What does it sound like?:
This limited edition vinyl release is a follow up to Wakeman’s Final One Man Solo Tour of North and South America from earlier this year. It is a piece he wrote for solo piano after performing The Yes Suite for orchestra and choir at his London Palladium concert in 2023.
This work contains more than 30 musical fragments of YES music that Rick was a part of, including the much maligned, (by him, let’s be fair,) Tales From Topographic Oceans.
Picking out your favourite elements is great fun but the piece soon becomes a whole entity, as you give it time and space. I found that putting it on in the background while I was writing was a lovely thing to do as it would suddenly catch me as the beginning of South Side of the Sky or Long Distance Runaround would emerge.
The aforementioned elements of TFTO work perfectly alongside parts of Close to the Edge and nothing grates or diverts.
The second piece is a piano
adaptation of the main themes and melodies from Rick’s ‘The Myths and Legends of King
Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’. Again, this is full of old and familiar friends from Rick’s signature solo work.
The two pieces showcase the artist’s lightness of touch and his particular style; as a fan I would have known it was him playing because you can hear his smile as he plays. There’s a joy in his work which has always translated to the way he performs it.
Both tracks were recorded on Wakeman’s favourite piano, a Steinway Model D Concert Grand, owned by Andrew Giller, at The Old Granary in Suffolk.
The vinyl is dressed in a glorious Roger Dean cover, as it should be.
What does it all *mean*?
It means that even more music has been added to the Yes catalogue. Completists must have several storage facilities by now.
Goes well with…
A quiet Sunday morning with a pot of tea and a good book.
Release Date:
4th October 2024
Might suit people who like…
Yes and Rick’s solo work.
I really enjoyed listening to this….a very interesting idea and masterfully executed by Rick Age has certainly not diminished his skill at the piano. In fact it’s so good Niall reviewed it twice 😉
Just to clarify, there will be a CD version but for some reason that isn’t coming until 8 November.
Thanks for that added info – having heard Rick do Yes material live on a Steinway from only just far enough away to escape trainers’ whiff, I’d very much like to get this, but I’d prefer a CD copy. Hopefully (and I hope Rick’s marketing dept. will comply) the CD won’t be a limited edition?