Ian Carr - Belladonna (2021 Mr Bongo Half-Speed Master Reissue LP, Gatefold)

Ian Carr - Belladonna | Vinyl LP - 2021 Mr Bongo Half-Speed Master Reissue (MRBLP229)

• Ian Carr's 1972 jazz-rock fusion landmark, recorded in July 1972 at Phonogram Studios in West London with eight musicians from the core of the British jazz-rock scene including Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Gordon Beck on Hohner electric piano, Roy Babbington on bass and Brian Smith on reeds and flutes; produced by Jon Hiseman
• Belladonna opens with a 13-minute title track and integrates jazz, rock and atmospheric electronics
• Half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, pressed at Optimal Media GmbH; gatefold sleeve with replica Vertigo swirl label
• Among the earliest recorded appearances of Allan Holdsworth; his solos on "Remadione" and the closing "Hector's House" mark this as a document of one of the most significant guitarists in the history of jazz-rock before he became widely known

By the time Ian Carr recorded Belladonna in July 1972, Nucleus as a working band had come apart. Founding members Karl Jenkins and drummer John Marshall had left for Soft Machine; bassist Jeff Clyne had moved to Isotope; guitarist Chris Spedding had gone into session work. Of the original lineup, only saxophonist and flautist Brian Smith remained. Carr assembled a new group of musicians from the British jazz-rock circuit — bassist Roy Babbington, drummer Clive Thacker, Fender Rhodes player Dave MacRae, and a young Bradford guitarist named Allan Holdsworth — and brought in Gordon Beck and Trevor Tomkins as guests. The sessions were produced by Jon Hiseman of Colosseum, engineered by Roger Wake at Phonogram Studios in West London, and mixed and mastered by Peter Gallen at Lansdowne.

The six tracks run from the 13-minute title piece, which opens on atonal improvisation before settling into a long, locked-in funk-jazz groove and closes on solo trumpet, through to "Hector's House" where Holdsworth cuts loose over a snapping bass line in a solo that established him as a player to watch. His tone and legato phrasing were still forming in 1972 but the approach was already entirely his own. Beck and MacRae playing Hohner and Fender Rhodes simultaneously creates the layered keyboard texture that defines much of the record's atmosphere.

This Mr Bongo reissue is half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road, gatefold, with the replica Vertigo swirl label, licensed from Universal Music Operations.