ELP Reunion?!

Too incredible to be true, still it is written in white on blue at the ELP site and white on black at Greg Lake's.

Mean Fiddler and Classic Rock Magazine are proud to announce that Emerson Lake and Palmer (ELP) will be reforming to bring the inaugural High Voltage festival to a close.

Forty years after ELP opened the legendary Isle Of Wight Festival in 1970, what better act to celebrate Britain's biggest and best Adult Rock Festival.

Fans can expect 'Cannons, Pyrotechnics and a supreme production alongside the stunning musicianship and songs that made ELP the legends they truly are'.

2 November 2009

Stay tuned.

Take a Latin Pebble

It is always good to see ELP numbers becoming jazz, rock or classical standards.

Or latin.

Even if this is a rather typical "starting from the source for never returning". The latter half is still good in it's own Al Di Meola way.

Samurai Rondo

This one I really enjoyed, especially from about 2:50. Wild and virtuosic.



Hopefully Keith enjoyed it too.

We'll be back with more about him on Wednesday.

12 most bombastic synth solos of all time

Or at least 12 synth solos from different players.

Visions from the vault

Keeping to the latest theme and time signature, there is a great interview with Keith and Marc in Record Collector's December issue, for a page and a half.

Among other interesting stuff, Keith mentions something that are more interesting than others

"RC: Is there much in the ELP archives?

KE: I've got loads. I've come across some really interesting bootlegs like the concert with orchestra, and wow! Trilogy in Germany. We didn't play it for very long as it was too demanding for Greg!"

And there are more.

"RC: Do you have any unissued pre-ELP tapes?

KE: Yeah, in the vaults of Sanctuary, now Universal. They're transferring tapes of jams we did. I remember when we were in Compass Point Studios for two months - and you can imagine how much that cost us".

Hopefully the lead time between interviews with Keith in RC and the actual release of the material will decrease significantly.

Though I doubt it will ever take less than a year.

Still Hall of Shame

Just to remind you all that one of the most innovative bands ever, pioneering stage acts and antics, sounds and furies, not to mention music and melodies, has not been inducted to the Rock' Roll Hall of Fame.

While there's still time for campaigning.

While we're at it

It is rare to discover so raving reviews as the following. So raving in fact, that I am not sure if even I would be able to write it.

Not the least if one takes the Billboard context in consideration (even if it really is from All Music Guide).

"Known for their on-stage energy and full-force musical prowess, Live at the Royal Albert Hall is the farthest from disappointment a live album can get.

Each member of ELP exhibits his individual talents on this astonishing audio spectacle that doesn't let up at any point. Spearheading the 11 songs on the album that runs almost 70 minutes is keyboardist Keith Emerson, whose earsplitting synthesizer rumbles and squeals with devastating vigor.

His playing is loose and freewheeling, characterizing his devil-may-care style, and bursting with emotion. Equally forceful is Carl Palmer behind the drums, especially on "Lucky Man" and "Karn Evil No. 9" where he showcases both his subtle mechanics and his frantic arm swirling.

On guitar, Greg Lake fills in with some stellar bass work, whose impact can be felt even above the grandiose of the other two. The songs that work best live from ELP are all included, amassing all the ardor and extravagance surrounding this threesome.

In front of their home audience in England, they really steal the show with a nine-minute outpouring of "Tarkus," as the combination of all their talents are fused together in instrumental wonderment. Even better is the grand finale, a 14-minute medley of "Fanfare for the Common Man," "America," and "Rondo."

A truly volcanic display of keyboard driving from Keith Emerson sends this intense montage into a frenzy, ending the album on a fierce high. Live at the Royal Albert Hall has the grandfathers of progressive rock sounding like sonically intoxicated teenagers."

Some of us get intoxicated just from reading the review.

Camp and competition

How embarrasing can it get?

Well, here is an attempt.

And it is not the video I am talking about. That one is really great.

A vote from Time

What is better on a damp autumn day than a vintage report from Time?

