From the Metal Mind label, Poland:

We have recently learned that John Wetton’s management issued a statement on the forthcoming box “Agenda/Amorata/Amata”, claiming it is unauthorized by the Artist and therefore asking that fans avoid this title.

As an answer to this statement, we would like to say that Metal Mind Productions has full rights to release this box. Those rights were clearly stated in a contract signed by Metal Mind Productions and John Wetton during his concerts which were recorded in Poland back in 2003. We feel very uncomfortable about John Wetton’s new management being unaware of this agreement. As this clearly is a misunderstanding, the planned release date of “Agenda/Amorata/Amata” box remains unchanged.

Steve Hackett has been added to the lineup of the Summers End Festival 2009:

We are thrilled to announce that Steve Hackett will play the Summers End Festival, to be held at Lydney Town Hall, Gloucestershire, UK on October 9, 10, 11. Steve will open the festival on Friday 9th October with a full 2 hour electric set that, in all likelihood, will be his first full-band concert in the UK since 2003. Joining Steve to play material spanning his 35 year career will be long-time collaborators Gary O’Toole (drums, vocals), Rob Townsend (woodwind), Roger King (keyboards) and new band member, chart-topping bassist/stick player/vocalist Nick Beggs.

“This is certainly an incredible moment in the History of Summers End,” says co-organiser Huw Lloyd Jones “To attract an artist of Steve’s caliber shows that the Festival now has a genuinely international reputation. Mind you, we still can’t quite believe that he’s said ‘Yes’!” Steve’s participation means that there will now be no support band on the Friday evening. Steve’s official website can be found at www.hackettsongs.com

Momentum is starting to build, so another announcement regarding further bands for the festival will be made in a few days. We will also shortly be able to announce the first draft of the weekend schedule and news of ticket sales.

Previous bands announced:

Pallas (UK)
Parallel or 90 Degrees (UK)
Quantum Fantay (Belgium)
Godsticks (UK)
Mr So and So (UK)
IO Earth (UK)

From festival organizer John “Bo Bo” Bollenberg:

It is with great pleasure that I can give you the full line-up of this year’s SYMFORCE III festival to be held on Sunday 27th september at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland (doors open at 3 pm)

Small Stage :
KARMAKANIC (sweden)
AGENTS of MERCY (sweden)
MOON SAFARI (sweden)
The SEDAN VAULT (belgium)

BatCave:
KATAYA (finland)
LONG DISTANCE CALLING (germany)
NEO-PROPHET (belgium)

presales will probably start may 9th. Please check www.013.nl for up-to-date information

with this line-up we go back to the true spirit and idea behind Symforce : true progressive, symphonic rock with established bands and upcoming new talent. Needless to say you won’t be disappointed !!!

Bobo

Official statement issued by Keith Emerson May 6, 2009:

Dear Friends,

It is with much regret that I have to announce that due to past right hand injuries the resulting nerve damage and dystonic factor has made it unable for me to play the keyboards to the high standard I have always set myself and have to cancel my forthcoming Keith Emerson Band featuring Marc Bonilla USA and European tours.

I am also going to have to cancel the proposed Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour which we were going to do at the end of this year. I will of course continue with my physical/chiropractic/acupuncture therapy etc. in the hope that this will eventually get me back on form.

This is absolutely devastating to me as music will always be my main key to communicating with a worldwide audience. I know how much my fans and fellow band members were looking forward to these shows and it saddens me greatly to have to come to this decision and make this announcement.

Thank you for your understanding.

Keith Emerson

SYN RESCHEDULE MIDWEST DATES

May 6th, 2009, - The Syn have postponed the remainder of their Mid West Tour dates and are in the process of rescheduling them for later in the year.

‘The Syn have decided to postpone the upcoming Mid West shows in view of the impact of the current economic conditions while they restructure the tour. The band are disappointed but are looking forward to getting back on the road following their great successes at Rosfest and Virginia benefits last week. New details will be released soon.

Asaf Sirkis’ trio will play 2 gigs in London on May 8th.
Featuring
Yaron Stavi, bass
Tassos Spiliotopoulos, guitar
Asaf Sirkis, drums

5pm
Royal Festival Hall Foyer,
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XX, London
free entrance!

