In the Arts section of today's Boston Globe, there was a VERY positive write up about Yes and their "Boston based" keyboard player, Igor. Here is the link:
Boston Globe Online / Living | Arts / Happy to be a Yes man
Here is the article:
Happy to be a Yes man
Russian keyboardist joins group in this decade's effort
By Paul Robicheau, Globe Correspondent, 12/11/99
When Igor Khoroshev was growing up in Moscow, he bought an album on the black market called "Relayer," one of the more experimental, long-form efforts from a British band named Yes.
"I almost quit music - I came that close," says the Russian keyboardist, 34, who nonetheless continued to pursue both music and painting. "I just thought `What a mind-blowing band.'"
Khoroshev immigrated to the United States in 1991, living in Providence and then Boston, where he played in bands with ex-Cars member Ben Orr and Charlie Farren - until he got an unusual break. He appears at the Orpheum Theatre tonight as the keyboardist for Yes, playing progressive-rock classics he admired as a youth.
"I was a Yes fan all my life," says Khoroshev, who lives in Sandwich with his wife, Randie, and infant son. "I never evaluated the music as far as learning anything on keyboards, or thinking `Maybe someday I'll play it.' But I always kept it in my heart."
Khoroshev has more of his heart invested these days, not only touring with Yes for the second time, but helping to write and record the band's new CD "The Ladder." It's the best effort of the decade for the 30-year-old band, with concise, propulsive musicianship and harmonies that balance singer Jon Anderson's idealistic lyrics in the rich production of Bruce Fairbairn (Aerosmith).
"It's very fresh Yes," Khoroshev says. "I like the fact that Yes is still being questioned as far as category, whether this is pop or rock, progressive or classic or symphonic rock."
Can the group buck public perceptions of Yes solely being a "classic rock" band, a dinosaur from the pretentious '70s?
"We did it once before," says Chris Squire, the group's bassist and cofounder. "Everyone thought that Yes's heyday was the '70s, and then we came back in the '80s with `90125' and scored a No. 1 single as well from that [with `Owner of a Lonely Heart']. So we have a reputation of being able to do it, and 'The Ladder' is our '90s effort."
"The Ladder" comes at the end of a rocky decade for Yes. It began with a big-band album and tour that reunited most past members, led to another project with guitarist Trevor Rabin (who sparked the group's '80s resurgence), and culminated in a regrouping of '70s principals Anderson, Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, and keyboardist Rick Wakeman, plus second guitarist Billy Sherwood. That's the lineup now - except for Wakeman, who
returned to his solo career.
That's when fortune smiled on Khoroshev. He had given a tape of his piano works to a computer programmer who knew Anderson and passed it along. "Jon listened to it three months later, and wanted to do a solo album with me, and gave me a call," Khoroshev says. "Then he called two weeks later, and said, `Listen, we don't have a keyboard player for Yes. Rick is not going to be able to make it. Please come and play with us.'"
When Khoroshev asked what he should learn for the subsequent audition, Anderson casually suggested "The Revealing Science of God," one of the group's 20-minute suites from the mid-'70s.
"I showed up and played `Revealing Science of God' on one keyboard, and [Anderson] said, `Wakeman needs 12 keyboards to do it. You only need one. You've got the gig.'"
Khoroshev now brings a modern flavor to new songs like "Face To Face," with its digital programming, while staying faithful to old favorites. "Doing the songs that were written so well, it's like playing in an orchestra. To me, it's classic," he says. "I try to learn everything the way it is, and work with dynamics and maybe do a little bit of improvisation to add my own style, but basically keep it just the way it is on the record, 'cause
that's the way I'd like to hear it."
That spartan audition behind him, Khoroshev has also expanded to nine keyboards onstage and uses all of them on "Awaken," another multilayered '70s epic, featured on this tour. "I have so many keyboards now, it makes me sick," jokes Khoroshev, who was classically trained as a composer, directed an orchestra in Moscow, and remembers when he owned only one keyboard.
"When I came here, I only had 300 bucks," he says. "All my luggage disappeared and I didn't know one word in English, so I had to survive. I bought my first keyboard, and got in my first band and got kicked out of it. A regional band, and I was trying to tell everybody what to do. They didn't appreciate it much."
