Art Rock Show – Gulliver (Week 11)

Deze band werd oorspronkelijk opgericht als een multi-nationaal samenwerkingsproject in 2009, met Marco Bernard (bas), een Finse Italiaan, Kimmo Porsti (drums), ook uit Finland en een Amerikaanse multi-instrumentalist, Steve Unruh. The Samurai of Prog bestaat uit dit kerntrio plus gastmuzikanten wanneer dat nodig is. Het album dat nu wordt gedraaid is nummer 8 genaamd Gulliver.

Jim Lawson van Prog Rock Music Talk: “Gulliver is based on the novel by Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels), and deals with Gulliver’s adventures in 4 different lands.

Only Marco and Kimmo from the core trio are fully involved in Gulliver as Kimmo explained to me that Steve was busy with another project and I think that it may be with United Progressive Fraternity (UPF). Steve does appear on some tracks and there are 21 guest musicians also involved with the release.

Gulliver is a 6-track album with track 2, “Lilliput Suite” running to just under 18 minutes and the final track, “Finale,” clocking in at just over 3 minutes. The total playing time is just over an hour (62 minutes).

As ever, a concept album makes picking out individual tracks difficult as the storyline continues through the album, but I will try to give a flavor of Gulliver.  A mention should also be made of the superb artwork on the 6 panel CD cover from none other than Ed Unitsky. (…)

All in all, this is a superb release by two-thirds of the Samurai of Prog core trio and as the “Finale” ends, the listener should find themself marveling at the majestic swathes of keyboards, tight guitar passages and excellent flute/violin pastoral sections.

This is one of the best Samurai of Prog releases, and if you have not dipped into the Samurai of Prog music previously, then Gulliver is the one to start with. This is an album that should be found in any true symphonic prog fan’s CD collection.”

Naast Bernard and Porsti met Gulliver hebben we deze week: The Psychedelic Ensemble (The Dream Of The Magic Jongleur), Jinetes Negros (Omniem), Daal (Decalogue of Darkness), The Watch (Timeless) & Simon Says (Siren Songs).

• Thursday/Donderdag 12.00 – 24.00
• Friday/Vrijdag 12.00 – 24.00
• Saturday/Zaterdag 12.00 – 18.00