One of Europe’s most dynamic players, Dutch Keyboardist Jasper Van’t Hof made his name playing with the likes of Jean Luc Ponty, George Gruntz, and Archie Shepp. Formed in 1974, the band boasts a lineup of jazz giants playing cutting-edge fusion; Van’t Hof’s Pork Pie was “…as exploratory, electrifying, and exciting as anything going on in North America and Transitory proves it” (John Kelman, allaboutjazz). Van’t Hof’s intense brand of fusion reigns on Epoch, with reed maestro Charlie Mariano on alto sax and Jasper on electric piano as the story tellers. There’s a dark-toned mystery to the meditative Transitory Pt. 1, and on Pt. 2 Mariano’s soprano, Van’t Hof’s prepared organ and J. F. Jenny Clarke’s bowed bass (Clarke plays acoustic bass throughout) achieve an orchestral density. Philip Catherine’s aggressive guitar solo takes flight on Angel Wings, and Mariano picks up the double-reed South Indian Nagaswaram as well as soprano on his take of the South Indian piece Pudu KKottai. Van’t Hof’s romantic intro to Something Wrong leads in the compelling melody, whereas Bassamba Part 1 features the Samba musings of Jenny-Clarke and drummer Aldo Romano, as the band partakes in a joyous rhythmic feast in Part Two. Van’t Hof ends the album with his dystopian Dance of the Oil Sheiks, dripping dark humor in 5/4. Transitory’s mix of ethno, fusion, and its own brand of Avant-garde shaded with a tinge of Latin makes for a minor classic that defies categorization.