ON THE SWISS SIDE

OM - KIKIKUKI (Switzerland, 1976)



OM was a Swiss fusion / jazz group signed on the German ECM label in the 1970s. Their style is fairly close to that "German" jazzrock :ethnic jazz approach that was developped by bands such as EMBRYO or GURU GURU to name only a couple.




Formed in Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1972 and named after Coltrane’s darkly convulsive album, the members of OM were initially inspired as much by the rock of Jimi Hendrix as by the new developments taking place in improvisation. “Electric jazz – free music” was their rallying cry, and they played it loudly. All in their early 20s when the group was launched, the members of OM achieved an early success at the Montreux Festival in 1974 which helped to put them on the map, and brought them to the attention of ECM. Four albums were recorded for ECM’s sister label Japo, between 1975 and 1980: “Kirikuki”, “Rautionaha”, “Om with Dom um Ramao” and “Cerberus”. In jazz-rock’s heyday, OM was one of the few bands (another was England’s Soft Machine) who were approaching jazz from a rock direction, rather than vice versa: most of fusion’s traffic took the opposite route. 

Tracklist

A1                          Holly                                         8:32

A2                          Lips                                          5:18

A3                          Karpfenteich                              6:02

B1                          Hommage à Mme. Stirnmaa          15:58

B2                          Sykia                                        4:18

Credits

Double Bass – Bobby Burri

Drums, Percussion – Fredy Studer

Guitar – Christy Doran

Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Percussion – Urs Leimgruber

Recorded October 1 and 2 at Ludwigsburg, Tonstudio Bauer, 1975

With thanks to JC.
There are two other OM's albums posted @ the Growing Bin.
Om - With Dom Um Romao (1978)
Om - Rautionaha (1977)