Thunder from Down Under

by Alex HendersonAs promising as Frank Gambale's work with Chick Corea's Elektric Band was, his first sessions on his own weren't remarkable -- generally decent, but not remarkable. While Thunder from Down Under isn't in a class with Gambale's accomplishments under Corea's leadership, the jazz-rock-pop date has its strong points -- which range from "Samba de Somewhere" (a confident piece featuring Corea on electric keyboards) to the insistent "Humid Beings" to the pensive "Mamojambo." The Brazilian-influenced numbers "Obrigado Fukuoka" and "The Land of Nowhere" are pleasant enough, but never really take off. Quite often, Gambale fails to go that extra mile as he did with the Elektric Band. Switching from fusion guitarist to pop/rock singer on such forgettable material as "Obsessed with Life" and "Faster than an Arrow," Gambale sounds like a poor man's Sting.