Things are working much better with Yes, even if Khoroshev hasn't quite secured full-member status. "Maybe later on," says Squire, 51. "We're like a firm of lawyers around here. You've got to work a few cases before you become a partner." (I wonder whether this is "current status", or if this part dates back to an earlier interview? The Guitar World article says Igor IS a full-member, whatever that means)
"One of the beauties of Yes is when you have people coming in and out, it brings in fresh ideas and we make little course adjustments," he says. "It becomes a slightly twisted new version of Yes again, and that helps our longevity."
In turn, Khoroshev feels secure with his role. "Being part of the writing team, and making this record with Bruce, and just being together for six months, brought the whole band together," he says - though the band was shaken when Fairbairn had a fatal heart attack during the mixing. "Not only do I feel closer, but I think the guys themselves feel closer to each other as well."
This story ran on page F04 of the Boston Globe on 12/11/99.
YES MEN MAKE BEACON SHOW A JAM-PACKED GIG
By DAN AQUILANTE
IN a world where hit songs are spun by teen-queen recording nymphs in three-minute doses, it seems strange that the progressive rock outfit Yes could have ever existed -- let alone still fare well in concert today. But as the band's mystically wacky singer and lyricist Jon Anderson -- dressed in modified pajamas -- declared: "For the next few nights, the Beacon Theatre is the House of Yes." And at the first of the band's three-show residency at the uptown hall, the Yes men immersed themselves in fits of bombast worthy of a band that has defined its musical genre for the last 30 years.
You don't have to like the ethereal gruel that the band serves up to admire its virtuosity. Each of the six Yes-ers -- including the band's ancient elders, Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Alan White and guitarist Steve Howe -- held up their end of the musical bargain during a two-hour show that sometimes seemed longer than it was.
Jams were the order of the night, and the boys noodled their way through lengthy extended versions of new music from their just-released "The Ladder" as well as a few of their standards, which only the devoted knew by name.
Between the second-hand hempilated smoke and songs that seemed to be part of the same never-ending story, at times the evening was less a show of musical dynamics than a battle for consciousness. Those who did nod never stayed under long, as Anderson's tenor is piercing. On albums he is able to capture the same reedy quality that Sting does, but in concert his vocals are more shrill.
That was at the root of the biggest disappointment of the evening. On "Lightning Strikes" -- the best tune from "The Ladder" -- Anderson's voice scratched along the song's slate like sharpened nails. It was a shame, because it is really a fine tune on the disc, and in concert Howe provided a wonderful acoustic-guitar introduction with a hint of flamenco flavor.
Howe, who's been ravaged by time (he looks a lot like Riff Raff in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"), had absolutely zero stage presence. Still, he made up for that with some outstanding guitar and mandolin fret work. Portly Squire -- who looked silly in knee-length clam diggers -- has always had a showman's flair, yet even he was subdued at this performance.
Anderson did all the talking for the band. He babbled about love, introduced a few songs and did a lot of double hand jive that looked like hula-dancing sign language for "a flower in bloom."
OK, so he's a flake, the band doesn't know how to end a song, and the audience seemed like out-of-time stoners, but in the last 35 minutes of the show, all was forgiven and forgotten thanks to the terrific three-pronged attack of "I've Seen All Good People," "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and the band's signature "Roundabout."
For the dilettante Yes fan those are the band's only songs, or at least the only ones that count. Yes recognizes that, and the boys worked those three for all they were worth.
The chiming pop harmonies of "Lonely Heart" and "Good People" (stylistically akin to the English madrigal) were magnificent. On these Anderson's shrill tones were tempered by his bandmates earthier ones. And the pop passion was at full charge on the inscrutable "Roundabout," in which Anderson declares: "In and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky and they stand there."
Yes is at the Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway at 74th Street, through tonight.
Show time is 8 p.m. Tickets are $45 and $65. Call (212) 496-7070.
