Arc of a Glider

The intricate and deftly executed 1978 debut of Auracle

One listening path I took this week involved Michael and Randy Brecker during the later ‘70s, when the Brecker Brothers were making surprisingly enduring (aka: timestamp-resistent) funk-based music for improvisation. In 1978, they released Heavy Metal Bebop, a mostly live-in-New York album that features the energetic drum work of Terry Bozzio and deep solo excursions from both Breckers (on acoustic and electrified instruments) as well as guitarist Barry Finnerty.

That prompted a YouTube search for “jazz fusion 1978,” because it clearly was a time when, perhaps in the aftermath of Weather Report’s inescapable hit “Birdland” the year before, many were thinking about fusion in a broad way. This eventually took me to Glider, the first major-label album by Auracle, a short-lived but wildly creative group led by keyboardist John Serry and featuring the versatile flautist Steve Kujala (whose credits include a collaboration with Chick Corea and appearances on countless film soundtracks).

Glider is tagged as “disco,” “funk,” “easy listening” and “jazz” in various Internet descriptions (!), but at core it’s a slice of breezy fusion, far less funk-oriented than the Breckers but equally demanding technically. The compositions (four by Serry) are interestingly episodic, moving from placidity to knotty altered-chord tension to disarmingly beautiful melodies; the structures inspire bouyant, riff-and-jargon-free soloing. Serry gets airborne throughout — check his Corea-influenced electric piano turn on the brisk “‘Sno Fun.”

This is a good record to have around when it becomes necessary to refute the (tired, often one-dimensional) arguments of fusion-haters who complain that the entire genre is about chops. Unfortunately it’s challenging to actually obtain this one: Glider has not yet reached the streaming metaverse. The above YouTube link comes from one of my favorite sources of underloved/overlooked records — Terminal Passage. Enjoy!