Gentle Giant Reissue

Yusef Lateef's music from the early '70s commands large doses of both appeal and skepticism. At a time when funk and fusion were merging with the intensely volatile and distrustful mood of the U.S., Lateef's brand of Detroit soul garnered new fans, and turned away those who preferred his earlier hard bop jazz or world music innovations. Thus The Gentle Giant is an appropriate title, as Lateef's levitational flute looms large over the rhythm & blues beats central to the equation. Kenny Barron's Fender Rhodes electric piano is also a sign of the times, an entry point introducing him to the contemporary jazz scene, and on that point alone is historically relevant. The post-Bitches Brew, pre-Weather Report/Headhunters time period is to be considered, and how this music put Lateef in many respects to the forefront of the movement…

A fully authorised box set celebrating Gentle Giant’s back catalogue titled Unburied Treasure is to be released on December 6 through Madfish. The limited edition collection will be spread across 30-discs and contain all 11 of the band’s studio albums, along with 15 live concerts – seven of which have never previously been released, while a further seven have never been officially released.

An elegant symphonic/romantic prog band, who take a lot of their inspiration from Gentle Giant. Try to imagine a Quebecois version of Gentle Giant, with a female singer, then you pretty much know exactly what these guys sound like. This band blend syncopated prog passages with Gentle Giant-like vocalizations/acappela accents and Grobschnitt-like charm prowess. Instrumentation utilized is quite vast actually and includes flutes, vibraphones, drums, bass, violin, guitar and piano. The musicianship here is fantastic with nice warm tones and offers excellent speaker separation.

East coast band with strong Canterbury school besides Muffins or Happy The Man and RIO influences. However delivers a very experimental music rich in wind instruments, acoustic guitars and many vintage keyboards. They use their musical abilities to build upon the Gentle Giant and Canterbury foundation to create a music that can only be described as one of the better American efforts from the late '70s into the '80s.
"Sudden Dusk" (1981) has the feel if not the actual sound of the English Canterbury school married with a detectable American folk influence, producing rock/chamber compositions of unusual beauty and dimension…

One of the best American progressive rock albums of the 70's. Mirthrandir was an obscure progressive band from New Jersey formed in 1973 during the heyday of Yes. This band played a complex and elaborated music based on breaks, contrasts and refinement. There are plenty of vintage Moog's and Hammond organs. The flute is also an interesting addition to the sound. The group subtly mixed influences of Gentle Giant, King Crimson, UK, Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. "For You The Old Women" is an album of progressive rock with flute, keyboards, long tracks and lots of rhythm changes. Led by keyboards and guitar, the compositions are all very much in the traditional "prog" style, with alternating moods, shifting time changes, and competent vocals that remind of Derek Shulman of Gentle Giant at times. This is an album that grows on you with each repeated listening.

Big Sleep were a Welsh band whose influence was far beyond their sole album offering released in 1971. The band members (formerly with Eyes Of Blue) would all soon head for greater things in bands such as Gentle Giant, Man and Wild Turkey (formed by ex-Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick). An album that features many fine songs and styles, "Bluebell Wood", (originally released on the highly collectable Pagusus label), has been sought after by collectors for many years thanks to its influence and place in the history of British progressive rock and in the annals of Welsh rock. Remastered from the original master tapes, “Bluebell Wood” has never sounded so good. This release is sure to appeal to followers of Man and Gentle Giant in particular. The First ever- official CD release for this classic album.

This short-lived formation from the 70's were an offshoot of Welsh psychedelic band Man. Two of its members, namely keyboard player Phil Ryan and guitarist/bassist Will Youatt, left in 1973 to form the Neutrons with drummer John Weathers (Gentle Giant), violinist Stuart Gordon (Incredible String Band) and a slew of other musicians. They took their name from Iorwerth Pritchard and the Neutrons, a band Ryan and Youatt had created prior to forming the Neutrons.
Whereas the music of Man was predominantly guitar based, the Neutrons concentrate on the keyboards; their heavy use of synthesizers, a strong Gentle Giant edge as well as slight Brit-folk overtones characterize their sound…