The late Bruce Fairbarin, producer of Yes' latest release The Ladder, was honoured this week by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The organization announced that he will be inducted, posthumously, into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the 2000 Juno Awards Show, on Sunday, March 12. Here's the link to more info and a short history of Bruce's career.
http://www.juno-awards.ca/juno4/FullScreen.cfm?JunoYear=2000&JunoBeatSection=News&MediaReleaseID=49
This article was in the Weekend section of Friday's Inquirer. It was written by A. D. Amorosi, and accompanied by the picture that was used for the front cover of Goldmine last year.
"It's been about 30 years since this progressive rock progenitor came out of Birmingham, Englad. And what has Yes - revolving door owners of the lonely monicker singer Jon Anderson and bassist Chris Squire along with guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White and keyboardist Tony Kaye [! - Rhea] - added to the culture since then that no one else could? Dolman sleeves? Shows in the Round? Weirdly shaped bass guitars soloing madly? Music that matched the album cover? OK. So they invented dinosaur rock. Excess has been Yes' middle name since the success of such epic LPs as Fragile and Close to the Edge, but Yes actually started off with a lean, strange sound - best found on The Yes Album of 1971. On their new The Ladder (BMG), producer Bruce Fairbairn focuses on that sinewy sound to create mature Anglo-prog-psychedelia. Anthing that steers them away from caftans and big sleeves is fine by me."
Later on in the weekend section is an ad for the show that used the classic Yes logo.
Thanks to Rog P. I got a ticket last minute and decided to take a half day and go downtown in Philadelphia to Eighth Street Music (www.8thstreet.com) very nice folks, good prices) and meet Steve Howe.
I got there early and met some folks who traveled very far (Atlanta, Ohio, Connecticut and Virginia) Ria Frankel was there (minus Roy) . I was the first person in line. Steve got there a little late, but was in a great mood and was smiling from ear to ear as he arrived (picture to follow within a few days). The store itself was long and narrow, so Steve setup in a teaching room upstairs behind a table and in front of two murals depicting the Steve Howe Interactive CD-ROM. Ed Sciaky from Philadelphia radio fame showed up too. Igot a chance to talk to Ed about some of the many hours of audio tape of interviews over the years that Ed has. Apparently, Jon has expressed some interest in them as well. Ed has interviewed Jon and the band on every tour from 1971 onward. He has in depth interviews for both Close To The Edge and Tails From Topographic Oceans (with Jon "interpreting" the movements piece by piece) Here's hoping they can come out through King Bisquet (Ed's current employer) or through Beyond Sound.
I finally got up to see Steve and he gave me an autographed "All Access" pass (special printing with Philadelphia printed on it) and signed my LP import copy of The Ladder!I bought the CD-ROM and Steve signed the box as well. I also got a question answered that had bugged me for quite a while now. The Dead has a free form song called Dark Star that varies quite a bit from version to version, but in almost all of the early versions there is an ascending "bridge" that sounds like it was pulled note for note from Ritual. Steve was not influenced by Dark Star in the writing of Ritual. Steve thanked me for the question and said he would give it a listen.
Wow! I have a back stage pass! Where should I go now?
Well what do you do when you have an "All Access Pass" that reads "Special Appearance - Philadelphia"?
So I went to the Tower Theater. I got there around 4:30pm. I got my canvas bag with my Ladder LP and camera and went backstage. I met some nice folks backstage! One gentleman had worked there from the time the Tower had re-opened in the early seventies! He was taking a break so we sat on a wood bench and he went through a long list of notable bands that he had worked for over the years, including David Bowie, Hall & Oates, Bruce Springsteen, Genesis and others. I took my coat off and rolled up my sleeves as it was getting hot. Someone from Yes management came over and asked if we could load the confetti cannons. So I helped load confetti cannons. They are air compressed in case anyone was wondering. Now I know someone out there is thinking, "Oh, it must be Ed's fault that third cannon didn't go off." No.. it was never compressed with air because other more important issues came up like, That gell light is more pink than magenta. and we need to mount a second projector in the projector room. It was about this time that I started wondering if any of the other Howe appearance folks were going to show up. I was increasingly aware I was the only one that showed up. There also didn't seem to be any greeter. "Maybe I'm not supposed to be here." was a thought I quickly rejected and got down to the business of finding a cup of coffee.......
to be continued.
