ETTORE SALATI

This month's Artist in Spotlight is Ettore Salati from Italy. Ettore is a sought after session guitarist by many prog musicians not just in Italy but all around the world. He started playing piano at a very young age (mostly classical music) but when he became a teenager and discovered the world of Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Genesis and 70's rock in general, he was immediately fascinated by guitar... more

KAT EPPLE (Emerald Web)

KAT EPPLE, flautist and composer, is our interview guest this month. She has won 8 Emmy awards, was nominated for a Grammy and she has released 18 albums internationally. Most of you know her as the other half of the legendary ambient/new age duo EMERALD WEB. She has a very large collection (over 200) of flutes that she gathered from all around the world during her travels. Kat composes original New Age/Jazz/World/orchestral music and has produced film scores and television soundtracks for National Geographic, Nova, CNN, Carl Sagan, Another World, The Travel Channel, Turner Broadcasting System, History Channel, HGN, The Guiding Light, PBS, and NASA among others, and was Music Director for the feature-length film, Captiva Island. She also owns a record company and works on both sides of the music industry as a musician and as a business woman... more

New Grass Revival / On The Boulevard

New Grass Revival are one of the pioneers of progressive bluegrass. Formed in 1971 by Sam Bush (mandolin/vocals), Curtis Burch (guitar), Ebo Walker (bass) and Courtney Johnson (banjo), they immediately got the attention from the industry both in a good and bad way. First of all, they were often told that their music was not bluegrass, and they knew it wasn’t “bluegrass” in its traditional sense, and it wasn’t what they were trying to achieve anyways. They were blending rock, soul and blues rhythms with the traditional bluegrass music. They were not wearing suites, but instead they had a more casual style along with long hair... more

Alan Parsons Live Project with the Omaha Symphony

Officially known as the Alan Parsons Live Project, Parsons and current band have done a few dates so far this year. September 21, 2007 was the date they returned from a handful of European gigs to the U.S. The place was Council Bluffs, Iowa at Harrah's Casino Stir Concert Cove. This was a rare performance for the Project as they performed with the Omaha Symphony.

Some might wonder at the idea of reviewing Alan Parsons Project on a progressive site. Although AP is more popularly known for songs such as “Eye In The Sky” and “Don’t Answer Me” which are decidedly commercial songs, most of Parson’s discography is infused with a moody bent, not-always-typical arrangements and occasional instrumentation that more than fairly tip the hat to the progressive label. That having been said, although this reviewer did enjoy the commercial side of this APLP show it was the progressive element that spoke to me the strongest.

The show in Council Bluffs began with the well-known instrumental “Sirius” followed by APP’s most well-known song “Eye In The Sky”. As those who have seen APP live before can surely attest, seeing Parsons’ cleanly recorded songs with that live edge is a complement that is need of a well-documented live dvd (yes, there is 2005’s Alan Parsons Live In Madrid, so check out the official website-link below).

Although I was looking forward to seeing Parsons perform live for the first time, I was relieved to hear that this performance with a symphony wasn’t in any way watered down. This performance was not a collection of symphonic versions or re-workings of APP songs. It was the band playing the tunes and the Omaha Symphony merely lending occasional support.

Industry veteran Alan Parsons surely knows how to assemble a fine rock band to help him realize his music to its full live potential. It is obvious that Parsons has chosen each band member knowing what they can add to his compositions. Parsons’ band included members who have been with him for the last few years:

Stand out performances by individual band members include the spot-on drumming of Steve Murphy. Murphy sang lead on “Breakdown” and a couple of other tunes that night, doing a superb job. Everyone sang at least one lead vocal that night with the exception of keyboardist Manny Focarazzo. A nice treat as it reflected the different singers that Parsons has used over the years on various records and because they can all sing.

Alan Parsons Live Project played most of their popular (and expected) tunes from over the years. Among them were “I Robot” and “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You” to “Games People Play” and “Damned If I Do”. Including a 15 minute break in the middle of the show and the 2 song encore at the end, the show was a nice two and a half hours long.