CARL PALMER

Fanfare For The Common Man BMG Celebration of a far from common progressive rock progenitor.

One of the most influential and innovative drummers of his generation and a founder member of not just Emerson, Lake & Palmer, but of proto-proggers Atomic Rooster and chart-topping 80s AOR powerhouse Asia, Carl Palmer’s long and often extraordinary career is covered here by three CDs of music, a Blu-ray “scrap book” documentary, and a 200-page autobiography.

An overview of his contribution to the art of the drummer.

The tracklisting of the first two CDs is almost identical to the 2001 anthology Do Ya Wanna Play, Carl?. Beyond the iconic Karn Evil 9: 1st Impression, Part 2, the first disc is mostly concerned with ELP’s instrumental output either adapted from or influenced by classical and orchestral music. It focuses on Palmer’s percussive contributions, including Bullfrog, Tank and the inspired version of Aaron Copland’s Fanfare For The Common Man. There’s the radical interpretation of Alberto Ginastera’s Toccata from Brain Salad Surgery and the 20-minute Concerto For Percussion, co-written by Palmer and composer Joseph Horovitz, bumped from ELP’s Works, Vol 1 due to lack of space.

The second disc fills in gaps around the ELP years with mid- to late-60s psychedelic pop and British blues/rock curios from the likes of The Craig, Chris Farlowe and Atomic Rooster. Palmer’s appearance on Mike Oldfield’s Mount Teidi from 1982 gets an airing, as do four tracks representing the slick prog-pop of Asia with Heat Of The Moment a reminder of quite what a potent force the band was. Cuts from Palmer’s collaboration with Keith Emerson and Robert Berry (aka 3) mark a rekindling of the spirit of ELP in the late 80s and Shawnee demonstrates Palmer’s jazz credentials jamming with the Buddy Rich Big Band at Ronnie Scott’s in 1986.

Disc three brings us almost up to date with live versions of many ELP classics like Trilogy and Hoedown from the Carl Palmer Band and ELP Legacy shows recorded between 2002 and 2016, alongside their interpretations of other familiar compositions such as a rocking Carmina Burana and channelling The Nice with Bernstein’s America. It’s exceptional stuff with Palmer a whirlwind of energy and Emerson and Lake’s parts covered by the stunning virtuosic performances of a guitarist/bassist duo, latterly the youthful pairing of Paul Bielatowicz and Simon Fitzpatrick.

As an overview of more than six decades of music-making and Palmer’s contribution to the art of the drummer, there’s no questioning the quality of this collection. However, given it’s largely a reissue of an earlier release with added video content and Palmer’s autobiography, whether it’s truly essential is a different matter.

GARY MACKENZIE

FAUST Momentaufnahme III BUREAU B Experimental icons unearth more golden off-cuts.

Left to their own devices by Virgin boss Richard Branson, Faust were an unstoppable creative force at their own Wümme studio in Bremen between 1971 and 1974. Following on from Momentaufnahme Iand II, this is a third compendium of curios, off-cuts and alternate versions, culled from the same period.

Fans of Faust, Faust So Far and The Faust Tapes will be familiar with some of this material, but there’s plenty here to sustain and even expand the myth of the Germans’ feverish mission to reconstruct rock music for a new era.

Firmly in the spirit of 1973’s collagestyle The Faust Tapes in particular, Momentaufnahme III contains a few previously released tracks alongside numerous unheard chunks of sonic mischief. Faust were clearly having a fantastic time at Wümme, and their infectious enthusiasm for bucking the sonic system remains an invigorating delight. Following the none-morekrautrock clattering of Giggy Smile (which first surfaced on 1973’s Faust IV), Don’t Take Roots is the key moment

ANTHONY PHILLIPS

Strings Of Light CHERRY RED Phillips’ 2019 celebration of string-driven things revisited.

When Strings Of Light came out in 2019 it was Anthony Phillips’ first album in seven years, following the 12th instalment of his Private Parts &Pieces series in 2012. While most of the tracks were new, he’d found himself revisiting ideas from his old band Genesis, and had dug even further back to his formative guitar-playing days – when he’d listen to The Byrds, George Harrison and a hippie Charterhouse friend, Tony Henderson.