8pm
SOAS University
‘JCR, Student Union’,
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG, London
*free entrance!
*any non student people need to tell reception they are coming to see the gig and get a visitors badge. Any problems, call 07912412664

——
The trio will continue for a mini-tour in west UK:

11.5 The Beaver, Irsha Street, Appledore, North Devon, Bideford, UK

12.5 St Ives Jazz Club, Cornwall, UK

13.5 10:30am to 12:00 Workshop at Truro College, Cornwall, UK

13.5 Swansea jazz land,wales, UK. The gig will be recorded by the BBC3 for ‘Jazz Lineup’ and broadcasted on Sunday 24th May 2009 between 2330 - 0100
————————

New review at the Jazz Times (USA) by Bill Milkowski
“Israeli-born drummer and London resident Asaf Sirkis unleashes with thunderous abandon on this hard-hitting fusion offering that harkens back to a time before the genre became codified, diluted and reduced to a critical joke” .

Asaf’s trio gig at Jazz Club Karlsruhe, Germany will be broadcasted on Deutschland Funk National German Radio on May 4th at 21:05

Attached interview for ‘Rhythm’ Magazine

Asaf is endorsing Vic Firth Stick

More tour dates this year:
4.6 The Spice Of Life, London, UK

17.6 Croydon Jazz & Blues Festival, UK

18.7 Cafe Posk, London, UK

2.8 2pm to 3.10pm Crypt stage, Ealing Jazz festival, Walpole Park, London W5, UK

7.8 The Good Intent, Rochester, UK

20.8 Watermill Jazz Club, Dorking, UK

27.8 Aberjazz Festival, Wales, UK (tbc)

18.11 The Puzzle Inn, Yorkshire, UK

18.11 YMCA Theatre, Leicester, UK

19.11 Cardiff Jazz Society, Wales, UK

24.11 Pizza Express Jazz Club (Soho, Dean Street) , London

26.11 Restormel Arts, St Austell, Cornwall (tbc)

27.11 The Grain Barge, Bristol

28.11 The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, Wales, UK

29.11 Black Mountain Jazz club, Abergevenni, Wales, UK (tbc)

1.12 The Stables, Wavendon, UK

7.12 The Domicil Jazz Club, Pforzheim, Germany (tbc)

9.12 The Unterfahrt Jazz Club, Munich, Germany

15.12 The Cluny, Newcastle, UK (tbc)

——

“Israeli-born drummer and London resident Asaf Sirkis unleashes with thunderous abandon on this hard-hitting fusion offering that harkens back to a time before the genre became codified, diluted and reduced to a critical joke” .
Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times (USA), April 2009

…“Sirkis simply the most sensitive of percussionists”
Chris Parker, January 2009

“Devastatingly creative”
John Fordham, The Guardian 2008

“Sirkis is not only an inventive drummer but also a composer of rigour, wit and surprising delicacy”
Chris Ingham, Mojo Magazine, October 2008

“Asaf Sirkis, the world class drum phenomenon reminiscent of Jack DeJohnette and Tony Williams at the height of their powers that’s taken the British scene by storm over the last few years”…
Renaissance man 2004

AN EVENING WITH SAGA

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2009
THE MOD CLUB - TORONTO

Doors 7:30pm Show 8:30pm

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, MAY 8 @ 10AM

Tickets available at all Ticketmaster Outlets, Rotate This

Call (416) 870-8000 to charge by phone

or www.ticketmaster.ca

Tickets (incl. GST) $25.50 (plus service charges)

19+/General Admission

LEGENDARY CANADIAN PROG ROCK QUINTET SAGA IS BACK WITH A NEW ALBUM AND TOUR

For months, thousands of Saga fans have been asking themselves anxiously: how will the band sound after vocalist Michael Sadler’s departure? Fans need not fear the haunting melodies, virtuoso solo passages and intelligent arrangements that Saga is known for haven’t changed a bit on their latest album, The Human Condition.

What is more: the band members, Ian Crichton (guitar), Jim Crichton (bass, keyboards) and Jim Gilmour (keyboards) have used the recent line-up change for an artistic evolution of their expressive means. To cut a long story short: The Human Condition is100% Saga, and much more. Or, as Ian Crichton comments: “It’s still us, of course with a different twist, some of the ideas on the CD are more prog than before.”

Be sure not to miss this intimate and unique experience with one of Canada’s favorite progressive- rock bands Saga May 27th at The Mod Club Theatre.

