This is an album by a reunion edition of the legendary British Jazz-Rock Fusion and Brass-Rock band If, formed in 1969 and active for just over three years, releasing four brilliant studio albums and some live material that was also released since. If is one of my all time favorite bands as far as British Jazz-Rock is concerned. This reunion incarnation includes two original If members: saxophonist Dave Quincy and guitarist Terry Smith. They are joined by keyboardist Guy Gardner, bassist Ben Taylor, drummer Rod Brown and vocalist Dave Browne. Together they perform eight pieces, six of which are original compositions (five by Quincy and one by Gardner) and two are standards.



The music is a mixture of mainstream Jazz and Rhythm And Blues, sadly nowhere near the brilliant material of the original band, neither as far as the compositions are concerned nor the actual playing. Honestly this band sounds like an amateur band playing a gig in a pub, which is an insult to the memory of the original band.



This is a kind of an album which should have never beer recorded and even worse released (and sold!) and shows the sarcasm and cynicism of the record label capitalizing on a band's name. A shame!

Published