Leon Alvarado‎ Re-visits “2014 Music From An Expanded Universe” with New Music Video for Blood Like Red

Blood Like Red is the 3rd track from the 2014 Music From An Expanded Universe album. The video features Leon Alvarado on Keyboards and Drums. Trey Gunn (King Crimson, The Security Project) on Warr Guitar and Bass and Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates) on Taos Drums percussion. Produced by Leon Alvarado, Engineered by Leon Alvarado, Trey Gunn and
Mastered by Andy Jackson 

For years I had wanted to add visuals to what it is one of my favorite pieces from my music.
Leon Alvarado

Leon Alvarado is Texas-based prog drummer, keyboardist, composer, and illustrator, Alvarado has recorded with many talented musicians including Bill Bruford (Gong, Yes, Genesis, Earthworks), John Goodsall (Brand X, Fire Merchants), Trey Gunn (King Crimson), Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel, Hall & Oates, Paul McCartney), Billy Sherwood (Yes, Asia), Rick Wakeman and Tony Levin.

On the graphics front I have done album covers and touring materials for bands such as Brand X, Genesis, Phil Collins, Jethro Tull, Jeff Beck, Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, The Australian Pink Floyd Show, and King’s X.

A Critics Point of View

This is not one of those balls-to-walls prog-rock affairs. For instance on “Blood Like Red,” the artists execute a slowly moving and budding rock pulse, steered by Gunn’s prominent bass lines, in support of the leader’s polytonal voicings, sounding somewhere in between a mellotron and synth strings type soundscape. Moreover, Alvarado layers a tabla vibe to incorporate a world music background into the mix, followed by Gunn’s stinging and crunchy Warr guitar notes. 
All About Jazz

“Blood Like Red” starts and ends with atmospheric wind effects with the middle brimming with Alvarado’s spacier synth exploits and Gunn’s textural Warr guitar crunch. It is here the band really gets into a full but subtle groove.
Jon Neudorf – Sea of Tranquility

Leon Alvarado Online

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Genesis Confirm Rumors of Europian Tour

Genesis are delighted to announce that Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford will be touring the UK in late 2020!

November 23rd M&S BANK ARENA, LIVERPOOL
November 26th UTILITA ARENA, NEWCASTLE
November 29th O2 ARENA, LONDON
November 30th O2 ARENA, LONDON
December 2nd FIRST DIRECT ARENA, LEEDS
December 5th ARENA BIRMINGHAM, BIRMINGHAM
December 8th MANCHESTER ARENA, MANCHESTER
December 11th SSE HYDRO, GLASGOW

Tickets go on sale on Friday at 9 am. 
More info here https://Genesis.lnk.to/Website 

UK Progressive Rock Legend, Martin Barre, Confirmed as snd Headliner for RoSfest in 2019 Celebrating 50 Years of Jethro Tull

UK composer and musician Martin Barre is best known for being a vital member of legendary progressive rock band Jethro Tull being their guitarist for more than four decades and performing on all their classic albums. His sound and contributions to the band have been a major factor in their success. Album sales have exceeded 60 million units and they continue to be played worldwide, representing an important part of progressive rock history.

Martin’s guitar playing has earned him a high level of respect and recognition; he was voted 25th best solo ever in the USA and 20th best solo ever in the UK for his playing on ‘Aqualung’. His playing on the album ‘Crest of a Knave’ earned him a Grammy award in 1988. As well as numerous Jethro Tull albums, Martin has worked with many other artists including Paul McCartney, Phil Collins, Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa and Chris Thompson and has shared a stage with such legends as Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. While he is now firmly established as a solo artist, he is not a stranger to his past, and that past will be a vital part of the headliner show that will be presented at ROSfest, 2019.


Clive Bunker
Clive was born on the 12th of December, 1946. He took up the drums as a serious occupation with his friend and compatriot, Mick Abrahams in the group “McGregor’s Engine” in 1967. Based in Luton, England, the band played in the general locality with Clive mustering an extraordinary non-matching drum kit, comprised of bits and pieces of various manufacturers’ equipment. It was as a drummer of “mix and match” description that he joined the fledgling Jethro Tull at the end of ’67 to accompany Ian Anderson, Mick and Glenn Cornick in the early, heady days of the post-blues-boom years of Brit-rock.

Never the self-professed technical drummer, Clive made his impact, based on his throbbing, gritty engagement with the essence of blues and rock and roll, moved by the work of Ginger Baker, Mitch Mitchell et al.

Later, Clive was to become firm friends of Corky Laing of “Mountain” and the many other drummers from the bands with which the early Tull found themselves appearing on the first US tours in 1969 and 1970. After the album “Aqualung”, Clive felt that Tull was entering a more complex musical phase, not so much in keeping with his own earthier roots, and volunteered to take early retirement to the different world of marriage, dog kennel management, and a venture in light engineering which had been his previous profession. Tull continued with the employment of Barrie Barlow, an old chum of Ian’s and John’s from schooldays in Blackpool.

In 1974, Clive joined the band “Blodwyn Pig” which Mick Abrahams had formed on his departure from Tull in 1969.

Today, Clive still remains a sought-after session musician, with many, many credits to his name amongst the world of old and not-so-old music groups.

Jonathan Noyce
A native of England, Jonathan Noyce was born in 1971. After trying his hand at many different instruments, Noyce eventually settled on the bass. He did his time at the Royal Academy of Music, beginning in 1990. It was during this time that he first hooked up with David Palmer. In 1995, Noyce met Jethro Tull guitarist Martin Barre, who eventually recommended him as a possible bassist for Ian Anderson’s solo tour. He got the gig and did that tour. Shortly after, he went on to become the bass player for Jethro Tull following the departure of Dave Pegg in 1995. He has been with that group ever since, although he still finds time to do other projects.

This show will celebrate 50 years of Jethro Tull in the United States. The show will revolve around a music history of Jethro Tull with Barre and two other former members of Jethro Tull.  Clive Bunker, who was their drummer from 1967 to 1971, and Jonathan Noyce, Tull’s bassist from 1995 to 2007.  In addition to the three aforementioned members, Martin Barre will be joined by members of his solo band on tour. They are vocalist Dan Crisp, bassist Alan Thompson, and drummer Darby Todd.

This performance will be 2, 60-minute sets with a 15-minute intermission. This is a world class performance delivered by one of the world’s best, most renowned guitarists.

Apart from Ian Anderson’s own solo concerts, this will be the closest thing you can get to experiencing a Jethro Tull concert in 2019, consisting of former members of Jethro Tull performed by seasoned musicians of which several were a part of the band itself and hence know this material intimately. It doesn’t get much better than that. If you like “Sitting on a Park Bench” there are several across the street from the Sarasota Opera House or you can come inside in the air-conditioned theater and enjoy the bliss with Martin Barre performing Jethro Tull 50th Anniversary Tour!

RoFest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are Headliner – Riverside, Karmamoi, Traverser, Entransient, and Edge of Reality.

Links:

Martin Barre official website: http://martinbarre.com

Martin Barre FaceBook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/officialmartinbarre/about/?ref=page_internal

Clive Bunker – Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Bunker

Jonathan Noyce FaceBook:  https://www.facebook.com/Jonathan-Noyces-Conscientious-and-Fully-Formed-Musical-Information-Page-129222920462334/