Purple Pyramid Records artist: Prog Collective - Dark Encounters - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Dark Encounters, from Prog Collective, a project founded and helmed by Billy Sherwood of Yes note. Opening with Darkest Hour, longtime Billy Idol guitarist, Steve Stevens is featured with soaring guitar riffs over Sherwood's bass, keyboard and drum composition. Atmospheric and intense, this is a strong opener. Steve Morse (Dregs/Deep Purple) adds his own virtuosity to Ominous Signs with a more structured composition allowing more freedom for Sherwood's own exploration. Dark Days is one of my favorite tracks on the release with Bumblefoot (GNR) contributing some real nice guitar and vocals, Patrick Moraz (Moody Blues) on keys, Omar Hakim (Weather Report) on drums and Sherwood on bass. Soft Machine's John Etheridge lays down some nicely phrased guitar lead on The Fifth Hour, paired with Sherwood on bass, keys and drums. Very cool. Another of my favorite tracks, Between Two Worlds features Steve Hillage (Gong) on guitars and Gregg Bissonette on drums and Sherwood on vocal, bass and keys. King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto sits in on drums on For All To See with strong guitar lines by Sherwood who also plays keys and bass. Bonus Tracks include Todd Rundgren's top ten hit, I Saw The Light featuring Rundgren on vocal and Rick Wakeman on keys and an up tempo cover of 10CC's I'm Not In Love featuring Wakeman on keys and Nektar. 

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Cleopatra Records artists: Legends Play The Beatles - Various - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Legends Play The Beatles, from Cleopatra Records, and it's an interesting mix of Beatles covers by notable rock, pop and folk icons. Opening with Here Comes The Sun, Richard Page has the lead vocal and Steve Morse has the guitars, backed by Jay Schellen on drums and Billy Sherwood on keys. With a nearly identical arrangement to the original, Page sets the stage. Heart's Ann Wilson does an acoustic cover of Across The Universe backed by acoustic guitar and percussion. Very nice. Surprise rockers Molly Hatchet Cover Back In The USSR... Beach Boys style backing vocals and all. Air Supply covers, A Long And Winding Road with a bit more theatrical vocal lead by Russell Hicthcock and nice bass work by Billy Sherwood. Another interesting cover is Tomorrow Never Knows by Electric Moon. Komet Lulu's FX, Sula Bassana synth and drums by Marcus Schnitzler rocks this track. My disappointment on the release is Jack Bruce's take on Eleanor Rigsby. Bruce is one of the truly great vocal icons of the rock era but this track just doesn't float. Howard Jones takes a straight ahead approach on And I Love Her and with simple vocal strength carries one of the Beatles top pop songs nicely. Folk/rock superstar Judy Collins' cover of Yesterday is beautiful and her vocals are clear and mesmerizing. Wrapping the release is Beatles anthem, Let It Be, covered handily by Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes. With quiet finesse and backed by Geoff Downes on piano, this is a solid closer. 

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Universal Music Enterprizes artist: Peter Frampton - All Blues - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to pose the newest release, All Blues, from Peter Frampton and I think it's his best effort in years. Frampton Comes Alive was great in it's time but this release shows maturity and poise. Opening with Willie Dixon's I Just Want To Make Love To You, Frampton reworks this classic track without adding a lot of fluff. With Rob Arthur on keys, Adam Lester on guitar, David Labruyere on bass, and Dan Wojciechowski on drums this is a great basic core. Kim Wilson adds strong harp riffs throughout and Frampton shows that he knows more than the basics about blues with his more traditional based guitar riffs. Very nice. On Taj Mahal's She Caught the Katy, Frampton adds even a little more of a funky bottom than Mahal used and the track feels really good. The firm bass work by Glenn Worf and stiff woodblock by Wojciechowski give this track legs and Frampton uses them nicely to propel fluid guitar riffs. Very nice. Instrumental cover of Carmichaels' Georgia On My Mind shows Frampton's beautiful guitar work at it's best with luck phrases and clean articulate runs. Very nice. With a fresh Bo Diddley beat, Frampton's slide work really sets Dixon's, You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover, off nicely.  With the full disclosure that I'm a firm Miles Davis fan, Davis' All Blues is up next and Frampton dials the guitar back to all clean and with guest star, Larry Carlton, and a crisp piano solo by Arthur, sets up an excellent and very notable cover of this classic track. Excellent! On Jimmy Oden's Going Down Slow, Frampton and Steve Morse trade flaming blues riffs with a modern twist giving a different flavor for most any listener. Wrapping the release is Don Nix's Same Old Blues with a real gospel presentation, emphasized by Arthur's keyboard work and Frampton's best vocals on the release. His guitar playing is soulful and well stated without over statement. Very nice closer for a very solid release. 

