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
JUDY DYBLE has an industry wide reputation for being cheerful and extremely likeable, and we here at TheProgFiles were given the unique opportunity to experience it first hand. Her gracious demeanor and willingness to review the 3 indie artists is much appreciated. Judy has a long and lustrous career providing stunning lead vocals for some of progressive music's legendary pioneers like Giles, Giles & Fripp as well as Fairport Convention, Trader Horne, etc. She is now enjoying a rewarding solo career as evidenced in her fantastic recordings to date. Judy Dyble was born in North London, England. At a very young age, she started to take piano lessons. She says she was always interested in obscure instruments, one of them was autoharp. In 1967 she was asked to join Fairport Convention. Although they were described by many as the British version of Jefferson Airplane, this would be a very poor description since the song structures were quite different than theirs. That same year, they recorded their first album, but Judy had to leave the band soon after its release. In 1968 she met Ian McDonald. ( Ian later joined King Crimson and Foreigner) One day, through a newspaper ad, she and Ian met Peter Giles, Michael Giles and Robert Fripp. They played a lot of songs together and most of these songs were recorded by Peter Giles, and were released later as “The Brondesbury Tapes”, “Metamorphosis” and “The Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson”. In 1969, Judy quit Giles Giles Fripp McDonald and Dyble, which later became King Crimson with the addition of Pete Sinfield. She formed a band called “Trader Horne” with Jackie McAuley. This was a progressive/psychedelic folk band which was famous with multi instrumentalist McAuley’s solos with a different instrument on each song. Judy did vocals and played piano and autoharp on the album. Unfortunately the band only lasted for one album and this album was called the “Morning Way”. Between 1973 and 1997, Dyble kept herself away from the music industry until the day, in 1997, she was asked to perform with Fairport Convention again to celebrate their 30th anniversary. She immediately accepted it. She also performed with them in 2002 for their 35th anniversary. In the same year, Marc Swordfish from Astralasia contacted her to record a sample of her voice. This led to a long-term collaboration between her and Swordfish and finally the recording of an album called “Enchanted Garden”. In 2006, Judy released 2 more albums. They are titled “Spindle” and “Whorl”. She worked with Swordfish again, but this time, her old friend Robert Fripp was contributing too. “Whorl” also includes a different version of a King Crimson classic “I talk to the wind”. It is always a great pleasure to hear this song by Judy. If you haven’t heard her versions yet, you must have the albums “Giles Giles and Fripp” and “Whorl”. The CD’s Spindle and Whorl are also available in special limited edition LP format and Judy is currently working on a compilation CD. For more information about her and how to purchase the LP please visit: www.judydyble.com. We asked Judy to tell us what 3 albums she is currently listening to. She said:ASTRALASIA/Cluster of Waves: Their latest CD. Electronic/dance/trance with fabulous dark vocals; "NO-MAN/Together We're Stranger: Wonderful words, wonderful musicians, wonderful singing and a beautiful sad banjo. What more could you ask for…? NOSOUND/Sol29: Italian, ambient, - just lovely stuff And now, her reviews for our selected indie artists of the month: |
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IAN NEAL Violet, White, Lilac Lily LISTEN |
There’s a lovely rich sound to this track. I like the way the instruments lead into one another, weaving and blending, and there are a small amount of vocals here and there. I think I was mildly disappointed that there wasn’t a lead instrument or vocal to soar above the mix. That might have taken it somewhere completely else again, but it rounds out very well as a complete track, perhaps the whole of the album is meant to be just a rather nice soundscape.VISIT IAN'S WEBSITE HERE |
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JOHN EYRE Oak II LISTEN |
This is a very interesting mix of electronicky sounds and a dancey bass and a quirky vocal. I can almost hear that oak tree growing… It sort of reminds me of early Jethro Tull with eastern influences. A story song. It grows on me the more I hear it…VISIT JOHN'S WEBSITE HERE |
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SHARELLE Fog LISTEN |
Oooh! Completely different, this one. Powerful start and beat, Excellent voice. Proper guitar solo (haven’t heard one of those for a long time). Really good. Perhaps it gets a bit muzzy sounding later on. Take your foot off the fuzz box! That’s better. Nice ending!VISIT SHARELLE'S WEBSITE HERE |
