This album was recorded on Nektar’s ‘Up Close and Intimate’ Tour of North America and focuses on new and classic Nektar tracks spanning their 50-year career. Recorded at their sell-out show on March 7th , 2020, it was also filmed, and both versions are available to download from their website. Drummer Ron Howden (bass, vocals) and Mick Brockett (special effects) were all in the band for the most important part of their career (1969-1977) while Ryche Chlanda (guitars, vocals) was in the band in the late Seventies, Randy Dembo (bass, 12-string guitar) was in the band in the early 2000’s and it is only keyboard player Kendall Scott who is the “new boy”. There is another version of Nektar touring Germany, based around keyboard player Klaus Henatsch, but to my mind this is the genuine article. Of course, can it ever be Nektar without Roye Albrighton who died in 2016? Well this certainly sounds pretty good to me.
Ah, sounds, there is the only problem with this album, which is nearly 140 minutes long and covers the band’s complete career although with a heavier focus on the early years and the latest album. This just does not sound like a professionally recorded modern release, but much more like a high-quality audience bootleg. There are times in the quieter sections when some members of the audience can be heard talking over the music, and the overall sound is much more muddied which tends to happen when there has been no separation of the microphones/inputs. This is a real shame as the actual performance is that of a band really tight having already played more than 20 shows in tight succession prior to this one. Yes, there are times when the vocals do not quite hit right, but I would much rather hear that then a “cleaned up” version which has been modified to sort all mistakes.
This is very much an album which fans of the band will want to have in their collection, but certainly is not the best introduction to those who have not come across them prior to that. The new album ‘The Other Side’ is well worth investigating, while ‘A Tab In The Ocean’ will always be their classic to me, but while this is not something for a newcomer, for people like me this is still a very solid release indeed although it does feel like an opportunity missed. 6/10
Although Peter Matuchniak is known for his solo releases, as well as being in bands such as Mach One, Gekko Projekt, Bomber Goggles, and many others, he is also an in-demand session guitarist. This album sees him revisit songs he originally recorded for five different musicians, Marco Ragni, Hamlet Tinae. Shawn Gordon, Steve Bonino, and Simon Strevens, and re-interpret them. This may mean the song has been rearranged, or it may be an earlier draft of what finally appeared on the album itself. Details are also provided as to who played on what track, as well as which albums the songs are taken from. Given his long relationship with Marco Ragni, it is of no surprise that of the 21 songs on offer, 14 were originally on work undertaken for that artist: there is just 1 from Strevens, and 2 each from the others.
Given that the artists are very different in their approach, it is not surprising to discover many different styles at play during the course of the album, which is mostly instrumental with only a few containing vocals. Peter has an incredibly fluid style, and his leads are always in keeping with the music at hand, much more than providing a million notes to the bar. Although there are times when he shows he can be strident with staccato chords and breaks, his most common approach is to provide strong melodic counterparts which emphasise the music and song itself as opposed to “See how clever I am”. The guitarist which has had most impact on Peter’s playing is probably Steve Hackett but given how diverse that particularly musician is in his own playing that is a wide palette. Peter also has the innate melodic understanding and style of both Gilmour and Latimer, while his phrasing is also reminiscent of Gary Chandler at times.
Put it all together and here is a guitarist who adds to the music of whatever performer he is working with, not taking over but always becoming an essential part of the sound while rarely dominating. I must confess to having not previously heard all of the songs on offer but do have many of the albums from which they have been taken. Hearing the songs in this format has inspired me to dust off the likes of Psychic For Radio (Shawn Gordon)’s album from 2012, while I need to check out more of Marco’s material, and one can never hear too much Steve Bonino. This is a great introduction not only to the wonderful melodic guitar work of Peter Matuchniak but also to the albums from whence they originally came. Incredibly diverse, always enjoyable, with Peter being the link between them all, this is a wonderful way to discover his music.
