Farewell, Herbie Flowers

September 7, 2024

The amazing Herbie Flowers passed away on September 5th at the age of 86, an immaculate musician and unique character. There wasn’t and there won’t be another artist like him. Not because nobody else started out playing tuba in a the Royal Air Force band and made this non-rock instrument a part of his performances with SKY, and not because not a lot of instrumentalists played on a half a thousand hits – that’s hits, rather than regular pieces! – but because Herbie used to bring his indomitable spirit and personality to every recording he contributed to. On-stage, Flowers was as much a clown as he was a bassist par excellence.

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CSN&Y’s Early Concert Is Ready To Be Aired

September 7, 2024

They were sensational – and each on-stage album from CSN&Y feels sensational too. Not that there were too many of those releases capturing David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and Neil Young in their prime: only 1971’s “4 Way Street” would count as such, with “CSNY 1974” from 2014 documenting the quarter’s second coming, with a few moments in the “Woodstock” and “Journey Through The Past” soundtracks rounding off the foursome’s officially available early-era concert recordings. Here’s why “Live At Fillmore East, 1969” which will be out on October 25th is a historic thing.

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CYMBALIC ENCOUNTERS Conjure Up The Spirit Of Pierre Moerlen

September 6, 2024

It may not be too apparent but CYMBALIC ENCOUNTERS have often turned to GONG for inspiration, which is not too surprising given Pierre Moerlen’s influence on Mark Murdock, the mastermind of the Japan-based ensemble, who also is a drummer and percussionist. The influence came to the fore on "Vents Cycloniques" earlier this year, yet while that release is focused on the band the late French musician created an offshoot of, its follow-up “The Magick Observatory” – issued solely via Bandcamp two days ago – concentrates on his performative

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Deeper In Their Archives, TRAPEZE Uncover Alternative Cuts

September 6, 2024

It felt like a big thrill among the relatively small circle of TRAPEZE aficionados back in 2023, when the first dive into the band’s cache of tapes brought forth quite a few pieces that had not landed, in any way, on any official release. Slow-forward one year after “Lost Tapes Vol. 1” was out, and Tom and Marcus Galley – respectively, the brother and son of the ensemble’s late leader, guitarist Mel – together with the group’s erstwhile manager Tony Perry prepared a second volume of rarities.

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Judy Collins’ “Wildflowers” Come Offstage

September 5, 2024

From her 1961 debut “A Maid Of Constant Sorrow” to “Spellbound” which saw the light of day in 2022, Judy Collins has hardly ever recorded a less-than-impressive album, and still 1967’s “Wildflowers” stands out against the rest of the lady’s oeuvre. It remains not only her highest-charting but also most-loved platter despite housing only three originals and featuring covers of such future evergreens as “”Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye” alongside two other Leonard Cohen songs and Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” and “Michael From Mountains” as well as Francesco Landini and Jacques Brel numbers. All voiced and played by Judy herself, no wonder there’s immense intimacy to the ten pieces on offer – and no wonder it was these that in February 2024 the chanteuse took to the stage of New York’s Town Hall to perform the album in its entirety, accompanied by the Harlem Chamber Players, the event first televised and now ready for physical release.

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