FORGAS – COCKTAIL (Cuneiform Records) (DL) (1977/ 2025)

I have previously reviewed the Patrick Forgas Phenomenon for Acid Dragon, but this is a reissue of Patrick’s very first album, recorded with members of Magma and Zao. Composer/ drummer Forgas is known as “the French answer to the Canterbury scene” or “the French Robert Wyatt” Here is that album, with 13 bonus tracks from the same period. Forgas fans and collectors will be interested in this release, in particular as it contains 13 bonus tracks from the same period, more than on the previous Musea 2006 reissue.

The style might be described as psychedelic jazz rock fusion à la late 1970s e.g. Jean-Luc Ponty. Side one has nine instrumental tracks mostly vignettes around the one minute mark: the more substantial pieces like ‘Monks’ recall the Canterbury scene with its fuzzed organ (Jean- Pierre Fouquey) blending with violin (Patrick Tilleman) and flute (Francis Debricon) and a commendable bass line (The bass work from Zao’s Gérard Prévost is notable throughout the album) and ‘Rhume Des Foins’ which also gets into a rhythmic groove. Side two is taken up by ‘My Trip’ with sterling contributions from the other musicians on keys, guitar violin and sax (Bruce Grant).

Forgas’s falsetto vocal style may to be everyone’s taste and the album overall can sound a bit inconsistent, but it must be remembered that these are the young drummer/ multi-instrumentalist’s formative days and, as such, constitute a fascinating glimpse into his early musical career.