Atlantic Bridge

Forming in Britain amid the early stirrings of fusion, Atlantic Bridge delivered a self-titled instrumental album during 1970. Although the musicians displayed notable technical command, the record stayed fairly conventional and avoided the daring explorations then typical of acts such as Soft Machine. The group held fast to its jazz foundation, as saxophonist and flutist Jim Philip channeled a clear John Coltrane influence. Chief arranger Mike McNaught’s electric keyboards supplied the strongest rock inflection. Interpretations of “MacArthur Park” and the Beatles tracks “Something” and “Dear Prudence” signaled an attempt to reach rock and pop audiences, an approach far less common among jazz-rock ensembles in 1970 than it would later become. The band also issued a scarce 1971 EP that leaned more heavily into rock textures and featured female vocals on one song. Get Back reissued the original LP in 1999, appending two tracks from the EP as bonus material.