Demon Fuzz – Afreaka!

Progressive rock in the ’70s was traditionally recognised as being the realm of white (often middle-class, art-school educated), occasionally nerdy, hippy-types. However, challenging such notions was the all black Demon Fuzz, who signed to Pye’s prog label, Dawn, in 1970.

Afreaka!, released in the same year was there one and only album.

Five tracks (the Esoteric Recordings reissue bolts on the three track maxi-single ‘I Put a Spell On You’) pitch Demon Fuzz somewhere between prog rock and psychedelic soul-laced jazz excursions, with a threadwork of world music, tribal beats and the ever-trusty wah-wah pedal weaving its spell somewhere beneath.

The opening instrumental of ‘Past, Present and Future’ begins in purest progressive rock style with the meandering showmanship of a grinding bass, prior to some sultry horns kicking in and the song taking on a psychedelic jazz /soul feel that wouldn’t sound out a place on the backing track to a 70s blaxploitation flick. It continues to blend styles for just shy of ten minutes, and amazingly, for a song that is both instrumental and of a jazz-influence, doesn’t get boring.

It’s also a solid signpost for what to expect from the rest of Afreaka! If you don’t like ‘Past, Present and Future’, chances are you’ll feel much the same about the remainder. If you do, then everything’s dandy and carry on as you were.

The first of three vocal tracks, ‘Disillusioned’, keeps the jazz infusion ball rolling, through the faster paced ‘Another Country’, and leading to the eight minute long  ’Hymn to Mother Earth’, a gently drifting paean to the ecosphere that bursts with dramatic interludes and is underscored by the prog rock weapons of choice, the organ (sounds like a Hammond) and flute.

The three track maxi-single, included as a bonus, features Demon Fuzz’s rendition of the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic ‘I Put a Spell On You’ – albeit in a markedly different arrangement from the original – the social commentary of ‘Message to Mankind’ and the more traditional jazz/world sound of ‘Fuzz Oriental Blues’.

Afreaka! comes as a pleasant surprise, with anything boasting a heavy jazz element usually being ejected via the nearest window at HFoS towers. However, Demon Fuzz’s blend is just right and succeeds in cooking up an appetising dish of progressive rock/soul/jazz/world fusion. One that’s well worth the more traditional progressive rock fan dipping their finger into.

Afreaka! by Demon Fuzz is reissued by Esoteric Recordings and available from Amazon.co.uk

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album reviews, prog rock