Bird Masayoshi Fujita

Rare Bird is a quartet that relied heavily on keyboards as both Kafinetti and Field played together, the former on piano and synthesizers and the latter on organ - much like Procol Harum and later on Greenslade. They had a hit with "Sympathy" in the UK but were more successful in Continental Europe where they became quite popular, their sound often reminding us of Barclay James Harvest. This double keyboard attack held no place for a guitarist until Field left along with the drummer Ashton and another keyboard player Lamb. This change occurred as they switched to Polydor label and they took on a guitar player, and played a harder rock with some funky lines. Nic Potter of VDGG played on two albums of the second line-up and John Wetton guested on one.

Andrew Bird has announced his latest album, Sunday Morning Put-On, due out May 24th via Loma Vista Recordings. Recorded alongside the artist’s Andrew Bird Trio project, today’s announcement comes accompanied by two songs from the record, “I Fall in Love Too Easily” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” Bird has billed Sunday Morning Put-On as a tribute to mid-century, small group jazz, with the tracklist featuring compositions by musicians like Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Heart, and more. Drummer Ted Poor and bassist Alan Hampton join bird on the recordings, with additional contributions coming from Jeff Parker and Larry Goldings.

Rare Bird's unpolished but sturdy brand of early progressive rock was built on their heavy keyboard implementations, as they were one of the few bands to produce music without the employment of an electric guitar. Using only a couple of keyboards, a bass guitar, and drums, Rare Bird represented the simplest form of synthesizer prog, but their music ranged anywhere from busy and rambunctious to light and delicate sounding. Sympathy is a compilation that takes five songs from their 1969 self-titled debut album and four tracks from 1970s As Your Mind Flies By and unites them conveniently on one disc. Starting off with the modest, elementary organ runs in "Sympathy," the album moves on to more layered pieces like "Bird on a Wing" and "What You Want to Know," highlighting the sometimes strained vocals of Steve Gould…