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Mascot Label Group artists: Sterling Ball - John Ferraro - Jim Cox: The Mutual Admiration Society - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Mutual Admiration Society, from Sterling Ball, John Ferraro and Jim Cox and it's got a cool vibe. Opening with Jesse Winchester's Payday Song, an instrumental featuring Ball on guitar and bass, Ferraro on drums and Cox on clavinet. a simple rock shuffle, a cool opener. The In Crowd, is jazzed up instrumental version of Billy Page's 60's hit and features Steve Morse giving it his country flavored jazz lead. Nice. Sonny Boy Williamson's Checkin' Up On My Baby has up tempo beat and is the stripped down 3 some featuring snappy riffs from Ball and organ by Cox. Ball's driving bass line is king on Big Joe William's Baby Please Don't Go and Steve Lukather does a real nice job with modern blurred guitar work to compliment the rock style take. Roy Head's Treat Her Right has a detuned (less HP) feel with it's swinging shuffle. Cox is featured on piano and organ and Ball lays in a fluid guitar solo.  Chuck Berry's Memphis gets just a slight country twist with Brad Hayman on bass and lead guitar by Ball. One of my favorites.  Buck Owen's Cryin' Time is full boat country featuring Albert Lee trading lead guitar with Ball and featuring Dave Stone on bass, Jeremy Moyers on steel guitar and some terrific piano lead by Cox. Very nice. One of the most outrageous tracks on the release is Disney Medley featuring John Petrucci on lead guitar. There's nothing quite like hearing Wish Upon A Star, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, Baroque Hoedown and It's A Small World played over a jazz beat with high speed triplets, electric squeal, dive bombs and the like. Adventurous. Hank William's Hey Good Lookin' features Albert Lee and settles into a nice, two stepping groove with Lee and Ball leading the way on electric guitar solos and Jeremy Moyers on steel guitar. Another of my favorites on the release. Wrapping the release is a cool Latin jazz original, Strip Mall Gourmet. Kicked back and smooth, Jay Graydon shows his stuff and nicely so. With Ball on bass, Ferraro on drums and Cox on keys and organ, this is a terrific closer for a cool release. 

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Purple Pyramid artists: The Fusion Syndicate - New release review

Now here's something different! I just received the new release from The Fusion Syndicate. This band is made up of jazz, rock and blues superstars and the recording is all you could wish for in this format. Billy Sherwood, writer of all compositions and with a background of top bands as long as your arm played keys, guitars drums, synth and vocals throughout this recording. The opening track, Random Acts Of Science, has strong hints to the Mahavishnu Orchestra featuring Rick Wakeman (Yes) on keys, Jerry Goodman (Flock, Mahavishnu Orchestra) on violin, Nik Turner (Hawkwind) on sax and Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets)on bass. This is a terrific track and one that shows not only the virtuosity of all of the instrumentalists and excellent writing skills of Sherwood, but also brings back into the forefront one of my favorite fusion violin players. This is no lightweight composition and all instrumentation is first class. Next up is Stone Cold Infusion, a funky track featuring Steve Stevens ( Billy Idol, Michael Jackson) blistering guitar work, Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) keys, Mel Collins (King Crimson, Camel, Alan Parsons) sax, Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree)bass, and the unmistakable work of Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra) on drums. There is a lot of hot playing on this track! Molecular Breakdown features David Sancious on keys, Jay Beckenstein (Spyro Gyra) sax, Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Steve Vai)on bass and Gavin Harrison (Porchpine Tree) on drums. Particle Accelerations features Mr. Larry Coryell with his unmistakable style on guitar, Derek Sherinian (Dream Theaterm Black Country Communion) on keys, Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea)sax and Chester Thompson (Zappa, Genesis, Steve Hackett)on drums. Coryell's playing alone on this track is worth the price of admission. At The Edge Of The Middle is a bit more laid back featuring Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple) on guitars, Jimi Beard (Mahavishnu Orchestra) on piano, Randy Brecker (Brecker Brothers) on trumpet and Percy Jones (Brand X , Soft Machine)on bass. Morse and Brecker both play outstanding riffs on this track. Atom Smashing features John Etheridge (Soft Machine) on guitars, Tony Kaye (Circa, Badger, Yes) on Hammond and synth and Chad Wackerman (Zappa)drums. This is a fairly straightforward track but extremely tight musicianship. In The Spirit Of... features Steve Hillage (Gong, Khan) on guitars, Scott Kinsey (Tribal Tech) on keys, Theo Travis(soloist) sax, Justin Chancellor (Tool)on bass and Asaf Sirkis (soloist) who is a prime contributor on this track on drums. This is an excellent recording if you are at all interested in progressive J/R Fusion. The casual listener will enjoy smooth sax solos and the serious musician will feel the heat of hypnotic drums, tight bass riffs, ripping guitar solos and intricate key solos along with great composition. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”