Brigeen Doran's Kjol (with Fernando Saunders) Sunny Day {Germany} 1981

I don't know how people like osurec can be so knowledgeable about this rare music and can be so far ahead of me but there is certainly no doubt about that fact as just over 1 year ago I knew nothing at all about this record or these people ... Kjol is a band made up of the Doran siblings, Brigeen Doran the sax player, sister of Dave, both of whom are sibs to the guitarist Christy Doran of powerful danish fusion outfit Om (who amazingly I did know about from years back) ... recall my stupid remark in the Birdland post: 'this christy doran must be some amazing lady...' ouch. ... Well, at least I can come back today and say, 'this Brigeen Doran is some pretty amazing lady... ' "Sunny Day" is their second record from 1981, their first being easily available already from a number of sources. It is just as good as the first record, an equivalence not often the case in music wherein artists put out only 2 records. In contrast to Om this group presents a more funky fusion sound with some really hard-kicking grooves and nicely composed melodies, less in the free and atonal far-out wilderness territory that Om often strayed into in their unexplored improvisationary field trips... more down to earth and accessible, cf. the last track on the first side which is a simple, less than one minute duet between guitarist Affolter (playing a synthesizer-guitar) and Brigeen on sax. The group is rounded out by Heinz Affolter (who also is producer) on guitar, responsible for most of the composition, Dave on percussions, and Fernando Saunders guesting on bass and with lyrics on some songs. Hard to believe these 4 can engender so much energy and power in the music with only them, no one else on board in these sublime tracks, not a single throwaway for me. I know some of you out there feel this fusiony stuff can really get boring in tiresome wankery, but there is little of that here to force you to lose interest, and you can always sit back and focus on the incredibly fast limbs of Dave on those drums-- wow, what a workout he gets out of that drumkit-!

The short duet from side a, "Where are you:"


As well as the third track on side b, a particularly interesting and well-composed number ending in some pretty wild-ass arpeggios, "Midnight Frost:"