Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Dark Encounters , from Prog Collective , a project founded and helmed by Billy Sherwood of Yes note. Opening with Darkest Hour , longtime Billy Idol guitarist, Steve Stevens is featured with soaring guitar riffs over Sherwood's bass, keyboard and drum composition. Atmospheric and intense, this is a strong opener. Steve Morse (Dregs/Deep Purple) adds his own virtuosity to Ominous Signs with a more structured composition allowing more freedom for Sherwood's own exploration. Dark Days is one of my favorite tracks on the release with Bumblefoot (GNR) contributing some real nice guitar and vocals, Patrick Moraz (Moody Blues) on keys, Omar Hakim (Weather Report) on drums and Sherwood on bass. Soft Machine's John Etheridge lays down some nicely phrased guitar lead on The Fifth Hour , paired with Sherwood on bass, keys and drums. Very cool. Another of my favorite tracks, Between Two Worlds features Steve Hillage (Gon...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, October is Marigold , by David Cross and Andrew Keeling . This is a very interesting release spanning classical, rock, progressive and even eurojazz. Cross, who has played violin with King Crimson and Keeling who has collaborated with Robert Fripp are together for their second composition as a follow up to their earlier 2009 release, English Sun. This is largely improvised music so more difficult to describe in a traditional way, but it is mind expanding and enjoyable and should be viewed as a singular piece of music with many interwoven movements... so here goes. Opening with Marigold 1 , Keeling on piano presents a simple piano structure composed of two chords and Cross plays a beautiful melody on Violectra. Very nice. On title track, October is Marigold , Kelling again constructs a structure on keyboard but then interweaves layers of flute.  As the theme progresses, Cross adds electric violin to the weave for a ...