Supertramp

After 20 years of silence, the west coast rock group PowerPlay from Copenhagen, Denmark, is together again and returns with a new strong melodic AOR rock album, inspired by the sound and feel of bands like Toto, Journey, Supertramp and Starship. PowerPlay was founded in a basement in Hellerup, Copenhagen, in 1987 by Simon Dalberg (drums), Erik Thomsen (vocals), Kurt Lundgaard (guitar), and Peter Gjedde (keyboards). The music was heavily inspired by Toto, Journey, Starship and other West Coast bands of that time and with a twist from Supertramp, but always with a twist of pure energy and the desire to play and perform with own composed music…

Supertramp's lead guitarist and top studio musician Carl Verheyen's unique intervallic style has a fiery originality. In this program, he pulls you out of the "up-and-down-the-scales" rut and into some truly modern lines. Guiding you through dozens of major, minor and dominant lines, Carl will get you improvising with wider intervals, and your playing will open up!Carl Verheyen is a world-renowned guitarist whose work can be heard on many of the biggest records, TV shows and movies released in the last twenty years.

The cross-generational supergroup of rock and fusion stars on the album includes Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), Mike Stern, Al Di Meola, Randy Brecker, John Helliwell (Supertramp), Steve Bailey, Simon Phillips, Leslie Mandoki, Tony Carey (Rainbow), Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew), Jesse Siebenberg (Supertramp) and more.
With a setup that is hard to find in contemporary music production, and with which the band has captured a warmth and vibrancy in their music that is often lost in digital recordings, the Soulmates have created a work of musical diversity that ranges from prog to jazz rock, combining compositional maturity, playful ease, and artful solos with great arcs of tension and profound lyrics with socio-political themes.

Alan Simon is a French folk-rock musician and composer, best known for his rock operas performed with noted rock musicians guesting. Simon is associated with Breton Celticism, and his most ambitious works are typically on themes linked to Celtic myth and history. Simon achieved fame with his rock opera Excalibur, La Légende des Celtes (Excalibur, The Legend of the Celts) (Sony) in 1999, of which he was both songwriter and producer. The final part of the trilogy, Excalibur III The Origins (Excalibur III: The Origins), was released in 2012 with contributions from John Helliwell (Supertramp), Mick Fleetwood, Jeremy Spencer (Fleetwood Mac), Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia), Les Holroyd (Barclay James Harvest), Bruce Guthro (Runrig), Moya Brennan (Clannad), Geoffrey Downes.

Leslie Mandoki plays together with Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), John Helliwell (Supertramp), Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew), Till Brönner, Szakcsi, Jane Xie, Steve Bailey, Al Di Meola, Peter Maffay, Jesse Siebenberg (Supertramp), Cory Henry, Deobrat Mishra, Mike Stern, Margarita, Randy Brecker, Bill Evans, Sirreal, Richard Bona, Moto Fukushima, Tony Carey, Julia Mandoki. Entitled "Utopia for Realists", the BluRay “Hungarian Pictures” combines the recording of the concert film of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with an impressive cinematic realization of the individual musical episodes. It also provides exclusive insights behind the scenes of the Soulmates production live and in the studio, a "making of". The package is completed by an audiophile CD with the original studio recordings of the Prog Rock suite. Available as a Limited CD/Blu-ray Mediabook, Gatefold 2LP + CD + LP-booklet, Standard CD Jewelcase & as Digital Album.