Apr 14, 2019

Sundaze 1915

Hello, the 1000th Grand Prix this weekend in Shanghai, and it sees the teams nicely side by side in their team colours. Bottas seems to have found his mojo as he's on pole, the Ferrari's little disappointing on 3 and 4, Max Verstappen was hindered to start his final qualification lap by his enemies at Renault who start behind the red bulls 7 and 8. I expect some crashes in the race.



Today's artists is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he co-founded in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across three tenures between 1968 and 2008. He is also noted for his solo career, releasing 13 solo albums and collaborations with other artists, including Vangelis as Jon and Vangelis, Roine Stolt as Anderson/Stolt, and Jean-Luc Ponty as AndersonPonty Band. He has also appeared on albums by King Crimson, Tangerine Dream, Iron Butterfly and Mike Oldfield. He became an American citizen in 2009. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Yes.  ...  ......N-Joy

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 Born John Roy Anderson on October 25, 1944, in Lancashire, England, Jon Anderson would grow up to become one of the most recognizable voices in progressive rock. He began his musical career by joining his brother Tony's group the Warriors. Eventually, that band relocated from England to Germany, but Tony had left the group by then. So, the only Anderson still in the band by 1965 when they cut their first single was Jon (technically still John at that time). The single received a less than enthusiastic welcome and Anderson left the group in 1967, having put in five years with them. His next move was to the group the Party, but that one was quite short-lived. By 1968, Anderson had returned to England and recorded two singles under the moniker Hans Christian Anderson. Those received responses similar to what the Warriors' single had. Anderson found his way into the group Gun, but only stayed there for a couple of months.

The year was 1968 and musical history was about to be made with an introduction in a London club. Jon Anderson was introduced to Chris Squire, and finding a kindred spirit in music, he began showing up at gigs of Squire's band Mabel Greer's Toy Shop, whose guitarist at the time was Peter Banks. Anderson started getting up and singing with the group from time to time, eventually becoming their vocalist. However, Banks had left by the time Anderson was inducted. More pieces gradually began to fall into the mix as various musicians were brought into the Toy Shop fold. First Bill Bruford, then Tony Kaye. By the time Peter Banks returned, the band had decided to change their name to Yes. They released their first two albums in 1969 and 1970, and both received good critical response, but didn't gain a large commercial or radio presence. By the time that they recorded 1970's The Yes Album, the band had replaced Peter Banks with Steve Howe and the combination, along with a stroke of luck at a U.S. radio station, proved the charm that started their commercial career. Interestingly, Anderson found the time for side projects even amidst recording and touring with Yes. In fact, he would show up on two albums in the first two years of the decade. The first was King Crimson's Lizard and the other was Johnny Harris' All to Bring You Morning. The next Yes album, 1972's Fragile, would feature both the debut of new keyboardist Rick Wakeman and the single "Roundabout." The combination propelled the group and Anderson well into the spotlight. For the next couple of years, Yes occupied the majority of Anderson's time. With the recording of three more studio albums before 1974 and steady touring, he would have little time for much else. However, after the tour for Relayer, things began to settle down a bit. Anderson managed to work with Vangelis Papathanassiou, who had been Yes' first choice for Rick Wakeman's replacement. Although immigration issues forced the band to go with Patrick Moraz instead, Anderson added vocals to the keyboardist's Heaven and Hell album released in 1975. It would definitely not be the last time they would work together.

1976 saw the entire band taking time to record solo albums. Anderson's outing, Olias of Sunhillow, was an ambitious creation. It was an album-long concept piece with nearly all the writing and performances being undertaken by the singer himself. He also added vocals to Yes drummer Alan White's Ramshackled album. The break seemed to revitalize the band and their next release, Going for the One, featuring the return of Rick Wakeman, was a very strong album and ushered the band into 1977 with style. Anderson's role in the group was close to coming to an end for a time, though. He stuck with them through the next album and couple of tours, but when they began recording for the follow up to Tormato, the dreaded "musical differences" cropped up and Anderson left. He definitely did not become idle, though. Indeed, the next couple of years proved very fertile for him. He released his second solo album, Song of Seven, in 1980. That same year, he collaborated again with Papathanassiou. This time they recorded an entire album together and released it under the moniker Jon & Vangelis. The album was called Short Stories, and they enjoyed that work so much that before the end of 1981, they released two more albums together. 1981 also saw Anderson appearing on Rick Wakeman's 1984 album. His next solo release was 1982's Animation, a show he took on the road.

1983 would be another turning point for Anderson. He worked on Mike Oldfield's Crises album, but that would not be the decisive factor in his career. By that time, Yes had been broken up for almost three years. Chris Squire and Alan White were working with a young guitarist named Trevor Rabin on a project called Cinema. Tony Kaye had also been enlisted for the project. Producer and one-time Anderson Yes replacement Trevor Horn suggested that Anderson should add some vocals to the project. Upon agreeing. Anderson remarked that with his voice on the songs it would be Yes. The group agreed and the name Cinema was dropped in favor of Yes. The resulting album, 90125, propelled by the hit single "Owner of a Lonely Heart," saw the band receive more success than they had ever previously attained. A tour ensued, but then the band had some quiet time. Anderson took the opportunity to record another solo album, this time a collection of holiday songs, entitled Three Ships. He also managed to work on a few other projects including movie soundtracks with John Paul Jones and Tangerine Dream. The next Yes album and tour in 1987 saw those musical differences once again appearing and Anderson again left Yes.

In the time following his second departure from the group, he released another solo album, this one a rather poppy collection entitled In the City of Angels. He also guested on Toto's release The Seventh One. By that time, he had begun talking with several Yes alumni about working together again. The group of them, Anderson, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford were joined by Tony Levin and completed an album. The only problem was deciding what to call the group. They had wanted to name it Yes, but Chris Squire proved ownership of that name and was not going to let them use it. So, they chose to forego cleverness and work with their last names. Thus their album was a self-titled one called Anderson- Bruford-Wakeman-Howe. The group toured fairly extensively for the release, but Anderson still wound up finding the time to contribute vocals to Jonathan Elias' Requiem for the Americas album. Another odd turn of events was looming on the horizon, though. As Anderson-Bruford-Wakeman-Howe were working on their second release, Yes was in the process of recording their next album. Lines of communication were once again opened and both projects were combined into one Yes album, dubbed Union. The group toured for the album to both filled stadiums and rave reviews. Anderson still found time to get together with Papathanassiou again and release the next Jon & Vangelis album, Page of Life, in 1991. The following year, he worked on Kitaro's album Dream. Among other projects, Anderson would do another album with Papathanassiou (Chronicles) and two solo albums (Deseo and Change We Must) before the 1994 release of the next Yes album, Talk. The lineup on that disc was back to a five-piece, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, and Bill Bruford having gone their separate ways.

The next couple of years were quiet ones for Yes, but not for Anderson. He made guest appearances on a few projects and released two new solo albums. And big things were once again on the horizon for Yes. It was announced in late 1995 that Trevor Rabin and Tony Kaye were no longer part of the group. They were replaced by alums Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman. A classic Yes lineup and incredible fan enthusiasm surrounded both the band and Anderson. The group did three shows in San Luis Obispo in March of 1996. The shows were recorded and released along with new studio material as the two Keys to Ascension albums. 1997 saw quite a bit more activity from Anderson. He released two solo albums, the Celtic The Promise Ring and EarthMotherEarth. Yes also released an album featuring his vocals. The disc was called Open Your Eyes and in true Yes tradition of revolving door membership, it did not feature Rick Wakeman, who had already left. Anderson went along with the group on a tour of small intimate theaters that fall. In 1998, he released his next solo album, The More You Know. That same year saw several releases featuring his vocal talents. Among them was 4Him's album Streams, Yes' The Ladder, and Steve Howe's Portraits of Bob Dylan. Touring and working on the Yes album Magnification have kept Anderson pretty busy, but he found time to appear on Béla Fleck & the Flecktones' 2000 release Outbound.

