Do you remember this from Jon Anderson, talking about the Anderson Ponty Band in a 2014 interview before their first show:
You don’t want all the songs sounding the same. I put them together in sections so that they’re 15-minute works: a well-known Jean-Luc piece, a new piece, and then a well-known Yes piece. And then the other way around [...] that’s what’s very good for a musician: the journey of performance. Sometimes the audience really enjoys the journey rather than every four or five minutes us stopping [...] I want to go on a little journey [...] After “Listening,” it goes into Amharic music, which is from EthiopiaWhat we finally got did not really match that vision, being a more conventional series of songs.
And do you remember Anderson's "Open", released online 2011? That quoted a number of older compositions, notably using a theme from "New Language".
OK, now listen to this fascinating new radio interview with Jon from KVOI's Daily Double: you want the 26 April show. One of the
interviewers says that, prior to the broadcast, Anderson had said that a particular Yes piece might be played in the Anderson Rabin Wakeman set. I'll not mention which, because spoilers, but it doesn't matter which for what follows. You see, Anderson interjects:
No, no, no, parts of it will work with this new piece that Rick sent over that I've been working on. I'm thinking, how to work on vignettes, so, er, this track will be going along […] jump into [the afore-not-mentioned Yes piece] […] then back into the next part of this new movement. […] We have the right to go in and out of our older music, into the newer music and interweave them, and, er, just see how it works.
And then they ask him what Yes pieces he wants to play with ARW:
Definitely [another piece, name removed coz spoilers] […] and we'll do the same thing. We're going to use a vignette of the main section towards the end and then go into the original song and then that will lead us into a new song. I think that's what we're going to try and do. We're going to try and balance out, so that we're not only presenting the music in a fresh way, but also in a very creative way.
The idea for a journey using sections of music for the Anderson Ponty Band, the re-appearance of themes in "Open", and now this quote. One could also consider the way "Mind Drive" was played live by Yes in 2004. It seems to me that Anderson is circling around an idea for how to present, interweaved, old and new music together... perhaps inspired by his interest in long-form pieces (compare Invention of Knowledge) and his recent listening experiences with Sibelius and Mahler?
Will it work, and will it be what fans want? The re-use of themes in "Open" attracted some criticism and the idea did not seem to come together for the Anderson Ponty Band, but live, with Anderson Rabin Wakeman, maybe this will go down better. Some liked the 2004 split "Mind Drive", although others didn't, and CIRCA: "Chronological Journey" was very popular.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments. And, as always, all the latest ARW news on the website.
Will it work, and will it be what fans want? The re-use of themes in "Open" attracted some criticism and the idea did not seem to come together for the Anderson Ponty Band, but live, with Anderson Rabin Wakeman, maybe this will go down better. Some liked the 2004 split "Mind Drive", although others didn't, and CIRCA: "Chronological Journey" was very popular.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments. And, as always, all the latest ARW news on the website.
There is increasing high expectations about the album. There is increasing high expectations about the choice and delivery of music to be performed on the tour. I just can’t call what they will do.
ReplyDeleteBoth the album and the tour needs to at least financially break even, and preferably make a handsome profit for this firm, hence Brian Lane being involved. Rabin and Wakeman are both able to deliver musical fireworks, Rabin can maintain quality control and musical technical development, and a reasonably contemporary production, and Anderson can still produce clever melodies and harmonies, and push music into leftfield and epic. And Anderson has been hinting that their music will be of an epic nature. But I do worry about Anderson’s lyrics.
Any recycling of past melodies, themes or anything else has been a stable of many composers (Handel being a prime example) to great effect. Some music ‘fans’ should grow up. So wherever these guys pull their inspiration from and weave and meld into a final product, my belief is that this firm (plus Brian Lane…. I think he will nod approvingly when he hears something that he can sell well) will try their best to get a product that a lot of people will want to buy. And in concert nostalgia gets a very good turnout and pulls in the cash.
My hope is that the harmonies are strong on the album and in concert.
Fun times.
Steve Young