Hakon Graf 1982 Hideaway, 1987 Grafitti

 

Well what could I say that's not obvious? After Moose Loose and Hawk on Flight,  Hakon Graf's1982's Hideaway is more of the same but much smoother, while Grafitti of course is basically complete commercialese / easy listening.

Nonetheless, consider the lovely, tender keys of Tender Stranger:

Btw Hakon released a couple of CDs in recent years (Sunrain, Licence to Chill) with some marvelous fusion on them, which are well worth checking out too.

Kiyoshi Hasegawa in Barbara (1983)

Info here. A very prolific SSW you can see albeit seemingly totally unknown past the shores of his island home to the point where it's hard to even find his music anywhere at all.  Only a couple of albums so far as I know are available digitized, the remainder presumably existing only as analog or digital discs.

The elaborate string arrangement intro of this third track (kage ni naku) betrays the generic ordinariness of what follows:

Back to Frode Thingnaes with Queen Python, 1981

Information on this one discogged here. Most tracks were written by guitarist / engineer, Jan Erik Kongshaug.

Same light fusion as the preceding installments marred slightly (for myself, apologies to others) by the fact it's a live recording and therefore not perfect in terms of sound, and intensity. At any rate, I had to purchase and rip it as it was missing from his online digital discography (so far as I know, as usual, which is not too far).

It's also a very long album at about 50 minutes but that's nothing to celebrate since it entails constant repetitive solos by every musician.

Afterglow by Bob James really can take you back to those days in 1981, he was the guy who although quite prolific (and mid, as the kids would say) in the light funk / fusion sphere throughout the 70s, struck it HUGE with the TV theme for Taxi, starring lovely Merilu Henner-- does anybody else here remember that classic show?  And this track also resembles that theme, with its nicely detailed and long melody:

CREDITS:

Bass – Jan Erik Kongshaug

Design [Cover] – Bruno Oldani

Drums – Thor Andreassen

Engineer [Mixing] – Jan Erik Kongshaug

Engineer [Recording] – Arne Akselberg

Guitar – Pete Knutsen

Keyboards – Henryk Lysiak

Lacquer Cut By – F*

Trombone, Euphonium – Frode Thingnæs

Recorded live at «Døla-jazz», Lillehammer and «Gjøvik-festivalen», Gjøvik in May 1981.

Four for Jazz in 3 LPs 1970 - 1972 (Land of Dolls, Power of Nature, Sunday Child)

Basic, what they call contemporary jazz, with some fusion traces and elements that make it worth hearing--although perhaps only for the one run through.  They do improve (get more fusionary) over the course of these three short years, information here.

Title track from Power of Nature:

Danish Ariel with Solens Barn, 1980

 

Info discogged here. 

In distinction to the other ST this one is laden with female vocals and is much much smoother and commercial in keeping with the year of release, 1980.  Shockingly the vocal duties are performed by a Hawaiian girl, called Lei (Aloha Moe).

Cf. the title track: