Andrew Rubin and Jon Anderson, Guitar Concerto

[andrewrubinmusic]

Henry's website, http://www.bondegezou.co.uk/wh_now.htm, has more details, but yes, he's had a few that he's talked about over the years that he's never quite been able to follow through on. Specifically, he's talked about Zamran, the sequel to Olias of Sunhillow; an orchestral Tales from Topographic Oceans, etc.

His collaboration with Jean-Luc Ponty wasn't exactly smooth in its execution. And ARW has been talked about for a few years now, so it was great to see that finally happen.

I see. I happened to see an Anderson-Ponty concert down in LA, and of course the musicianship and show itself was fantastic. Are you referring to the Kickstarter campaign or ?

[bondegezou]

Indeed, Scott. Interesting to hear you say "finally seeing projects to fruition" - have there been talk of other collaborations and projects I haven't been aware of? I've only heard of ARW and Anderson-Stolt projects.

Anderson is prolific in ideas, but there seem to be quite a few projects that haven't sprouted yet. As well as Zamran that Scott mentioned (which he began at least as early as 2001, possibly now expected in 2017), there's a half-finished album with Jonathan Elias, Jimmy Haun and Michael Sherwood from 2013; there was to be some sort of follow-up to Survival & Other Stories, possibly including a piece "Ever" as a follow-up to "Open" (mentioned back in 2011; most recent mention to "Ever" was last year); and there's been some sort of solo piano album in the works for a while (as per various comments from 2004-14, although unclear if they all relate to the same thing). He's talked for some years about a rap opera (various comments 2003-11), an opera about the Clintons (first mention I saw was in 2008, but he's talked about it more this year, before the election result), and some sort of project involving Chinese music (various reports from 2006-13, but again unclear if they all relate to the same thing). There are some more recent projects that seem active (a violin concerto, an album of North African music etc.). He's also talked of releasing or finishing off earlier work: Chagall, First Born (both written around 1980), Uzlot (from around 1990/1) and more for The Lost Tapes box set. There are others, but I think those are the main ones!

I expect some of these will eventually appear, others have probably been abandoned, and yet others might have transmuted into something else (I wonder if some of what was once called Piano Works made its way into Invention of Knowledge). Anderson himself has talked about the challenge of finishing projects, of having so many unfinished ideas. Several years of bad health before but particularly in and after 2008 obviously slowed him down. I think his tendency to wax lyrical about possible projects at an early stage also makes the problem seem larger than it is. Someone like, say, Steve Howe has several projects on the go, often taking many years to come to fruition, but he doesn't talk about them in interviews! Whatever, this year and last he appears to have found better ways of getting his ideas out to a mass audience, which seems to be about working with the right people with the right backing.

I happened to see an Anderson-Ponty concert down in LA, and of course the musicianship and show itself was fantastic. Are you referring to the Kickstarter campaign or ?

There was that, but the turnover of guitarists was also commented on: Lewis, Dunlap, then Glaser.

Henry

[rickm]

Andrew,
could you tell us a little about how was your experience working with Jon?
How both of you approached this concerto work? You are very a skillful guitar player and Jon is a very good singer but we know the guitar is not his main instrument but his voice.
It will be great to know more about how this work was created.

Thanks in advance and congratulations for this concerto. Very nice!

[andrewrubinmusic]

Andrew,
could you tell us a little about how was your experience working with Jon?
How both of you approached this concerto work? You are very a skillful guitar player and Jon is a very good singer but we know the guitar is not his main instrument but his voice.
It will be great to know more about how this work was created.

Thanks in advance and congratulations for this concerto. Very nice!

Thanks Henry for the info.

And thank you for the kind words, Rick -
Working with Jon was a fantastic experience. The piece started when we sat in his home studio and he showed me Rodrigo's "Concierto De Aranjuez." Then he turned to me and said "now you've got to write your guitar concerto!"

He may not have the technical facility to play fast lead guitar or classical technique, etc, but he understands how it works. He can compose in that style through playing chords, singing melodies, and making a lot of suggestions (i.e. "change keys here. Play a solo and then go up a fifth". or orchestrally, "Maybe add some flutes here, and pizzicato strings." and so on)

Jon writes very in-the-moment. He has said many times that he believes an artist's most candid (and best) work is usually in the first take or two. So he creates by improvising most of the time, just singing a line, or jamming on guitar and recording it, and then going back and refining it. He said that's exactly how he used to write with Steve Howe; and that's how the bulk of Guitar Concerto was written.