What Are You Listening To?

[Ruby]

Ken Wiley – Visage (1986)
 
 

I’ve been on the receiving end of some unwanted/obscure/duplicate record store stock – vinyl freebies – lucky me! Making my way through them slowly - planning to keep only what I like and will actually listen to, and to donate the rest. This is on the to-keep list.

Chose the Jazz section as that’s what everyone labels it, but I’m not so sure. It’s contemporary and melodic instrumental, erring more on the side of soft rock than jazz IMHO, however, Ken Wiley is a French horn player and the composer of this album and he’s supported by musicians who all seem to be more involved and well-known in the jazz scene than anything else. 

That said, there are some positively rock guitar solos, lots of lovely keys, really great interesting percussion – altogether a satisfying and uplifting listen - pleasant but not dull. A good balance, I think, with no one instrument endlessly dominating, specifically not the horn, oddly enough! Or maybe not, come to think of it, as it’s a mellow sounding instrument. Quite a bit of synth too, so it’s fairly eclectic but all nicely arranged and produced, again by Ken Wiley. My pressing was made by a short-lived, now defunct SA label named Umkhonto Records, and the album seems to be available on CD too.
 
No clips on YouTube, so here’s a link to Wiley’s site if anyone’s interested in listening to samples (which are unfortunately snippets, rather than entire tracks) – should be available on Spotify as well, I expect … https://kenwiley.com/cds/

Next up, Wha-Koo!!