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My pictures from back stage are up now http://www.craftech.com/~edarnold/. Double click on the numbered files first to see which pictures you want to download.
I went to the signing.
I must say, 8th Street Music is one of the strangest looking stores I've ever been in. For one thing, it's not on or near 8th Street. We were allowed to wait inside, which was a good thing because it was miserable, cold and raining outside. It was a long, narrow store. We had to stand single file, or else, people couldn't pass us. The line started by the front, and grew towards the back of the store. But even though there was a pretty decent turnout, I don't think the line ever doubled back or even reached the back of the store.
We were told that Steve would only be signing copies of the CD Rom or the laminated pass. Someone forgot to tell Steve that, because he signed everything we put in front of him. ;-) The employee also told us that Steve would not be shaking hands, so we shouldn't try.
I ended up waiting in line behind a guy I met at a 1994 Jon Anderson record signing. He remembered me, and we spent some time reminiscing about that day.
Steve arrived about 10 or 15 minutes late, and the signing began. I want to let all of Southside know that I saw Steve smiling and even laughing. The guy in front of me asked Steve "So when is Yes going to become a five piece again!?" which made Steve LOL. I don't think Steve mentioned Billy by name, but he said everyone was getting more comfortable with the arrangements. I took that as a good sign.
I told Steve that since that night was the last Yes show of the century, it would be so cool if they would do Turn of the Century. Steve gave me a long answer, and I was in too much of a "Steve Howe is talking to me!" mood to remember every word he said. He said that the rest of the band didn't like to mix things up to much, to his regret. He even went through the rundown of changes in the setlist, from dropping New Language and Nine Voices and his solo in the beginning of the tour, and said that once the band (I took that to mean the rest of the band) gets comfortable with the setlist, they like to stick with it. I said even if he could do it as a solo, or just with Jon, we'd all really appreciate it.
Just to let you know...
One of the two Yes vocalists will have a radio documentary/biography broadcast this Saturday. It's on BBC Radio 2 at 7p.m. and is called Video Killed The Radio Star - The Trevor Horn Story.
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From: Tizwin Hay [tizwin@progress.freeserve.co.uk] - Dec. 18
Trevor Horn is to be the subject of a 1-hour documentary on BBC Radio 2. This UK-based network, in addition to broadcasting across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, now is also available world-wide via the 'net at http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/radio2/front.p
Titled "Video Didn't Kill The Radio Star", the documentary broadcasts this Saturday (18th December) 7.03-8.00 GMT. SoS readers' reactions will be welcome via email to me, anytime afterwards ~ including evaluating the level of coverage for Trevor's Yes membership, production of the band's U.S. Number 1 hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart" + a couple of their albums. You may even be inspired to propose questions for a future interview in our paper-based "Progress" magazine!
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From: Roy DeRousse [relayer@iname.com] - Dec. 19
I found this on the ZTT mailing list:
===
From: Phil Stubbs [phil@dreams.u-net.com]
In a documentary on Trevor Horn broadcast last night (UK), Trevor revealed that there would be Art of Noise live dates in the UK in 2000. Also, The Art of Noise has been selected as the music to accompany the River Thames pyrotechnics at the stroke of midnight ushering in the the Millennium. It was not made clear whether they had been commisioned to do new stuff, but it will be broadcast on the radio around London at the start of 1 Jan 2000.
The documentary featured interviews with Horn, Kevin Godley, Paul Morley, Martin Fry, Geoff Downes, Jim Kerr and Brian Nash.
Horn was also featured on a documentary charting the history of the pop video on UK tv last Saturday night. He recounted a hilarious story of how FGTH's Relax video was sent to him for his first viewing while he was in the studio with Foreigner. Apparently Foreigner were shocked and disgusted that Horn would work with such deviants!!
For over 20 years, the Yes Music Circle international Yes supporters club (which I currently co-ordinate) has been building up a Yes Archive.
