In 1994 Swedish guitarist Steven Andersson (today Steven Kautzky Andersson) formed a band to present his visionary mix of Jimi Hendrix, gipsy music and heavy rock.
Together with bassist Micke ‘FourBass Strings’ Nordmark, keyboard player Bino Rindestig and drummer Mally Hoxell the band's debut album GIPSY POWER was produced by Claes Olson and recorded with Mats Lindfors at Park Studios in Stockholm.
The album was Grammy-nominated in Sweden, and sold particularly well in Japan.
26 years later the band has returned, with new music, new faces and a new album being released in September. To celebrate the return of GIPSY POWER the Swedish indie label COMEDIA has re-released that classic debut album from 1994, re-mastered by Jonas Strömberg at Slowbeat Studios.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect before I sat down to listen to this. Surely no-one can be claiming to be Jimi Hendrix? Steven isn’t doing, but his playing isn’t that dissimilar. The other thing I’ll mention is that there’s a fair slug of prog in here as well and you’ll hear it especially on the magnificently-titled nine-minute ‘Pah-Kwa and the Great Monade’ (track 5) which like all great prog sessions is in multiple sections with obscure titles that have Latin-sounding words like ‘Preludium’.
But nine minutes is long for a sample so content yourself with ‘The Child Within’ which is only seven and a half. And it is has a solo not far from that on ‘The Final Countdown’.
It’s good to know that powerful guitar-based rock music like this is being made available again to new generations and that this band is still around, even if some of its members have changed, to record new material.
And I love little monikers like Micke ‘FourBass Strings’ Nordmark. It reminds me of the classic Fast Show ‘Jazz Club’ TV sketch which included reference to “The James Dance Quartet playing Desolate Shore, with James Dance on Hammond (naturally), Theydon Bois on guitar, Sid Bellamy on drums and Clam on bass.” Priceless.