I have the vinyl LP in GREAT condition signed by all and of course ~ sounds KILLER ! Amazing and still sounds fresh after 30 years!!!

Julianryan said...

http://progressreview.blogspot.com/2013/11/jean-charles-capon-et-christian-escoude.html?showComment=1383599773351#c4123483718357109584

New link up on my blog in the comments section

Post a Comment