This is the debut solo release from Jargon (who provides vocals, keyboards, and piano), the lead singer from Greek band Verbal Delirium. He has been joined on the album by Nikitas Kissonas (guitars), Leonidas Petropoulos (bass) and Verbal Delirium drummer Wil Bow. Another very important part of the album is the use of a string quartet, whose music was arranged by Kissonas who is also ex-Verbal Delirium but who I will always think of as Methexis, whose debut album ‘The Fall Of Bliss’ I reviewed some 12 years ago (and I note Jargon provided piano on one track). This is very much a singer’s album, a songwriter’s album, based primarily around the piano. Sung in English, the album revolves around Jargon and there are times when he is the only player involved, or just with strings to accompany him. There is no need for the band to all be involved, and the result is an album which has room to grow and develop.
There are times when it is incredibly layered, others when it is quite simple, so much so that one never really knows what is going to happen next. Bow is happy to provide rim shots as much as simple snare, often playing more in a jazz fashion than normal rock, while Petropoulos has a strong approach which keeps it all tied together. This allows Kissonas to do whatever he likes, which even could be nothing at all, or providing string riffs or solo. Even the use of electric piano at some points does not come across as twee, but rather something which is being used for a particular sound. The use of a real string quartet as opposed to using synths definitely provides more depth and breadth, allowing for more force and presence to be deployed.
Strong vocals, rough and anguished at some point, delicate and almost playful at others, centre the album. The band I kept being reminded of this is Discipline, as there is something about this which really makes one think of Matthew Parmenter, although possibly with even more piano. It is theatrical, passionate, emotional, and one of the best albums I have heard from Greece in some time. Jargon may not be a name known to many but based on this album that will soon change.
I was somewhat surprised when I started playing this, as while I knew it was a re-imagining of a song originally written as an instrumental back when Gandalf’s Fist was first starting out, I had no idea this had more in common with folk music as it does with the progressive form for which they are so well known. It has been issued to create awareness of the forthcoming 10-year anniversary special release of ‘The Master and the Monkey’, which promises to be something very interesting indeed. Uilleann Pipes and whistle are provided by Faliq Auri, but everything else is by Dean Marsh (vocals, guitar, mandolin, bass, programming, synths). He says this is a special song to the band, being recorded multiple times over the years (and on the single is available in four different versions). Gandalf’s Fist continue to push musical boundaries and here they are doing so by going back in time. This is definitely one which will appeal to folkies as much as it will to the progheads who think of them more for ‘The Clockwork Fable’. It certainly ties in very well indeed with the folk singles I have been listening to this week! -Kev Rowland | 8/10
‘Electric Region’s is the latest solo album by Focus bassist, Udo Pannekeet, and since he started work on it, it has taken some five years to complete amidst his other recording and touring duties. It also features guest appearances by current Focus guitarist Menno Gootjes as well as by ex-Focus guitarist Eef Albers so any fan of that band is definitely going to be interested. It commences with the title track (which is marked as “Part One”, but nothing else by that name appears on this album so possibly that is for the next one) which is nearly 24 minutes in length, plus two numbers written some years ago plus a couple of newer ones, giving a combined length of approximately 44 minutes.
This is a jazz fusion record, with some very Latin style percussion at times, and takes us back firmly to the late Seventies. He has involved brass and woodwind musicians alongside the five guitarists, so there are 15 musicians involved throughout and the overall feel is of something incredibly self-indulgent. Pannekeet is a fine bass player, and he is a firm believer in the power of the ensemble as although he plays complex lines throughout, he rarely allows the mix to bring him forward, tending to concentrate mostly on the drums and horns. But, this is music which meanders, there is little in the way of direction yet it also does not have the power of improvisation. I listen to a lot of fusion these days, but when I started checking to see how much longer this had to go the first time I played it I knew there was a problem. To my ears it has not got any better with repeated listens and even though I have seen this get some rave reviews on the web, this is not one of them. I would much rather hear more delicacy such as on “Little Nura” when we have some sombre bass chords which lead into a track unlike the rest of the album. As for the rest, it is really not for me at all.
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