After going out yet again on tour in 1992 with a second Classical Connection line up, Wakeman's record company deemed it necessary to have another release to coincide with such an event and so 'Classical Connection II' was born which was half live and half studio, which always made it an unsatisfactory compromise as far as Wakeman was concerned.
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| Rick Wakeman In The 70's |
The 'Classical Connection II' is a natural progression in the series and features a wide variety of the clasically influenced talents that have been the trademark of Rick Wakeman's music over the past twenty five years.
There are fabulous live recordings of "Eleanor Rigby", arranged in the style of Rick's "hero composer" Prokofiev as well as a unique rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime". Two of Rick's film themes are also captured live, "Macintosh" and "A Day After The Fair".
"Birdman of Alcatraz" has been re-recorded by popular request and all the rest are new compositions. "The Painter" and "A Garden of Music" are piano solos and "Pont Street" is written in memory of the home of Rick's great friend and harpsichord maker, Thomas Croff.
"Opus-1", "Dancing In Heaven" and "Art and Soul" are modern digital orchestrations demonstrating the modern electronic orchestra's capabilities at it's fullest.
There are fabulous live recordings of "Eleanor Rigby", arranged in the style of Rick's "hero composer" Prokofiev as well as a unique rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime". Two of Rick's film themes are also captured live, "Macintosh" and "A Day After The Fair".
"Birdman of Alcatraz" has been re-recorded by popular request and all the rest are new compositions. "The Painter" and "A Garden of Music" are piano solos and "Pont Street" is written in memory of the home of Rick's great friend and harpsichord maker, Thomas Croff.
"Opus-1", "Dancing In Heaven" and "Art and Soul" are modern digital orchestrations demonstrating the modern electronic orchestra's capabilities at it's fullest.
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| Rick Wakeman 1991 |
Finally, a piece of nostalgia and a very collectable one at that. Back in 1971 when Rick recorded "Catherine of Aragon" at Trident studios in London for his first solo album 'The Six Wives Of Henry VIII', he recorded another short piece for fun entitled "Farandol". It only runs for 2 minutes and 45 seconds, but it is the line up that makes it interesting in as much as aside from Frank Riccotti on tuned percussion, there was Stwe Howe on accoustic guitar, Chris Squire on bass and Bill on drums!
All in all, this collection is a concert in itself. Recorded September 1991 at Bajoner Studios (Isle Of Man) and live at Poole Arts Centre usinga Tascam MSR 24S and Shure microphones. The album was produced by Rick Wakeman and engineered and mixed by Stuart Sawney.
All in all, this collection is a concert in itself. Recorded September 1991 at Bajoner Studios (Isle Of Man) and live at Poole Arts Centre usinga Tascam MSR 24S and Shure microphones. The album was produced by Rick Wakeman and engineered and mixed by Stuart Sawney.
Album Reviews
1. This was something of a stopgap release, designed to support Wakeman's continued "Classical connections" tour. Where the first album of that name had a general coherence, CC2 is something of a hotchpotch. The majority of the tracks are re-workings of pieces from Wakeman's previous albums, but there also three cover versions. Since Wakeman does not indulge in covers too often, these alone make the album more interesting than it might otherwise have been.
The covers in question are:
- the Beatles classic "Eleanor Rigby" (apparently performed in the style of Wakeman's favourite composer, Prokofiev). This is an imaginative and exciting interpretation, with classical guitar and keyboards complementing each other well. While the original melody is clearly discernible, Wakeman develops the theme superbly. A great opening track.
- Gershwin's "Summertime", captures the relaxed mood of the piece, through a jazz based interpretation. Both this and "Eleanor Rigby" are live recordings.
- The recording of the traditional "Farandol" included here is Wakeman's original version from in 1971. It was recorded as part of the "Six Wives" sessions. Yes fans will be interested to know that the line up on this track (only) includes Bruford, Squire and Howe. The track has strong similarities with the works which were on the finished album.