For more show information, please contact:

Riley MacDonald – 416.260.4245, rileymacdonald@livenation.com

Some short news on the festival and related:

———————————————————————————-
GOUVEIA ART ROCK SHINES ON TV AND YOUTUBE:
In an unprecedented breakthrough for progressive music festivals
around the globe a TV DAILY REPORT on GAR’2009 aired twice, every day
of the event, on RTP-N cable news network for homes in Portugal. The
last day 4:30 minute report on the festival was broadcasted last
monday, May 4th at 20:55 GMT.
http://www.rtp.pt/rtpn/php/programacaoRTPN.php?datai=&dia=04-05-2009&sem=e&idioma=&canal=7&gen=&time=&title=RTP-N
http://www.rtp.pt/programas-rtp/index.php?p_id=25198&e_id=&c_id=7&dif=tv&hora=20:55&dia=04-05-2009
RTPN is the cable news network of portuguese public service TV, RTP.
After the program was aired the Gouveia Art Rock organization was
congratulated by the channel’s board because of the great audience
rates the program managed to get. In its late night repetition (at
0:55) it grabbed an average audience of four times more than the
normal audiences, since it occupied a transition slot between the news
at 24:00 and the news at 1:00, which is a period when a lot of people
disconnects or changes channel. During its eight broadcasts the
program reached an estimated total audience of 50000 viewers.
The great news for you is… we are going to YouTube it on the brand
new GOUVEIA ART ROCK YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
http://www.youtube.com/GouveiaArtRock
———————————————————————————–
GoPROG FESTIVAL - AN EXTENSION OF THE GOUVEIA ART ROCK FESTIVAL IN OCTOBER!!
The official announcement has been made! We were asked by the Gouveia
Mayor Office to organize an extra day of progressive music. We could
call it an extension of the GAR festival, but it will have a brand on
it’s own sleeve: GOPROG FESTIVAL will happen on the very same place,
on October 10th. One day, three bands, all confirmed:

- DAYMOON project - maybe new for you, it’s an international project
lead by Fred Lessing of Miosotis fame , featuring musicians from the
progressive realm such as Andy Tillison of The Tangent and Po90, also
in charge of the production, Thomas Olsson of Isildurs Bane, Luca
Calabrese of Metamorfosi Trio and many others from Portugal to the
USA.
http://www.daymoon-music.com/daymoon.htm

- KOTEBEL - a return to Gouveia after their success in 2007. Kotebel
are presenting their fabulous new album “Ouroboros”, featuring some of
the most haunting and challenging compositions of leader and composer

Carlos Plaza.
http://www.kotebel.com/

- THE WATCH playing GENESIS - also a return to Gouveia. In 2005 they
played their own music, now they fully assume their artistic
forefathers. The Watch are now playing music from Genesis’ classical
period, well you know, when Genesis were Genesis.
http://www.thewatchmusic.net/index.php
————————————————————————————-
RENOWED producer and sound engineer UDI KOOMRAN was GAR’s stage
manager this year. A lot of work for Udi but with his overwhelming
calmness, friendship and professionalism all was done smoothly. Well,
we’re all mediterraneans, aren’t we?
http://www.myspace.com/udikoomran
————————————————————————————-
Swedish musicologist and Isildurs Bane collaborator THOMAS OLSSON was,
again, the man behind one of the most staggering moments of the
festival. His presentation of LARS HOLLMER’s musical legacy will
remain as one moment to cherish. The festival started off also with
Lars Hollmer in mind. We hope to get permission to share with the
world the film we did on Lars Hollmer’s Gouveia Art Rock 2005 recital,
that we projected in the theatre before concerts started, last friday.
http://thomasmusicology.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ibexpo
http://www.gaudela.net/gar/artists/Lars_Hollmer.html
————————————————————————————–
During GORDON GILTRAP’s guitar workshop, sunday morning, he challenged
the amazing THIJS VAN LEER of FOCUS fame, to improvise on his flute
over one of his tunes. It was surely one of the most goosebumping
unexpected moments we’ve ever seen in the festival history. A YouTube
video of this moment is online at the Gouveia Art Rock YouTube
channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnOV4bJzWI4
————————————————————————————–
AKIHISA TSUBOY, along with his KBB keyboard mate TOSHIMITSU TAKAHASHI
took Gouveia’s baroque church acoustics and turned them into other
dimensions. A fabulous recital by two of the great musicians we had
the priviledge to listen, see and talk to at this year’s festival.
Also on the Gouveia Art Rock YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_gTOF10qz0
————————————————————————————–
A GROWING FESTIVAL
There’s no shadow of doubt about the growing international interest
and, shall we say, progressive popularity of the festival. This year,
to a full-3 day SOLD OUT event (yes, we did it!) we were visited by
people coming from places such as Japan, Israel, Hungary, Norway,
Sweden, Germany, the UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, and… of course,
the Spanish legion who is about to become a major force in the
festival audience! Beware portuguese, their revenge from our
historical independence might well start in Gouveia and no one will
notice!!

