Flower – November 2021

18 original albums on 10 CDs.
The early recordings of pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, as well as important publications by some eminent colleagues: Donald Byrd, Pepper Adams, Al Grey, George Coleman, Max Roach, Grant Green, Jimmy Heath, Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Ron Carter, Eric Dolphy, and Kenny Dorham.

After six years away from studio recording, Transatlantic's Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt, and Pete Trewavas met in Sweden over four days in 2019. They cut enough material to fill two albums. Plans to complete and tour the set in 2020 were scuttled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Morse wanted a single-disc release, but his bandmates disagreed. Portnoy offered an unprecedented solution: to issue two musically distinct versions of the record simultaneously. Stolt shepherded the 90-minute double disc – subtitled "Forevermore" – to completion. For his part, Morse went further than editing for the abridged disc, subtitled "The Breath of Life." He rearranged, reorchestrated, and re-recorded songs using different singers; he also penned some new lyrics and an exclusive song. While 13 of the original 18 tracks cut for The Absolute Universe are shared, some are radically different musically, and some employ different titles.