Eddie Warner, born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1917, has been one of the leading figures in European Exotica in the 1950s operating from France where he ended up at after the war. His repertoire of styles included several kinds of jazz and Latin based dance music such as Mambo, Baião, Chachachá but with a stateless hunger to explore new terrain he built himself another refuge in the library music and electronic sounds department. A cornerstone of his work in that field has now been reissued by Fifth Dimension, a young and uprising label with a special attention to electronic and library music. 1968 was the year that “Progressive Percussion Vol. 1” has been unleashed upon mankind for the first time and since library music was always meant to be used for the soundtracks of movie and TV productions or commercials, not many people outside that genre may have taken notice of this colorful masterpiece. It was not uncommon that such soundscapes back then consisted of powerful funky and jazzy rhythms, fuzzed out guitars and steaming keyboard work. Eddie Warner and his compatriots spice up these already standardized elements with freaky electronic chimes, morse code sounds and even outbursts of free format psychedelic eruptions that will blow your mind. The title already suggests that Eddie Warner and his musicians often put an emphasize on the groove and not only the regular drummer conjures a tight netting of polyrhythmical patterns but also receives assistance from a very skillfully executed xylophone and some handy percussions that rattle and ping somewhere within this jungle of grooves. Rock and heavy funk are the predominant styles from which this studio band starts its musical expedition. Despite being European, Eddie Warner and his mates hit the frequency of pure hot blooded powerfunk and heavier west coast rock played mostly by American bands from California to Detroit and NYC back in the late 60s. When this group calms down a bit and gets in the mood for a Latin and jazz influenced jam, you as the listener find yourself in a smokey psychedelic club somewhere in San Francisco until the song and your trippy dream end. While most of the time you could imagine an rampant jam session of SLY & THE FAMILY STONE, QUICKSILVER MESSENGER SERVICE and JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, especially the pure electronic moments here are years ahead of their time and should have been a massive influence on later German pioneers such as KRAFTWERK, NEU or CLUSTER. So this is an adventurous piece of music for the fans of groovy, sexy and mind expanding music based on what the pop scene in 1968 had to offer. Close your eyes and join the space dance.