This was a night of old-school fusion with outstanding musicians: Charles Altura, guitar, Cuban Fabian Almazan on keys, bassist Donald Ramsey and drummer Oscar Seaton. They gave the pieces they played considerable space to develop and to build intensity. The soloing had not just professional energy but ecstasy too. Alongside Blanchard, guitarist Altura was particularly impressive. He launched himself calmly into long improvisations, showing a penchant for rock reverb. Also making his mark was Almazan at the keyboard, who cultivates a knowingly retro sound. Overall the focus was not so much on elaborate compositions, but rather on keeping the pulse and the energy level high, on producing a sense of progression, a flow, a groove, on sophisticated interaction between musicians whose collective feeling for sound was casting back into the past for its precedents, to the likes of Hancock, Davis, Shorter et al….

Charles Altura at Unterfahrt Munich Photo credit: Ralf Dombrowski

Oscar Seaton at Unterfahrt Munich Photo credit: Ralf Dombrowski