Elastic Rock, the debut album from Nucleus, the Pioneers of Jazz-Rock Fusion.

Elastic Rock, Nucleus's first album, from 1970

Ian Carr was a Scottish jazz trumpeter, composer, writer, and teacher, among the founders of Nucleus and the Rendell/Carr Quintet. He also wrote important biographies of jazz musicians Miles Davis and Keith Jarrett and was a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Nucleus, whom he founded, is a British jazz-rock band formed in 1969 and active until 2009. Their debut album, Elastic Rock, is a true masterpiece, and from there, Nucleus evolved from progressive and psychedelic rock to a funky-accented sound, becoming one of the most influential bands in modern jazz.

The first all-star lineup included Ian Carr, keyboardist and accordionist Karl Jenkins, who joined Soft Machine in 1972, replaced Elton Dean, and took over the band's leadership after Mike Ratledge's departure in 1976.

The lineup also included saxophonist Brian Smith, drummer John Marshall, guitarist Chris Spedding, and Jeff Clyne on acoustic and electric bass.
Lineup changes brought in other musicians such as  Dave MacRae, Geoff Castle, and Gordon Beck.

Elastic Rock, a pioneering work in the jazz-fusion genre.

Bandleader Ian Carr was likely inspired by Miles Davis (according to online sources), but Bitches Brew hadn't yet been released when Elastic Rock was recorded, and according to Carr, they hadn't even heard In a Silent Way (among Davis's albums in the collection, along with Kind of Blue and the aforementioned Bitches Brew). In short, throughout this list of predecessors and successors being debated online to determine who came first (which interests me, but only to a certain extent compared to the content...), we've cited enormous masterpieces, seminal albums.

Elastic Rock is one of these, now a classic, a milestone in the jazz-rock fusion genre, the innovative (at the time) fusion of jazz and rock elements through improvisation and fast-paced rhythms that defined a genre, becoming a seminal work of British jazz-rock, with an unmistakable style that blends the energy of rock with the harmonic complexity of jazz.
The songs flow seamlessly into one another, with extraordinary performances by Ian Carr, oboist/keyboardist Karl Jenkins, and guitarist Chris Spedding.
We find delicate acoustic pieces like "Taranaki" and energetic rock jams like "Torrid Zone" and "1916 (The Battle of Boogaloo)".
Torrid Zone in particular is an exceptional piece, with an epic atmosphere and great solos, and the beautiful blues of "Crude Blues" Part 1 and Part 2 and the calm atmosphere of "Striation" are all there.

We find horns, sometimes airy with Karl Jenkins' oboe, but also extraordinary call-and-response moments and Carr's excellent and energetic trumpet, as well as moments where the brass is soft and muted.

We find electric blues with Chris Spedding's bluesy guitar solos and his finger-picking electric guitar duets with Clyne's bowed double bass.

We find a rock-influenced rhythm section that manages to maintain jazz atmospheres, with extraordinary drum solos by John Marshall and Jeff Clyne's magnificent bowed double bass or his insistent bass lines.

The album pioneered a "progressive" jazz-rock style unlike any other British jazz album of the time, a seminal work for the jazz-rock movement that influenced subsequent bands, including the immense Soft Machine, later joined by several members of Nucleus.
Essential, seminal, a must.

Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page.

Tracklist

1. 1916 (1:11)
2. Elastic Rock (4:05)
3. Striation (2:15)
4. Taranaki (1:39)
5. Twisted Track (5:15)
6. Crude Blues, Pt. 1 (0:54)
7. Crude Blues, Pt. 2 (2:36)
8. 1916- The Battle of Boogaloo (3:04)
9. Torrid Zone (8:40)
10. Stonescape (2:39)
11. Earth Mother (0:51)
12. Speaking for Myself, Personally, in My Own (0:54)
13. Persephones Jive (2:15)

Duration 36:18

LineUp

- Chris Spedding - guitars
- Karl Jenkins - piano, Hohner Electra Piano, oboe, baritone saxophone
- Brian Smith - tenor and soprano saxophones, flute
- Ian Carr - trumpet, flugelhorn
- Jeff Clyne - acoustic and electric bass
- John Marshall - drums, percussion