Anderson toured off and on with Yes until 2008 when he left due to health concerns. He re-emerged in 2011 with the solo album Survival and Other Stories and The Living Tree in collaboration with Wakeman. In 2012, he began collaborating with violinist Jean Luc Ponty, resulting in the Anderson Ponty Band's Better Late Than Never, comprised mostly of new readings of Yes material. A year earlier, at the instigation of InsideOut Music label boss Thomas Waber, Anderson began working with Flower Kings /Transatlantic guitarist Roine Stolt. They were asked to consider recording a series of suite-like tunes that would echo what Yes accomplished on Tales from Topographic Oceans and Anderson's own Olias of Sunhillow, albeit with a modern prog bent. After trading ideas back and forth on the internet for months, live sessions were initiated in March of 2015 with a full band and backing vocalists. Invention of Knowledge, billed to Anderson/Stolt, consisted of four long tracks. It was released by Inside/Out in June of 2016.



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Inspired by the artwork of Roger Dean and the writings of Ver Stanley Alder, Jon Anderson developed an entire story around the idea of an interstellar exodus from Sunhillow, writing this album around the narrative (named for the spaceship's architect, Olias). The idea may seem overly ambitious, but Anderson fills the record with enough magical moments to delight fans of Yes' mystic side. The music is written and performed almost entirely by Anderson, who dubs vocals, plays guitar and harp, and adds percussion and the occasional synthesizer to flesh out his ideas so that at no point does the music lose its spellbinding effect for lack of sonic detail. Olias of Sunhillow is faithful to the spirit of Yes, though decidedly more airy than that band's visceral style -- its closest comparison would be Fragile's "We Have Heaven" or Going for the One's "Wonderous Stories" (which was clearly influenced by this record) on the vocal tracks, and Greek progressive electronic composer (and future Anderson collaborator) Vangelis on the instrumental tracks. Although the album is effective in its entirety, "Sound Out the Galleon," "Olias (To Build the Moorglade)," and "Solid Space" are some of the more memorable excerpts. The arrangements incorporate elements of the four tribes of Sunhillow, the most noticeable being Oriental elements that prefigure Vangelis' own China (especially on the opening "Ocean Song"). While there are several songs that could have easily fit in Yes' own catalog, and the lyrics continue to mine the mystical musings that Yes fans had come to enjoy, Olias of Sunhillow is not the missing Yes album some might hope it to be, though it does prefigure the later Jon & Vangelis collaborations of the '80s. If possible, pick up the LP version of this release, since the packaging is stunning and features terrific artwork by Dave Roe.



Jon Anderson - Olias Of Sunhillow ( 242mb)

01 Ocean Song 3:04
02 Meeting (Garden Of Geda) / Sound Out The Galleon 3:34
03 Dance Of Ranyart / Olias (To Build The Moorglade) 4:19
04 Qoquaq Ën Transic / Naon / Transic Tö 7:08
05 Flight Of The Moorglade 3:24
06 Solid Space 5:20
07 Moon Ra / Chords / Song Of Search 12:48
08 To The Runner 4:29

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Jon Anderson's first project following his departure from Yes was to reunite with the equally airy Vangelis for a collaborative effort as Jon and Vangelis. Short Stories actually marks their second collaboration -- the first took place on Vangelis' 1975 album, Heaven and Hell, with the track "So Long Ago, So Clear." The pair returns to that song's successful formula of combining Anderson's otherworldly voice with Vangelis' pithy melodies in a few spots on their debut together, notably for the popular single "I Hear You Now" (which recalls Vangelis' "To the Unknown Man") and the middle section of "Far Away in Bagaad." Otherwise, Short Stories favors amorphous arrangements that feature wisps of melody and little more (a style that has its precedent on Yes' Tormato rather than their own solo work to date). The effect can be, frankly, underwhelming -- "Curious Electric" and "Each and Everyday," for example, seem content to settle for the happy accidents of collaboration rather than fusing their individual sounds into a cohesive whole. Despite a handful of nearly memorable moments, including the playful "Thunder" and the charming "Love Is/One More Time," the pair would have had more success sticking to their established idioms -- after all, China and Olias of Sunhillow were good albums -- rather than trying to meet in some equidistant, ethereal plane. Given the record's paper-thin arrangements, an appreciation for the music of Vangelis and Jon Anderson is no guarantee that Short Stories will please.



