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Thread: Any love for Shadowfax?? Thoughts and opinions appreciated.....?

  1. #1
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    Any love for Shadowfax?? Thoughts and opinions appreciated.....?

    Was listening to Watercourse Way yesterday. It was the first time in years (20 or more!) and I was totally digging it again and was asking myself why did I shelve these guys long ago? Maybe I was younger and in a different mind set at the time, I don't know. No matter the reason I will be getting back into this band. From Chicago if I remember correctly, with the first recording coming out in '76 I believe. I love 'Song for my brother' and that whole recording. Any insight to the bands former members and any projects and music which I should have and be aware of??
    Thanks for any input.......

    Dave

  2. #2
    I dug them back-in-the-day. Saw them LIVE at Club Bene in Sayerville NJ in the mid '80's. Great stuff.

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    ^^^ Never saw them live, wish I would have. I guess I lost interest in them because I was young and did not really appreciate music like I do now. I find a lot of my early tastes in music were either really great or hit and miss. Wondering what if anything they are up to now or any solo projects worth noting.??

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    Member interbellum's Avatar
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    For a very long time I only had the original "Watercourse Way" from 1976 on LP.
    When I heard the Winham Hill-version when it came out I lost interest in the band for a very long time.
    Then I discovered Joy Greenberg's "A Pause In The Rain : A Memoir OF Chuck Greenberg And The Music Pioneers Shadowfax".
    After reading that book I decided to collect all their albums and I must say that I really like the other recordings as well for most parts.
    Although the music never became the progressive jazz-rock as on "Watercourse Way" the band played some fine world-fusion.
    There's a not-so-official live recording from the old days ("Live In Concert : Chicago 1978", Tachika Records), while the late Chuck Greenberg also release a fine solo-album, "From A Blue Planet".
    There's also a video with a live-recording, but that one's not on DVD.

    http://www.chuckgreenberg.com/cgbio.html

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    Seen them twice. Met them twice. Hung out after the shows twice and got them to sign my original Watercourse Way lp which they were excited to see I brought with me. I have 2 lps and the cd of WW. I also bought that Live 2-disc from Syn-Phonic and neither G.E. Stinson nor Phil Maginni give a rat's ass that fans get it because they are just happy to know somebody enjoys that very weird and intense music. It is the wildest they ever get in prog-fusion and if you are a fan you need to own it. I also own the vhs live tape without G.E. Stinson and it's not bad. I bought everything they did on cd and quit with Magic Theater iirc,that may be the title. After that they just fizzled out for me.

  6. #6
    I like the debut, but couldn't really get into the "new age fusion" stuff that followed. Solid musicians, of course.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  7. #7
    I tried to get into them after being impressed by Charlie Bisharat in Kitaro's band at the Royal Albert Hall but they never did it for me. I just found them a tad dull I couldn't even tell you which albums I bought. Not that it was bad but it veered to close to muzak for my taste.

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    Member WytchCrypt's Avatar
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    Love Watercourse Way...when playing in my 1st really good prog band in '78, we held up that album as the ideal we wanted to achieve. Kinda strange though, the CD re-release is missing the best part of the crazy synth solo at the beginning of "Linear Dance", like it was done on the fly and never made it onto the master tape or something. I also liked the newage stuff they later did for Wyndham Hill though it was much more pleasant background music than the grab you by your neck style of Watercourse
    Check out my solo project prog band, Mutiny in Jonestown at https://mutinyinjonestown.bandcamp.com/

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    Watercourse Way is a classic, and I personally love the first two on Windham Hill as well, in particular Shadowdance. New Electric India, Brown Rice, great tunes... After that they got kind of hit and miss, for every good track there is a cutesy "world music" piece that goes nowhere.

    But still, "new age" or not, the first three albums are classics!

  10. #10
    These were very tough years for anyone who grew up with Yes and the early Prog scene. Shadowfax, RTF. and then the GRP groups were really the only game in town for awhile. I've come a long way in appreiciating some of the " new wave bands" now, but..... this was a very tough time for me music wise.