As the houselights dimmed in Detroits Cobo Hall last week, the concertmaster signaled for the oboist's A, and the strings and woodwinds went about the squeaky business of tuning up. Then like something out of an old Esther Williams spectacular, Conductor Godfrey Salmon rose 14 feet in the air atop a hydraulic podium. Silence reigned for a good second or two before the cries came from the audience: "Rock 'n' roll!" "Get it on!" "It's boogie time!"

Not quite boogie time. The British rock group Emerson Lake & Palmer had not brought along a full 58-piece symphony orchestra for just another evening of chug-a-chug rock. As Maestro Salmon gave the downbeat, 9,500 fans, many reared on the violent excesses of Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop, got the first sampling of what was in store for them. From 40 huge loudspeaker enclosures suspended from the ceiling came the mighty sounds of Abaddon's Bolero, a work Composer-Pianist Keith Emerson has based on the same Spanish rhythm as the Ravel classic.

After a few bars, a thick curtain of light, produced by in tense lights rimming the stage, dissolved to reveal Keith Emerson, 32, Greg Lake, 29 and Carl Palmer, 27, hard at work on the center. There was Keith darting from Hammond organ to Moog synthesizer, and Greg picking away at his bass-guitar. Between them sat Carl, confined along with his drums, snares, gongs and tubular bells in a percussion cockpit that resembled nothing so much as a mod four-poster converted into a padded cell for the phantom of the opera. The music built relentlessly, awesomely powered by 72,000 watts worth of amplification -enough to start a medium-sized radio station. The volume never reached the threshold of pain (130 decibels), but it was, in Salmon's words, "enough to peel an apple ten feet".

Read all two atmospheric pages of wonder here.

Fanfare

While we're at it.

Not quite a bummer this one either.

Karn Evil 9 3rd, Trilogy and Tarkus

How good can it get? Well, this KE9 3rd is definitely one of the closest.

And a thumb and 13 other digits up for a not especialy lazy Trilogy.

Not to forget this roaring monster.

Keep it up, Isao!

Pirates ahoy

Somewhat of parody. And rather a good one to boot.

The Clueless losing out?

Such a critic makes one almost believe in the human race (which you sometimes must).

Indiana Jones and the Last ELP Shia

Good to see that Shia is into also Musical Treasure Hunts.

KEB review

The reviews are ticking in on the telex.

Here is one from today's ELP Digest (back issues and subscriptions available here):

From: MCGLYNN777
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 3:45 PM

Hi,

I just received my copy of "Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla" from Japan, and I was floored - it actually exceeded my expectations, which were already high.

The first 15 tracks comprise a 37 minute conceptual suite "The House of Ocean Born Mary," based on a romantic New England ghost story.

Emerson is in his best form since the early 1970's, but this doesn't sound at all retro. There's plenty of Moog, hammond and pipe organs, but Marc Bonilla's incredible guitars and compositional skills perfectly complement and balance Emo's with an incredible result. Marc's vocals are in fine form, and the lyrics are well done and never trite or contrived.

The remaining four pieces are a mixed bag, but again, very well done.
- "The Art of Falling Down" is an interesting song, and not what I expected from the title.
- "Malambo," from Ginastera's Estancia Suite, is more reminiscent of "Creole Dance", than "Tocatta," although there's plenty of synth - it's not another piano solo.
- "Gametime" is a silly tongue-in-cheek piece like "Jeremy Bender," with plenty of great instrumental work.
- Finally, "The Parting" is a bittersweet ballad like piece, and Marc's vocals are once again, right on.

I should also like to credit the rest of the studio lineup - the incredible Gregg Bissonette on percussion and the outstanding Bob Birch - best known as Elton John's bass player.