Mindflower are glad to present the release of their latest
album “Little Enchanted Void”,
just come out from the French music label Musea.

Little Enchanted Void is a progressive- chamber concept
album that has already met the expectations of the
progressive music worldwide public. Thought highly of by
critics, this album was recorded at Elfo Studio –
www.elfostudio.com - and at Peter Gabriel’s Real World
Studios, while the mastering took place at the infamous
Abbey Road Studios.

The release party will take place on Friday, the 15th of
May, at 9 p.m, at Elfo recording Studio (www.elfostudio.com)
in Tavernago, Piacenza (how to get there).

You’ll have the chance to listen to the album, to chat with
the members of the group and to eat something in unusual
surroundings.

Thank you for confirming your presence to
info@mindflower.it, specifying your magazine, radio,webzine
or fanzine.

Don’t miss it!

For further information about the group, the album and the
reviews visit the website www.mindflower.it

6,346 guitarists played together at the “Thanks Jimi Festival”

May 1, 2009 saw 6,346 guitar players gather at the “Thanks Jimi Festival” to play Jimi Hendrix’s hit “Hey Joe”! It tripled the standing record for “Largest Guitar Ensemble” of 2,052, set last year in Concord, California. The event took place in the historic center of Wroclaw, Poland - a city which has taken on the title of “Wroclaw Guitar City” - a title that seems merited. In fact, the Mayor, Rafał Dutkiewicz, was among those playing, as was Deep Purple’s guitarist Steve Morse and the festival’s founder and director, Leszek Cichoński. Cichoński is a well-known musician and music educator in Poland and the festival was an outgrowth of one of his educational programs and has taken place - and grown - annually since 2003.

Besides the 6,346 guitar players, there were thousands of spectators and supporters in the Wrocław city center as well as other guitar players taking part in it online and in coordinated events in Sweden, the US, Canada and Australia (though those were not counted in the record). One of the objectives of the organizers is to establish May 1st as “World Guitar Day” and more coordinated simultaneous events are planned for next year and later.

Steve Morse wrote recently on his blog:

“We just got back, and I mean, JUST got back from our gig in Poland. It was so unusual in so many ways. The crowd was basically sold out, solid from the stage to as far as we could see, outdoors. And it wasn’t raining! Our opening act, Leszek Cichonski feat. Stan Skibby, was incredibly good. I had a great time reminscing with Stan, who does a Hendrix-like set with them, singing and playing. Everybody played so well, and was so down-to-earth.
Earlier today, I played onstage with them at a town square, for the Guiness book of World records. The most guitar players playing “Smoke on the Water”. For sure, if they don’t get the world’s record, something is seriously wrong, because there were 6,000 people in front of us, with guitars, playing it! At the end of the song, they all held up their guitars, mostly acoustic, and it looked like we were in a forest. Nothing but guitars for as far as you could see. We also played “Hey Joe”, which Stan sang, and everybody played along with that one. Last year, they had 1800 plus people playing along with that song. In the middle of the song today, they brought the volume way down, and you could only hear the background singers and the thousands of acoustics playing C,G,D,A,E…….
After that, I don’t know how the gig could be any more intense. But, it was. The crowd was totally into everything, and when they sang along on “Smoke” it was the loudest ever. A lot of them were at the town square earlier, and they knew it for sure! Fantastic crowd. Don played some Chopin, which they all seemed to recognize, and knew he had Polish roots.”

Now it is the Germans’ turn as they make their attempt on May 10th in Mainz.

For further information go to:
http://www.cichonski.art.pl/guinness2/index.htm
http://www.myspace.com/thanksjimifest

There are some videos taken at this event available on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj5mdsfJdBc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tyF8BzuPZw