1. This was something of a stopgap release, designed to support Wakeman's continued "Classical connections" tour. Where the first album of that name had a general coherence, CC2 is something of a hotchpotch. The majority of the tracks are re-workings of pieces from Wakeman's previous albums, but there also three cover versions. Since Wakeman does not indulge in covers too often, these alone make the album more interesting than it might otherwise have been.
The covers in question are:
- the Beatles classic "Eleanor Rigby" (apparently performed in the style of Wakeman's favourite composer, Prokofiev). This is an imaginative and exciting interpretation, with classical guitar and keyboards complementing each other well. While the original melody is clearly discernible, Wakeman develops the theme superbly. A great opening track.
- Gershwin's "Summertime", captures the relaxed mood of the piece, through a jazz based interpretation. Both this and "Eleanor Rigby" are live recordings.
- The recording of the traditional "Farandol" included here is Wakeman's original version from in 1971. It was recorded as part of the "Six Wives" sessions. Yes fans will be interested to know that the line up on this track (only) includes Bruford, Squire and Howe. The track has strong similarities with the works which were on the finished album.
Of the other tracks, the numerous solo piano and other keyboards tracks are new recordings of some of Wakeman's compositions from previous albums. The rather uninspired nature of the performances tend to lead to them sounding overly familiar. "Dancing in heaven" reminds me a bit of Albinoni's "Adagio", while "MacIntosh" has a similar melody to Nancy Griffith's "Gulf coast highway".
In all however, the feature tracks make this collection worthy of investigation and should keep Wakeman fans happy. [Review by Easy Livin' 2005]
2. The musical curriculum vitae from keyboard virtuoso Rick Wakeman is both impressive as whimsical, some albums are refused by second-hand record shops because they won't sell (no names!). After a turbulent life with alcohol abuse, several divorces and megalo maniac behavior, Rick Wakeman has turned into a decent and loving father, peacefully living between his beloved wife, children and lots of animals on The Isle Of Man.
In all however, the feature tracks make this collection worthy of investigation and should keep Wakeman fans happy. [Review by Easy Livin' 2005]
2. The musical curriculum vitae from keyboard virtuoso Rick Wakeman is both impressive as whimsical, some albums are refused by second-hand record shops because they won't sell (no names!). After a turbulent life with alcohol abuse, several divorces and megalo maniac behavior, Rick Wakeman has turned into a decent and loving father, peacefully living between his beloved wife, children and lots of animals on The Isle Of Man.
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| Wakeman & Paton On The Classical Connection Tour |
The music on this album is in the vein of this pleasant and balanced life. Wakeman delivers his marvellous acoustic pianoplay but he is playing more electronic instruments than on Classical Connection I. This evokes the 'polished classic progrock' from Sky (in "Art", "Soul" and the strong "Opus") but also Trace in "Farandol" (from Bizet) featuring Bill Bruford, Chris Squire and Steve Howe (on acoustic guitar).
My highlight is the version from The Beatles their known piece "Eleanor Rigby": lots of varietion and great guitar play by David Paton (ex Pilot) along bombastic keyboards from Rick Wakeman. A more varied and exciting album than Classical Connection I. [Review by Erik Neuteboom, 2005]
This post consists of FLACs ripped from CD and includes album artwork for both CD and Vinyl media.
It should be noted that the running order of songs on the Vinyl release (Korea only I believe) is different to that of the CD releases, probably due to side length restrictions of the record media and accomodating the 55min of music.
Track Listing:
1. Eleanor Rigby (8:08)
2. Birdman Of Alcatraz (4:28)
3. A Day After The Fair (4:38)
4. Opus-1 (3:10)
5. The Painter (3:07)
6. Summertime (6:05)
7. Dancing In Heaven (6:36)
8. A Garden Of Music (3:18)
9. MacIntosh (3:49)
10. Farandol (2:45)
11. Pont Street (4:30)
12. Art And Soul (5:01)
Line-up / Musicians
- Rick Wakeman / piano, keyboards, arranger & producer
With:
- David Paton / bass & guitar (1,3,6,9)
- Steve Howe / acoustic guitar (10)
- Chris Squire / bass (10)
- Bill Bruford / drums (10)
- Frank Ricotti / tuned percussion (10)
Rick Wakeman Link (298Mb)
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