One would assume that Joe Deninzon‘s joining KANSAS – and doing a hell of a job onstage with them – would prevent his own STRATOSPHEERIUS from bringing forth new works any time soon after the violinist committed to working with the veteran ensemble. And yet, having delivered a concert document "Behind The Curtain" in 2023, he’s ready to release a new studio opus on October 11th – titled “Impostor!” after one of the songs that Joe’s ensemble issued as early as 2019.
It’s been an unbelievable 55 years since THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN burst into international scene with the “Something In The Air” single, which is still the British trio’s best-known work – written by drummer Speedy Keen and produced, like the whole of their only album “Hollywood Dream” that was issued the whopping 16 months later, by his friend Pete Townshend who, basically, created the band by bringing in ivories and reeds master Andy Newman and guitarist Jimmy McCulloch. The longplay might have performed just as well but, perhaps, the loss of momentum and the delay with the record’s overseas release cost the platter a chart action the music within deserved, and even opening for DEEP PURPLE didn’t help. As a result, 1971 saw the little ensemble disintegrate, with Newman dropping out of the scene, Keen trying to start a solo career with "Y'Know Wot I Mean" before turning into producer for Johnny Thunders’ HEARTBREAKERS and MOTÖRHEAD, and McCulloch finding fame with STONE THE CROWS and, alongside Paul McCartney, in WINGS. All three dead now, their endeavors are long overdue for fans’ discovery.
There didn’t seem to be a lot in common between Melanie and Jan Akkerman – apart from the letters “S” and “F” present in the former’s last name, Safka, and name of the latter’s erstwhile ensemble, FOCUS – yet on May 24th, 1988 the two legends found themselves not only share the stage but actually perform together, the Dutch guitarist weaving his magic into the American songstress’ numbers. Fortunately, this unique collaboration, which took place in Leiden, Holland, during a music festival, was captured on a professional recording, and is set to see the release as “In Focus: Live ’88” on October 18th.
The fact of Willie Nelson issues a fresh record can hardly surprise anybody who knows that the nonagenarian will be willing to work on new projects while there’s a whiff of marijuana, rather than a wing and a prayer – yet the fact of the veteran outlaw dedicate a platter to his friends’ songs and pick no other than John Densmore, whose credentials have rarely been flaunted outside of his most famous ensemble’s context, is surprising, indeed. Or not so much if one takes into account the presence of THE DOORS drummer on “Particle War” from 2018, a collaborative effort between young folkstress Sunny War and PARTICLE KID, a band led by Willie’s scion Micah Nelson, the producer of his pater’s forthcoming album for which the junior Nelson co-penned a track.
With his salient credentials including Grammy for engineering Larry Carlton and Steve Lukather’s “No Substitutions: Live In Osaka” in 2002 and working on QUIET RIOT’s “Rehab” four years later, some people may forgiven for forgetting Neil Citron‘s work as a mastermind of BANGTOWER whose "With N With Out" was one of the highlights of 2016, and a multi-instrumentalist with a few solo albums under his belt. The latest of those appeared quite a long time ago, though, yet a follow-up to 2006’s “Flavored Jam” is finally ready to be out.