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    That first album was great.
    The Windham Hill stuff - not so much. Except to fall asleep to.
    The Prog Corner

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    Was a big fan back in the day. I discovered them in the early 80's after hearing a cut off of the original Watercourse Way on the radio while driving home late one night. I probably saw them 7 or 8 times from 1982-1990. I agree with arturs that their first 3 albums were the best, but I've always had a soft spot for The Dreams Of Children. I've got about a half dozen live recordings ('78-'88) including the 1978 show at Wise Fools Pub in Chicago, back when they were more akin to Mahavishnu influenced fusion that the quiet, more pastoral recordings that they released on Windham Hill. They surprised many at their live shows as the played a bit more intensity than their studio albums. I saw them one last time in '92 or '93 without Stinson or a violinist and thought the music was more in the smooth jazz vein. R.I.P. Chuck Greenberg.

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    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by interbellum View Post
    Chuck Greenberg also release a fine solo-album, "From A Blue Planet".
    I like that album... but I can also appreciate their smoother style after WW. Some of those Windham albums actually contain edgier pieces within
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor View Post
    I like the debut, but couldn't really get into the "new age fusion" stuff that followed. Solid musicians, of course.
    Exactly. To me as well, only "Watercourse Way" is a must own. The rest proved very "new agey" for my liking.
    Macht das ohr auf!

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    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    Yeah, 'Watercourse Way' is the only one I own. I checked out a couple of their Windham Hill albums in the mid-80s, and they weren't my thing.

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    Not my cup of tea, as what I have heard is generic new age music.

  17. #17
    I saw G.E. Stinson at the Empty Bottle in Chicago around 1999. I don't remember much about the music (it was in the avant garde/fusion direction) but I remember him mentioning he was happy to be doing adventurous music again.

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    Yes I have to agree with most here that Watercourse Way is their best offering. I had not heard it in sooo long that it kind of blew me away thinking why I forgot about these guys. Also agree that the Windham Hill period is sub par after WCW, as I was listening to some of that stuff later yesterday!!

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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    I only have Shadowdance and Dreams of Children, but I recall listening to Watercourse Way once and thinking that these guys had to have listened to a lot of Oregon.

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    Member interbellum's Avatar
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    If you like Happy The Man/Kit Watkins you also might enjoy Shadowfax' "The Odd Get Even", released in 1990 on Private Music.

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    Member interbellum's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by whatwherewhywhen View Post
    I tried to get into them after being impressed by Charlie Bisharat in Kitaro's band at the Royal Albert Hall but they never did it for me. I just found them a tad dull I couldn't even tell you which albums I bought. Not that it was bad but it veered to close to muzak for my taste.
    Charlie Bisharat's "Along The Amazon" is quite good. It features Shadowfax' Chuck Greenberg, while Jon Anderson sings in the title-track.

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    Quote Originally Posted by interbellum View Post
    If you like Happy The Man/Kit Watkins you also might enjoy Shadowfax' "The Odd Get Even", released in 1990 on Private Music.
    Interesting connection. I love both Shadowfax (I think I have all of their CDs) and HtM but never made a clear connection in my mind. I did see Shadowfax in Tucson in perhaps 1986 or 7. I think that was the show that Barbara Higbie opened for them. Excellent.

    (That darn "New Age" category caused so much fine music to be overlooked.)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave (in MA) View Post
    I only have Shadowdance and Dreams of Children, but I recall listening to Watercourse Way once and thinking that these guys had to have listened to a lot of Oregon.
    Good point. Of course, lots of artists on the ECM label had a somewhat similar approach.

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    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gizmotron View Post
    Good point. Of course, lots of artists on the ECM label had a somewhat similar approach.
    It sounded like the Vanguard-era Oregon to me, not the ECM-era Oregon, which makes sense since it predated the latter.

  25. #25
    Member Gizmotron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave (in MA) View Post
    It sounded like the Vanguard-era Oregon to me, not the ECM-era Oregon, which makes sense since it predated the latter.
    Yes, I agree, those earlier albums are the ones I was thinking of (it has been awhile since I looked over my vinyl so I was thinking ECM).

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