Second Direction - Four Corners / Steps Ahead
SKU
28-SORA106.2
Second Direction were a German jazz/rock band who released their one and only album in Germany only in 1976 and which was released in Italy one year later.
At the time they recorded the album, their lineup was: Fritz Münzer (flute, soprano saxophone), Karl-Heinz Merkel (electric piano, strings), Gerhard Spirka (electric bass), Val Hargreaves (drums), Jörg Gebhardt (congas)
This album is quite rare and little known. Even less known was the fat that they recorded a second album in 1978 that lay unreleased until 2018 and this reissue! But here they both are, complete and from the masters on this CD!
On this second album, the line up is:
Fritz Münzer (reeds),Pit Löw (keyboards), Toni Robold (trumpet), Chuck Tscheschner (eletric bass), Peter Lübke (drums).
"Coming from the jazz wing of the ever large Kraut Fusion movement, Second Direction provides the listener some of the genre's finest moments. In particular when band leader Fritz Münzer pulls out the flute (primarily on 'Storm Flute', 'Flying Carpet Ride', and the title track), the results can be divine.
Second Direction have perfectly encapsulated the optimism of the era, with gorgeous melodies and sublime rhythms. Hearing this makes you want to take a ride through the countryside, and enjoy a picnic with a bottle of wine and a beautiful girl by your side. Overall I'd submit that Second Direction ties closest to the two Sunbirds' albums, though all remnants of Krautrock have been filtered out here."-rateyourmusic