The Haunted Melody
HoweSound
Howe, longtime guitarist for progressive rock group Yes, always had it in him to deliver a great straight-jazz album. This is it.
As he says in the liner notes, he recently had been daydreaming (and night-dreaming) of such an album more and more. What he doesn’t say but probably is safe to assume is that his neo-bop-drummer son, Dylan, gave him the prodding he needed.
Howe formed the threesome last year with Dylan and organist Ross Stanley from Dylan’s quintet. Stanley supplies bass lines via his left hand in typical organ trio fashion. Four of the songs are jazz covers, three are Yes covers, three are covers of songs from Steve Howe solo efforts and one is a new Steve Howe original.
Of the four jazz covers, three are from guitarist Kenny Burrell’s 1963 collaboration with organist Jimmy Smith, “Blue Bash!” The fourth, “The Haunted Melody,” originally was on saxophonist Roland Kirk’s 1961 LP “We Free Kings.”
What’s interesting is the way the multisourced material, spanning several decades, generations and genres, hangs together so well. It goes to show that deep within classic Yes epics such as “Starship Trooper,” the spirit of Burrell, Wes Montgomery and Tal Farlow is jamming away.
Tracks
1. Kenny’s Sound
2. Mood For A Day
3. The Haunted Melody
4. Siberian Khatru
5. Blue Bash
6. Momenta
7. Laughing With Larry
8. Travelin’
9. Dream River
10. Close To The Edge
11. Sweet Thunder
Total time: 57:41
External links
artist’s website
amazon.com
iTunes Store
