Oblivion Sun

(PROPHASE MUSIC MVDA4648)

These are great times for the lovers of Happy The Man. The mother ship lies still due to logistic problems, indeed, yet Frank Wyatt and Stan Whitaker seem to be reborn. Not so long ago, in iO Pages number 71, we reviewed their Pedal Giant Animals, while Whitaker and his wife LeeAnne recently released the live cover-CD Under The Covers and are recording a duo-album with original compositions. And next they released the debut from their new band Oblivion Sun, which consists also of Bill Plummer (engineer from Happy The Man), Dave DeMarco and Chris Mack (Ilùvatar, Puppet Show). The album has a fine cadence, partly because of the even spreading of the compositions from Wyatt, Whitaker and Plummer. In Fanfare and Golden Feast saxophonist/keyboarder Wyatt probably stays the most close to the original sound of Happy The Man, although there have been elements added to the jumpy and elegant style which is comparable with Crafty Hands and the eponymous debut respectively, like the rough guitars and DeMarco’s solo bass-parts. Catwalk on the other hand is a parable-like song, comparable with the title track from Pedal Giant Animals. Whitaker’s The Ride and No Surprises also have those typical Happy The Man trademarks, but are more based on blues-rocking and even King Crimson-like guitar-riffs against a jazz-rock background. In the first mentioned track the David Jackson-tinted saxophone-playing and organ-eruptions even give it a kind of early seventies mood. His Chapter 7.1, nicely positioned as track 7, is a arrangement of Chapter Seven from Pedal Giant Animals; this version though is a lot more dynamic, while the emphasis has been shifted from the guitar-chords to Plummer’s keyboards. Finally, the compositions from the latter are best to be described as jazz-rock variations on Happy The Man. Just like in almost all the other pieces, he produces fantastic Moog-solo’s, which remind not only of Kit Watkins, but also of Jan Hammer and Manfred Mann. Next to that, Re: Bootsy (formerly titled amongst others as Mr. Biff) has that lovely funky sounding clavinet and highlight Tales Of Young Whales has the same symphonic grandeur as Crafty Hand’s Morning Sun. Meanwhile Oblivion Sun have started working on the successo and there is even talk of an European tour. This makes the man happy still.

Information: www.oblivionsun.com

Published in iO Pages number 77, December 2007. Website: www.iopages.nl

René Yedema