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

MICHAEL BASSETT / SOFT VERGES (2008)

It's been a while since I came across a record (yes I said record, not that I am old and I may be, but it is really a record) with such musical quality and poetic lyrics. Michael Bassett's most recent work "Soft Verges" was released by Eschatone Records a couple of months ago (August 2008). Although this is not a prog album, it is definitely above and beyond the "media" standards and deserves attention. Michael is an American singer/song-writer who resides in UK. This album was released on both LP format (limited edition with all copies autographed by him) and digitally (MP3 and lossless/FLAC).

6 of the songs were recorded in Chicago, IL (Steve Albini's Electrical Audio to be more precise). The unique thing about these acoustic recordings was that they were done all at once, in the same day... and analogue just like in the old days (no multi-tracking). The sound quality is amazing. As you hear Michael sing and play his guitar you almost feel like he is in the same room with you, playing and singing for you and you can almost hear a pin drop. You often hear of vinyl pressings having that "warm" feeling, Bassett's performance is just that - warm - and it makes perfect sense it would be released on vinyl. These 6 songs are "Barely Breathing", "She Hope You Under", "Amy's Song", "All Too Seriously", "Drift", and "Melancholy and Bright Blue". What is very impressive about his music is that the melody, the lyrics and the rhythm are perfectly intertwined. Like in "Barely Breathing" for example, you will find yourself counting along with him 1-2-3-4 1-2-3 and nearly going out of breathe. Bassett has amazing control over his voice as he gently floats between the high and low notes, it is seamless. This almost made me think of early acoustic Shawn Phillips stuff technically speaking. "All Too Seriously" will surprise you if you like "intertextuality" in music.

The rest of the album was digitally recorded in England. Things get a little bit more complex after this step because Michael took these 4 songs ("Exchange (eye for an eye)", "Ten Days", "Hastings to London", "Nine Point Eight Metres per Second Squared") and went to Woodstcok, NY to Kevin Bartlett's Aural Gratification studio where the digital mixes were completed. The next thing was to transfer the digital files into tapes. This was done in Brooklyn, NY by engineer Pete DeBoer in Excello Studios. When the transfer was complete Pete spliced two reels together and took them to Los Angeles to be mastered by Kevin Grey. All of these 4 songs are equally fascinating as the acoustic stuff. "Exchange" both lyrically and composition wise is the best track of "Soft Verges" in my opinion. The sound goes up and down like waves, the backward and whispery vocal effects create an extra dimension which makes the song all the more intense. Brilliant indeed! On "Nine Point Eight Metres per Second Squared" (and notice how he spells metre, he is accustomed to living in England you can tell), Michael Bassett has an amazing electric guitar sound that will give you chills. Think about sparks coming out of power lines, if you have witnessed it you will know what I mean.

This record is truely a labor of love and work of art with powerful lyrics, thoughtful compositions, very emotional and moving vocals. Releasing it on LP format is a bold but wise decision as it offers the true music lover something special to keep for many many years. It has a 60's and 70's folk, rock and jazz feel to it yet it is absolutely ageless. You can find more info about it on Michael's myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/michaelbassett or you can visit the record label's website at http://www.eschatone.com/michaelbassett to purchase it.

HANDE BURDG