The phrase “late-career renaissance” is an overused one, but it’s hard to think of anything better to describe the recent upswing in the fortunes of Jon Anderson. Following a well-publicised brush with severe illness in 2008, which resulted in him parting ways with the band that had dominated his life for 40 years, and the subsequent rebuilding of both his life and his career, he then had to deal with the pandemic and the inevitable consequences that brought to a man in fragile health. However, at the age of 79, Anderson has very much found his mojo in the last few years, thanks to an unlikely source of inspiration.
“During Covid, I couldn’t go out much because, after my illness, I’d be first to go if I caught it,” he explains to Prog, from his instrument-strewn studio in California. “So I thought I’d just upgrade my studio a little bit and try and learn all these instruments that I’ve got because I’ve got them everywhere. At the same time, somebody sent me a video of this guy, who is a phenomenon in the music world, from north London called Jacob Collier. I just thought, ‘Oh, my God, this is the guy.’ I’ve been waiting for somebody to come along and wake me up, and here he was. I’m just fascinated by how brilliant he is. And he’s already done quite an extraordinary amount of work. He’s on tour all the time, and audiences adore him, and I just felt that, well, if he can do it, I can do it.”
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة Issue 153 من Prog.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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JAKKO M JAKSZYK
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Fourth Dimension
The stock of melodic Northumberland-based proggers Stuckfish has been rising since they formed six years ago. Their fourth studio album, Stuckfish IV, represents an important watershed in the band's musical evolution. Co-founders Adrian Fisher and Phil Stuckey tell Prog about the diverse influences that have helped to shape it.
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We've Not Been Expecting You
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FAR HORIZONS AND PANORAMIC AMBITIONS
Dutch five-piece Lesoir have been steadily gathering momentum over the last 15 years, and they hope to build on that with their latest release, Push Back The Horizon. Vocalist/ instrumentalist Maartje Meessen and guitarist Ingo Dassen discuss the creation of their sixth album, working with Muse's production team, and their dream of bringing their intricate music to new audiences.
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Tony Banks reflects on his role as a 21st-century classical composer.
There Can Be Only One!
Never meet your heroes, or so the saying goes, but Opeth have had a blast working with Ian Anderson on their latest, The Last Will And Testament. Bandleader Mikael Åkerfeldt and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson discuss the band's proggiest album to date, the return of the growl and why blood isn't always thicker than water.
