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

NIGHTWISH & PARADISE LOST / LIVE IN CHICAGO HOUSE OF BLUES, IL

Nightwish is:

Featuring their new vocalist/front woman Annette Olzon (from Sweden), the Finnish metal band Nightwish took to the stage at the House of Blues in Chicago on Friday night, October 27th, 2007 in ferocious support of their latest release, Dark Passion Play. The crowd was more than eager for Nightwish’s original blend of symphonic bombast, metal crunch and ethereal beauty.

The entire crowd took constant pleasure in the band throughout the whole show. Nightwish delivered spot-on renditions of songs past and present from their catalogue. More than half of the set was selected from their latest cd, however, they dug deeply for a few gems from their past such as Wishmaster and songs from Oceanborn and Century Child. Under the guidance of keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, the band delivered each song as a surgical strike-sounding as close to their cd versions as humanly possible. Normally, this would be a detriment, but a band like Nightwish pulls this off with no problem, as they have much territory to cover with their powerful, multi-instrumental arrangements.

Although Nightwish is not as hardcore progressive as many might like, this show proved that they bring a symphonic quality to their sound that is decisively bolder than what most of their peers are doing. Holopainen is an accomplished keyboardist. Although not a flashy player he is an active and necessary part of the rhythm section-a responsibility he held down with excellence. Watching him on stage is even more entertaining knowing that he composes virtually all of the band’s material by himself. He performs like a proud father watching his children (the songs) shine on stage at the hands of his talented band mates.

Also worth mention are the skills of drummer Jukka Nevalainen and vocalist Annette Olzon. Nevalainen is an exceptional and spot-on metal drummer, who makes his duty seem effortless. Olzon comes off as a classically trained vocalist of high caliber who knows how to carry her own and present herself in front of a metal crowd. The combined talents, showmanship and humility of Nightwish made for an excellent show.

U.K. doom metal band Paradise Lost opened the evening. Frankly, I was looking forward to a great set by this band that has a musical history spanning back into the 1980’s. Their recordings over the years have consistently showed Paradise Lost as an artsy (dare I use the term progressive?), dark, doom metal band. But what the crowd saw that night was 5 musicians who looked like they were playing for 5 different bands and who each wanted to be in a different place. I assumed that the musical pedigree of Paradise Lost would have raised them to a higher standard in the performance, but it was not to be. Paradise Lost are a band to listen to on cd alone.

Nightwish's website: www.nightwish.com

Paradise Lost's website (myspace): www.myspace.com/paradiselostuk

NELSON LEE