World Fhana

Any hard core Yes fan knows who Billy Sherwood is. He first appeared with Yes as a producer on one track of the ill-received "Union" album, and became a full fledged band member for the dismal "Open Your Eyes" and the much better "The Ladder". But before Yes, he was in World Trade, a Yes clone. Not just a Yes clone, but a clone of the 1980's pop Yes…

Apart from David Sanborn, probably no living saxophonist has a more instantly recognizable voice than Jan Garbarek; actually, given the fact that Sanborn's sound is so widely copied, Garbarek's may be easier to identify in a blindfold test. This album in particular puts that sound front and center. Garbarek's the show; he composed all of the music, and is essentially the only soloist. The music (much of which was composed as soundtrack material for film or video) is quintessential Garbarek, full of the world music influences that have characterized his work since the 1970s.

Tigran Hamasyan was born in Gyumri, Armenia, in 1987. Ely the age of 7 he was listening to jazz melodies and improvising on piano all day long. He began to study the art of Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Miles Davis and others, comprehending everything so fast and so deeply that he soon reached a high technique and unique jazz thinking. The First International Jazz Festival of Yerevan (held in 1998) opened a new stage in his creative life; the jazz community looked at him as a real discovery and he received invitations to play concerts and sessions. At the 2000 Festival, he became acquainted with jazz stars Chick Corea, Avishai Cohen, Jeff Ballard and An Roland; the following year he took part several festivals in France, where he played with Philip and Christophe Le Van and was introduced to Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin. Joe Zawinul, Danillo Perez and John Patitucci.

New World was an Australian pop group that existed from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. They are best known for their Top 10 hit single, "Tom-Tom Turnaround", which was released in 1971. Most of their biggest successes were written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman. Broad of collar and bright of shirt, New Zealand's New World exemplified the kind of bright-eyed, lightly sentimental folk-pop that threatened to devour the UK charts of the early 1970s. Pre-glam, pre-prog, and almost prepubescently harmless, the trio emerged out of British television's Opportunity Knocks talent show and briefly threatened to become their homeland's biggest ever export. Especially after the all-conquering combination of label-head Mickie Most, producer Mike Hurst, and songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman ganged up on a generation's ears and soft-soaped them into submission.

The original 12-song LP has been expanded to 20 tracks for this CD. The original material comprised a very pleasant and diverting psychedelic pop release, strongly reminiscent at times of the early Bee Gees from Horizontal, interspersed with some heavier-sounding tracks that were closer to the World of Oz's actual sound on-stage. The bonus cuts are single edits and mixes of tracks that were already represented on the album, so there's nothing new to hear except for a punchier, more compressed sound on some of the better songs. The sound quality is most impressive, however, and given the sheer rarity of the original LP, the chances of anyone having the latter already lying around to be heard are next to non-existent - so this CD ends up being essential listening for almost anyone fascinated by the commercial side of British psychedelia.

Syriana - The Road To Damascus (2010) {Real World CDRW176}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 377 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 146 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2010 Real World Recordings | CDRW176
World / Electronic / Folk

Conceived in London and recorded in Damascus, this fascinating CD collection is a true fusion on many levels, traversing space and time, reinventing and subverting stereotypes, consciously marrying ancient Middle Eastern sounds with Parisian cafe music…The vocals are both stunning and spooky, the swirling music at once mysterious and totally accessible.