The following is a full track listing:

1. IGNITION
2. 1ST PRESENCE
3. LAST HORIZON
4. MILES AWAY, PT 1
5. MILES AWAY, PT 2
6. CRUSADERS CROSS
7. FUGUE
8. 2ND PRESENCE
9. MARCHE TRAIN
10. BLUE INFERNO
11. 3RD PRESENCE
12. PRELUDE TO A HOPE
13. A PLACE TO HIDE
14. MILES AWAY, PT 3
15. FINALE
16. THE ART OF FALLING DOWN
17. MALAMBO(FROM 'ESTANCIA SUITE')
18. GAMETIME
19. THE PARTING

I'm really looking forward to seeing them when they tour the states (early 2009, maybe?).

Enjoy!

John McGlynn

Keep 'em coming!

ELP reunion 2009 seems official

At least if we are to believe an interview with Carl in Modern drummer.

The release of The Carl Palmer Band’s Working Live, Vol. 3 will coincide with the group’s 2009 US tour, which could conceivably bump up against an Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunion tour. Add Asia’s Phoenix, the ongoing Shout Factory ELP CD reissue campaign, and Palmer’s clinics for deaf and blind children in the UK, and you have a drummer near the height of his powers, clearly in tune with the past and the present.

It would of course be great if the other guys subscribe to the magazine.

On a serious note, it seems from several sources like they really have been talking and that a conclusion has been made - at least for a tour.

The interesting thing is that it all is mentioned in passing in the interview as a matter of fact. Just like the Declaration of Independence had a subordinate clause on separating from the English.

Hopefully the reunion will be a similiar success.

Tony talks

For my two readers who enjoy ELP, here is a great interview with Tony Ortiz. Who knows a thing or two.

Dentist drill demolition

Afraid of going to the dentist?

Listen to some great advice from Jeff Wilkin here.

How to avoid the grinding sound of the drill?

Man, that drill — there is no sound like it in science or nature. If the science-fiction boys ever decide to do a movie with mosquitoes the size of basketballs, I guess they’d sound something like that drill. And once the drill has found its mark, and jackhammers out bad tooth or old fillings ... well, those pleasant sounds used to bounce all over my head.

No longer. Whenever dental fireworks are planned now, I take consultants with me. Keith Emerson has made the trip. So has Chrissie Hynde. On Tuesday, it was John Kay.

They’re musicians — musicians associated with loud, rock’n’roll music. I’ve learned that earfuls of “Karn Evil 9,” the long and pretentious keyboard and percussion piece blared and blasted by Emerson, Lake & Palmer during the early 1970s, is the perfect antidote for any drill work. A CD goes into my portable player, earplugs go into the ear and I receive a loud audio welcome back to the show that never ends.

I know the drill is there, but the sounds of demolition can’t compete with Emerson’s Hammond organ. Seems like the louder the music is, the quicker the procedure goes. And if you are following the lyrics or the beat, you’re not thinking too much about the sound and fury below the ears.

Personally, I can vote for this also being usefull in other circumstances.

Like when wanting music to really listen to.

ELP Reunion in 2008?

While of course it is too good to be true, the rumours about an ELP reunion mentioned at my friend Tony Ortiz' My Space is a warming thought at midwinter.

It will never be 1974 again, still it may indicate that Christmas is a time when some people of good will do leave their more or less solitary confinements as solo artists - or in other groups.

In the meantime, here is this year's Christmas greeting from Keith.

Keith Calling

For anyone lacking their daily dose of Keith Emerson News (in Norway belonging to the nice and noble tradition of The Finn Kalvik News), there is a brave new interview at Vintage Rock.
Rather cozy too.

Not the least interesting is the news that fans can track the progress of his new record (Marc Bonilla on guitar), to be released next year.

We’ve already shot an awful lot of footage of work in progress in the studio. I’ve got one complete piece, which will go up on YouTube in the next month or so. There will be a My Space and YouTube coming up very soon, of which I’ll be making an announcement on my web site. Yeah, there’s some great stuff of Marc and I recording together, personal interviews with Marc and myself, and a lot of interesting things. I just want to put these out periodically on My Space and YouTube and get the excitement going.

Rest assured, we'll be back with more. Stay tuned.