antoniodeste

Moondog: that all-white, furry guy who dressed like a Viking? What is he like?

Wise response, Mr. No. As soon as I figure out how to privately communicate the email to you, I will definitely do it. Thanx indeed.

Sorry, what does that have to do with the Crimso? By the way, I love Hassell, but I repeat, what does it have to do with it? :)

Asking "who invented prog," assuming it's worth considering the question seriously, is like debating the sex of angels. I see it as a clearly pointless form of behind-the-scenes analysis and of absolute cultural harmlessness. Who invented jazz? Who invented blues? Who invented classical music? What sense does it make to ask such trivialities? Even if paradoxically I had an answer, what would I do with it? Would I feel smarter and more cultured, perhaps?
Well.... For ChildrenOfTheDamned (a shorter nickname wouldn't have worked, huh?!): if the album you have contains Azrael Revisited, Hang On To A Dream, Diary Of An Empty Day, and For Example as the first four tracks, yes, it's the third album by The Nice (1969). However, be careful, as there is a possibility that there are albums by the band (there are more than one) with the same name but different tracks. At a certain point in the 90s, the record market saw a flurry of "free and manipulated" editions of their production due to a certain absence of copyright control or simply because of alternative versions in the public domain (therefore purchasable by small labels) at particularly low prices. Watch out, watch out, as Elio would say...... :)

For Beat: it seems to me that the very first thing of the group is "The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack"; back then it was a quartet, with the addition of guitarist David O'List who later left. The album undoubtedly has great historical and musical value and was, along with "Five Bridges" and the third album, a period of study, experimentation, and the construction of compositional methods that were quite unorthodox and seminal for the time. As is well known, the young and ambitious Emerson found better opportunities and a greater outlet in the much grander adventure with ELP. "Ars Longa," however, is absolutely a work to be listened to (we're nearing the end of the '60s) because, unknowingly, it pointed to directions and styles for a myriad of new bands, not just English, in their quest for (sometimes improbable) synthesis between the so-called classical language, rock, and the then-popular psychedelia.

What a pity to read reviews like this. With due proportions, it’s a bit like saying, "Galileo discovered this whole story about the earth revolving around the sun: interesting." I have to say, as someone has observed, that even if there hadn’t been the review of Discipline, it would have been better that way, given the weak and unconvincing results. Unfortunately, we’re back to the usual. Maybe the idea of "guidelines" isn’t stupid, but how to implement it? As for me, I’ll just say that "Discipline" was the phoenix that (for the umpteenth time) rose from its own ashes. Once again, Fripp surprised us by taking directions known only to him. As for "Beat," I find it a bit static, repetitive, and not very convincing, despite its high stature. "Perfect Pair" is a much more complete work. As for you: please listen to this album again. Perhaps after listening to the dozen KC albums that precede it. Once you’ve finished, considering let’s say an average of at least a dozen "listens" per album, I kindly invite you to write another review of the same album, even in ten or twenty years. I promise I will know how to wait. With trust. Matte Kudasai.

Listen to me, Mr. No, and tell me honestly, thinking it over and weighing it well: Would you feel in your heart to recommend it to me? I'm getting older too...

Well, Symbad, it’s really nonsense, but if you listen to the group’s presentations that Michael Brecker did, you’ll also hear my shout "Victor Bailey!!!" among the crowd. Brecker paused for a moment and then...confirmed. That night at the Giardini del Frontone in Perugia was pure magic and "Chemistry." The next day, at the Curi stadium, with the Divine, it went even better... Since then, I’ve seen the Steps (with largely revamped line-ups, as you know) two more times. The first time in '90 was disastrous (Jimi Tunnell, Steve Smith, Rachel Z and that genius Bendik Hofseth) and the second time was definitely better (2002 I think, with Marc Johnson, Eliane Elias, Erskine and Bob Berg - if he hadn’t already passed on…). However, that magic was really and definitively gone. Finally, if you like Mainieri, I’d like to suggest you listen to a phenomenal solo (among the many he’s done) in a live album called "Casino Lights" recorded in Montreux, I believe around '85; there, in a piece by and with Sanborn ("Love is not Enough") and with the Yellowjackets, the wonderful Mainieri plays one of those solos that make you forget Gary Burton. Do you know him?

For this "curious" Mr. Festwca: I don't want to dwell on your "judgment metric," nor on your tastes, and certainly not on your aesthetic conceptions (THIS.....THAT...). Given who I am, I could argue about it at length. However, I take the opportunity to wholeheartedly recommend "4 Way Street" along with my friend MisterNo. I would also add CSN (the first one, the one with "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" as the opener); as long as there isn’t an excessively and feigned bucolic aspect and/or ostentatiousness that might offend your delicately developed sensibility. Happy Listening.

What do you care? A great emotion experienced by a few "heroes"! (In reality, I don't really believe that there are only a few people who know about CSN...)