Man Jumping recorded some of the most captivating contemporary music of the 1980s, combining elements of various genres and styles that were commercially popular at the time, and yet the group's eclectic combination of influences ultimately failed to capture the era's Zeitgeist, whatever that was. But imagine a large instrumental ensemble with a decidedly global perspective, enamored of worldbeat and ethnic fusion rhythms but with the minimalistic precision of Steve Reich along with the pop sensibilities of Brian Eno, David Byrne, and even the jazz-pop side of Steely Dan -- not to mention some of Eno and Byrne's avant-garde tendencies. Most of Man Jumping's members emerged from the ashes of a group called Lost Jockey, a British minimalist outfit perhaps somewhat akin to today's Icebreaker, an avant-garde/modern composition ensemble (loosely affiliated with New York City's Bang on a Can All-Stars) also from Great Britain. But back in the '80s when various members of Lost Jockey formed Man Jumping, they seemed to have commercial aspirations beyond those of the more serious-minded Icebreaker circa the 1990s and 2000s.