Ardit Gjebrea's Projekt Jon

Symphonic keyboards, progressive guitars, driving bass and adventurous drums provide the backbone of this debut release by Gekko Projekt. The album opens with "Particle Dance", an energetic instrumental that contains all the elements of classic Yes. "Black Hole" sounds like it could be a hit single for the band without betraying the progressive nature of the album. Echoes of Weather Report and jazz-rock are evident in the following two instrumentals, "Cognitive Dissonance" and "London Vibe" before the band launches into its epic song "Avatar Jones".

Contains live recordings of various concert in 2001/2002 and exclusive live studio sessions.
Initially, Free System Projekt was a solo-project of Marcel Engels. His first albums, especially the fine "Pointless Reminder", show a melodically version of the Berlin School. Since the album "Atmospheric Conditions from 2002", "FSP" is a trio when sequencer-specialist Ruud Heij (also known from Patchwork) and Frank van der Wel become bandmembers. Trio's and electronic music bring Tangerine Dream in mind. Nothing is less true with FSP because their recent albums have all the traces of classic TD-albums: fantastic sequencers, the Mellotron sounds, the strings and the effects.

Free System Projekt is working to re-contextualize classic spacemusic. On their album Moyland the trio again comes up with creative ways to express the vastness of both inner and outer space. The six pieces gradually achieve their weight within the metaphorical zero-g of spacemusic and touch us on levels we have not named. In their search for an updated sound FSP operates with the intelligence and dexterity owed to the prism of decades of interpretation. While lost in this creative wilderness, FSP fully utilizes the wonderful and timeless choir, flute and string sounds of the Mellotron as well as other time-honored synthesizer pads and solo lead voice tones. An interplay of urgent sequencer patterns provides a concentrated intensity as lead melodies charge the music with haunting drama. The mood moves between a hyperspace where everything is alive and in flux to enigmatic images from the well of darkness.

Fans of vintage electronic music might know the mature skills and music of the musicians involved in this recording. Well, they won’t be disappointed with this excellent bunch of sounds derived from vintage keys and sequencers. The CD nicely kicks off with "Pre-flight", composed by Dave Fulton and John Duval. Next is the strong "Arrival" from the trio Engels/vander Wel/Heij, which carries strong comparisons to the sequencer-stuff of ‘70 Tangerine Dream. Tracks 3 to 6 are the outcome of a session the SFP-guys had with Dave Fulton on December 7, 2002, of which "Passage" is a wonderful excursion with some great mellotron sounds. In all, the sparkling music on this album breathes the magic realm of TD’s "Ricochet" and "Encore".

In 2000 Vic Rek organised a meeting of Tangerine Dream fans at the Okefenokee swamp. During the event Free System Project and Dave Brewer improvised a superb set of music. This was released as 'Okefenokee Dreams'. A year later the event was held again but this time Bill Fox as well as John Christian and Pete Ruczynski from AirSculpture joined in with the fun, all the musicians playing together on most of the tracks. What you get here on 'Okefenokee Dreams 2001' is a selection of the best tracks from these sessions.

Jon Balke’s unique solo work blurs distinctions between composition, improvisation and sound design as Discourses further develops the methodology introduced with the Norwegian pianist’s Warp album. Integrated in the resonant sound of his piano music are “layered soundscapes” of processed material which Balke describes as “distorted reflections and reverberations from the world.” Underpinning the project are some thoughts about language, and the notion of discourse and dialogue as fading concepts in an era of confrontational rhetoric. Balke: “In this work I had the framework of language with me from the beginning. As the political climate hardened in 2019 with more and more polarized speech, the lack of dialogue pointed me towards the terms that constitute the titles for the tracks.” Discourses was recorded at Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo in December 2019, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

The soundtrack feature the score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the music of Jon Batiste and features a duet performance of the 1960's Soul classic "It's All Right" (originally by The Impressions) by Celeste and Batiste. Disney and Pixar’s feature film “Soul” introduces Joe Gardner, a middle-school band teacher with a serious passion for jazz music. The story is particularly relatable to the artists behind it. For Jamie Foxx, who lends his voice to Joe, it begins with jazz. “Like Joe, I hear music in everything,” said Foxx. “When you’re a jazz artist, man, you talk a little different: ‘Hey, cat!’ I got a chance to go to a few jazz fests and meet Herbie Hancock, Chick Correa—hang out with those guys. They have a way of talking, a way of dressing—everything funnels toward their music, toward the jazz."

Animation is the third solo album by Jon Anderson, and it shows both hearkenings to the other two and a new energy and direction. When he recorded the first album, Olias of Sunhillow, he was a member of Yes. That album has a strong progressive rock texture, being composed of longer pieces that all weave into one conceptual piece. It is also important to note that that release is a true "solo" work, Anderson performing virtually every sound on the record. By the time he released Song of Seven, both his professional status (he was no longer a member of Yes) and musical theory seemed to have changed. The album was for more pop-oriented, although a few points (the title track, most notably) still contained strong progressive rock tendencies…