Jon n Vangelis ‎– Short Stories (flac  226mb)

01 Curious Electric 6:34
02 Each And Everyday 3:41
03 Bird Song 1:22
04 I Hear You Now 5:09
05 The Road 4:29
06 Far Away In Baagad 2:49
07 Love Is 5:09
08 One More Time 6:12
09 Thunder 2:10
10 A Play Within A Play 7:01

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Jon Anderson records naturally sound like Yes records, and not only because of his high, frequently double-tracked tenor. Anderson, who wrote, arranged, and produced Song of Seven, his second solo album, fills his overstuffed arrangements with dense keyboard textures and sparkling acoustic guitar strumming, just like the music of his band. For parts of this album, he evokes touches of early rock & roll and seems to be singing of romance, but by late in the second side, amid sound effects of birds and children, his keening vocals, in melodies seemingly borrowed from Anglican hymnals, are going on about the strength of dreams and stairways of love. Restraint is not one of Anderson's characteristics.



Jon Anderson - Song of Seven ( 243mb)

01 For You For Me 4:24
02 Some Are Born 4:02
03 Don't Forget (Nostalgia) 2:57
04 Heart Of The Matter 4:18
05 Hear It 1:48
06 Everybody Loves You 4:01
07 Take Your Time 3:12
08 Days 3:24
09 Song Of Seven 11:07

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Jon & Vangelis' first two albums really seemed to be building up to this point. With Private Collection, the two artists (Jon Anderson of Yes fame and Vangelis) have created what feels just a bit like a classical work. Truly the nearly 23-minute "Horizon" really feels a lot like a modern symphony. It is definitely the culmination of their work together, their most ambitious effort. The shorter cuts on the album all have their moments and surely hold up to anything from the previous releases, but "Horizon" stands far above them all. It combines the best elements of Anderson's work in Yes with the electronically classically tinged stylings of Vangelis to produce a work that is near masterpiece in its quality. It is a life-affirming, positive piece. Among the other highlights of the disc are "Deborah" and "He Is Sailing." If you only buy one Jon & Vangelis album, choose the best-of collection. However, if you opt for a second disc, this is the one.



Jon n Vangelis - Private Collection ( 264mb)

01 Italian Song 2:52
02 And When The Night Comes 4:34
03 Deborah 4:53
04 Polonaise 5:23
05 He Is Sailing 6:46
06 Horizon 22:51

Jon and Vangelis - Private Collection (ogg  101mb)

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In 1988, Jon Anderson quit Yes for the second time and released his first regular solo album in six years, In the City of Angels. Stewart Levine, known for work with artists such as Simply Red and Boz Scaggs, was brought in to produce; Anderson worked with a team of L.A. session stars and wrote a couple of songs with ex-Motown ace Lamont Dozier. All of this seemed to portend a more commercial-sounding, straight-ahead pop effort from the usually ethereal Anderson. The result is about half and half: when writing with Dozier, Anderson expresses conventional romantic sentiments, for which he doesn't really have a feel. His tenor is so chaste and angelic, it's hard for him to be believable on earthly love songs. And soon enough, especially on later tracks, Anderson is once again in spiritual outer space, where he seems most comfortable. The compromise, however, did not appeal to fans, who avoided this album.



Jon Anderson - In The City Of Angels ( 328mb)

01 Hold On To Love 4:47
02 If It Wasn't For Love (Oneness Family) 4:25
03 Sundancing (For The Hopi / Navajo Energy) 3:17
04 Is It Me 4:24
05 In A Lifetime 4:15
06 For You 2:57
07 New Civilization 4:32
08 It's On Fire 4:10
09 Betcha 4:00
10 Top Of The World (The Glass Bead Game) 5:25
11 Hurry Home (Song From The Pleiades) 5:03

Jon Anderson - In The City Of Angels (ogg  115mb)

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