The Dave Pike Set cd Album from 1971 (presented here as a Japanese CD reissue) is one of the albums vibist extraordinaire Dave Pike recorded while on a stint in Germany in the late 60s/early 70s on the excellant jazz label MPS.

At this time Dave Pike was working with a group of Germans, featuring Volker Kriegel on guitar, J.A. Rettenbacher on bass, and Peter Baumeister on drums.

For quite awhile these albums were non-existent in the US market - so much so that when Dave eventually re-joined us state-side some of his old friends had thought that he was dead.

That is gladly not the case on this set of vibrant, funky tunes, mostly penned by the Set's guitarist Volker Kriegel. I've heard that Album is a little more jazz-oriented than the earlier MPS recordings - and that is definitely true to my ears: most of this album *is* straight jazz but don't let that stop you from checking this disc out - there are quite a few moments that send this beyond that basic stamp of simplicity.

Track 1 Big Schlepp is a funky number with some great cowbell led stops and starts, killer bass, and joint vibes/guitar interplay. The distorted guitar solo is what sends this one over the top.

Track 4 Papa Joy starts out simply enough with an extended intro (which would be great to do voice-overs btw) eventually opening up into one hell of a jam-fest with one of the best vibe solos on this disc. The melody here reminds me of the Bobby Hebb's song Sunny. Around the 3 minute mark this track gets freeform for a few seconds and when the track comes back there is a hot electric guitar solo which sends this one flying, eventually fuzzing out into more free formness.

Track 5 Toys starts out freeform, with some jangling percussion, blown flute notes, and of course various toy-like noises. This track reminds me of Can at their most experimental. Eventually some voices coming in reminding me of Stockhausen. Oddly this track just ends abruptly leavin me to wonder if the entire track is on this disc - it sounds like it's just getting going when this happens.

The rest of the tracks, while all being excellant performances, are more along the lines of straight forward jazz.

Fave Tracks: 1, 4, 5