Donation of an item is always welcome! Of greatest interest are the following, old or new :
- video tapes of television interviews
- audio tapes of radio interviews
- paper-based magazine interviews, reviews and comments
- newspaper interviews, reviews and comments (this can include provincial newspapers)
- 'net downloads of interviews
- reviews of gigs and albums, from professional websites
If you (or friends) are keen and able to donate an item, here are the contact details :
email : tizwin@progress.freeserve.co.uk
postal address :
T. Hay
c/o 13 The Court
Bury Fields
Guildford
Surrey
GU2 5BA
England
To anyone who contributes, thanks!
Tizwin
Just on an impulse I bought the Sunday Telegraph today. Apart from there being an interesting article about a new art gallery in Walsall (West Midlands, UK), my home town (I don't live there now), there is also an article about Jon Anderson, and his spirituality and how he believes he has lived before - it's mind boggling - has anyone else read it? The item certainly gives an interesting insight to the Yesman.
YES was on the radio here in San Jose (via satellite) the other morning!!! Now, you have to remember here, that no radio station in the bay area plays ANY new YES music - they only (occasionally) mention a new cd or announce a show.
Anyway, it was Chris, Alan and Billy - live from NY...The short interview (which was supposed to address YES in the year 2000) went something like this:
Introduction music: (30 seconds of Homeworld)
Greg Khin: Man, Jon sounds great there, he never lost his range. Even to this day, he still sounds good - how does he sing so high like that? It's natural too!
Billy: Well, you know - Jon kind of lives there.
Chris: Hey, are you really the guy that wrote that Jeapordy song? How does that go again?
G.K.: Yeah, it's like...
Billy: (singing) I was just singing it here for Chris.
G.K.: I couldn't be in a band like YES, 'cause it must require alot of rehearsal, the songs are so difficult.
Alan: Yeah, well, playing some of the older songs is kind of like riding a bicycle. You can really get into it. But we're really having a good time playing some of the new songs live right now too.
G.K.: Yeah, how are the new songs coming off on stage - how is the audience reacting to the new songs?
Chris: Well...it really is better when the people know the music, so it depends on the town and much they like the new music. In San Francisco - they seemed to know it and liked it a lot, so I guess we have you to thank for that.
G.K.: Well, not exactly (mama's note - that's an UNDERstatement)...So, what are your groupies like? Are they women with long blonde hair?
Chris: 90% of our fans are men
Billy: Yeah and the other 10% are men DRESSED as women!
G.K. LOL, it's kind of a drag when that happens
As soon as the topic of groupies was finished (which was right after Greg's comment), they were told: that's all the time we have and thanks...LOLOL.
THEN, he pulled out a boot of Owner live, instead of playing something from The Ladder....Oh well...it was great to hear their voices, even if only briefly.
I just found a video clip of Masquerade in Disc 2 of the Steve Howe Interactive CD-ROM, apparently it didn't make it to the on-screen manual. It featured an up-close shot of Steve playing the song in its entirety. If interested, look in:
Q:\MasterClass\Pip\Masq_PIP
[The disk is] Mac/PC compatible. You'll need at least a 120 MHz Power Mac (or G3) 16 MB free Ram, 17 MB Har Disk Space, 4X speed CD-ROM drive, 640 X 480, 16 bit display.
You can order through Beyond Sounds' secure server at: https://www.comcat.com/~starbyte/starbyte/beyondsound/
Or call the Toll-Free 800# Order Line -- 1.800.243.1515 Extension 786. Ask for the Steve Howe Interactive CD-ROM and be sure to mention Code# EPRE for your online order discount.
I picked up the January Guitar World issue today with the article about Yes in it, but haven't read it yet. At the same time I bought the November issue of 20th Century Guitar, whose cover article is about "The Class of '69, Then & Now." It talks about bands that were just starting out in 1969, and where they are today. Yes is featured, including a picture of the first album on the magazine's cover (along with album covers of King Crimson, Procol Harum, Tull, and others). In the article, they give The Ladder an EXCELLENT review, starting out with, "In a strange twist of fate, Yes have just released possibly their greatest album of their long and winding career." They go on to praise the individual members' contributions to the album, and how it sounds like a "well thought out group effort." There is also a nice interview in the same issue with Ian McDonald for those of you (like me) who are fans of his.