Oral History Live! With YES at the Experience Music Project in Seattle

This looks pretty cool, I wish I lived near Seattle...

[The text below is taken from this page on the Experience Music Project website.]

Details:
Join us for an intimate interview with the band YES, hosted by Jacob McMurray, EMP|SFM's senior curator.

As a dominant force for more than four decades, YES has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, stretching the boundaries of progressive art-rock with their dynamic instrumental contrasts and abstract lyrics. Their symphonic use of sound and innovative musical styles continues to make them one of the most successful and long-standing group in rock history and their amazing career continues to defy many of their contemporaries, as they continue to add new, young fans to their following.

Band members Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White will take part in the interview.

Please note: The event starts at 8:00 pm.

Date
Monday, June 29, 2009

Time
8:00 pm

Ticket Info
Free to EMP|SFM members; $5 general public, 206.770.2702 or 1.877.EMP.SFM1.

Tickets go on sale to EMP|SFM members June 11 and to the general public June 15.

Comp tickets must be claimed at least 15 minutes prior to show time or they will be released to the rush line.

Venue
JBL Theater
325 5th Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109

Jon Anderson is Back

Somebody posted these links on the Progressive Ears forum and I thought I would share them here too. As many of you know, Jon has suffered from asthma and respiratory ailments for the last several years. Apparently at one point he had an asthma attack so severe that it nearly killed him. He now seems to be mostly recovered and is sounding great again! On Saturday June 6th he played a small show in Grover Beach, California to celebrate his wife's birthday. This was his first performance in several years.



Another video is here: Jon Anderson performs "Sweet Dreams"

Weidorje

Weidorje is a juggernaut of a band, driven along by Bernard Paganotti's aggressive fuzz bass-playing but possessing a collective spirit that is clear from listening to their music. They were an offshot group of the infamous Magma, a band that to be honest isn't really my taste, judging from the few things that I've heard. But I sure dig this record a lot.

This is a powerful sounding group. The personnel is: Bernard Paganotti (bass and vocals), Patrick Gauthier (keyboards), Michel Ettori (guitar), Kirt Rust (drums), Alain Guillard (saxophone), Yvon Guillard (trumpet and vocals), and Jean-Philippe Goude (keyboards). Compositions are by Paganotti, Gauthier, Goude, and Ettori and the interesting thing is that, in keeping with what I said about the "collective spirit" here, there is a real similarity in the writing...these guys were smart composers and clearly all knew how to write for this group. If I didn't know otherwise, I might have guessed that the tunes were all written by one member, or a combination of all the members together.

"Elohims Voyage" begins omniously, dark and sinister in tone, with a simple opening theme that is eventually augmented by wordless vocals. The tune builds and re-builds over the course of its 16 minutes, developing into a heavy groove generated by the rhythm section, with the brass, keyboards, and guitar helping to launch the attack. The initial theme is expanded and new ideas develop in reaction to it. "Vilna" involves a similar exploration of themes, a deconstruction and reconstruction that is exciting to listen to. All while Paganotti and Rust are hammering away underneath. The beginning of "Booldemug" is exciting, with its happy keyboard intro that leads into another killer bassline from Paganotti and then more swirling melodies from the horns. This is the most upbeat tune on the album, and it's a brilliant closer.

The CD on Musea adds two live bonus tracks which give a sense of how strong this group was in concert: "Rondeau" and "Kolinda." The latter track brings up another interesting point I have always wondered about with this record. Paganotti delivers a magnificent bass solo, but there are parts of it that almost sound verbatim like bits of Chris Squire's solo on the live version of "Ritual" from the Yes album Yesshows. Even the bass sound is almost identical. Is it possible that Paganotti was a Squire fan? We may never know.

I've been the proud owner of this CD for many years now, and it's a recording that I come back to over and over again and it never disappoints. Though it was the only release from this band, according to the liner notes there are appearances by the group here and there on some of the members' solo releases. I'll have to start digging for some of those.

Yesterdays

This album always makes me smile. I know it's supposedly been made superfluous now by a number of other releases, remasters, etc. that also include the extra tracks that were at the time previously unreleased ("America" and "Dear Father"). But I always come back to this particular compilation. It's a really nice selection of tracks from their first two records, and as far as the extras?...they are amazing.

"America" is pretty commonly known by now of course, and it's an absolutely brilliant rendition, but the one song from this record that always gave me chills? "Dear Father." It has all the components of a classic Yessong...the impeccable musicianship, strong melodies, and sense of drama, but most importantly...emotion. When I say this song gave me chills I mean it literally. Listening to this song as a kid was like a religious experience for me. To this day it gives me goosebumps. It actually boggles my mind as to why this was originally left off the Time And A Word album, as I think it's stronger than most of the other songs on it (and I love that album). The song has been added to the Rhino remaster of Time And A Word, thus correcting this terrible oversight, but it also brings me back to another reason why I need to own Yesterdays: I hate the sound of the Rhino remasters. But that's a discussion for another time. ;-)

England - Garden Shed

I have been pulling this disc out a LOT lately. This has to be one of my favorite 'non-mainstream' (in other words, not Yes, Genesis, ELP, Crimson, etc...) prog releases. I'm kind of amazed that England didn't go on to do a whole lot more, but then again, I guess they were coming in sort at the end of the genre's popularity (1977).

While their sound is clearly influenced by a lot of the 'bigger' names from the UK, they really have their own sound and put their own stamp on it. Some progressive bands of course borrowed so heavily that they just ended up sounding like a bad copy of the bands who influenced them. Definitely not the case here. I hear the spirit of a lot of the classic 70s British prog, but this album is really pretty unique. To me it feels a bit like the 'lost album' of some band that you always hoped was out there, except in this case it's not by any of the bands you would expect...and it makes me scratch my head and wonder "where did these guys come from?"

The songs are intricate but tuneful, musically interesting but never to the point of over-complication just for the sake of it. Lots of strong melodies and hooks that really stay with you. The songs build nicely and have a real sense of drama, without going overboard. The playing by all the musicians is spot-on perfect. Personnel is: Martin Henderson (bass & vocals), Franc Holland (guitar & vocals), Robert Webb (keyboards & vocals), and Jode Leigh (percussion, vocals & bass). And Mellotron lovers, rejoice! There is plenty here for you.

"Three Piece Suite" is a highlight for me, but there is really not a bad track on the album. I'd also like to mention "Yellow" which is a beautiful ballad, and provides a nice break from some of the high-energy music on the rest of the album. I can't recommend this recording highly enough. If you are a fan of Yes and Genesis but consistently find yourself disappointed with the "clones," this is the album for you.

On the Silent Wings of Freedom

One of my favorite songs from my favorite band-- YES. This is a great video clip, which I think was actually aired on MTV at one time (back when they actually showed music videos, remember that?). It's interesting not only because it shows the band in the studio, but because the version of the song here is different from the one released on Tormato. Towards the end of the clip Chris Squire stops the tune because he doesn't like the feel or the bass sound or something...it's not quite clear. But they discuss it for a bit, then try again and finish the tune. Pretty cool stuff.