Artist: Michael Gill
Label: Progrock Records
Release: 2010
Runtime: 50:02
Rating: 3.2/5
ProgRock Records has recently taken another excellent musician under its wing: pianist and keyboardist Michael Gill. A composer among other things, Gill made a name for himself with his masterful playing in his hometown of San Francisco, but his musical taste kept pulling him toward progressive rock. That’s exactly why he gathered a whole bunch of great musicians around him and recorded his first solo record, “Blues for Lazarus”.
The title alone makes it clear which genre elements will rule the roost. Blues is the foundation of rock and its subgenres anyway, but Gill doesn’t stop there. Jazz, funk … it’s all in his music, whether it comes through the keys, electric guitar, drums, bass or sax. Joining him are the renowned drummer Dave Weckl, who rose to fame with the Chick Corea Elektric Band, and the excellent saxophonist Dave Koz, who’s most often compared to David Sanborn.
On “Blues for Lazarus”, Michael Gill draws his inspiration mostly from a wide range of science fiction authors, such as Frank Herbert, William Gibson and Robert Heinlein. You can tell from the track titles, like the third song, “Arrakis”, which is the name of the planet in Herbert’s sci-fi hit “Dune”. Stylistically, the album is all over the map. Gill uses blues as the base of every track, but it ranges from electric-guitar, distorted-sound blues all the way to nearly acoustic blues. Compositionally, the songs are great, and the instrumentals “Arrakis” and “Memory of a Dream” are probably the highlights of the record. The problem with the tracks that feature vocals is mainly the singer, Dave Cowden. The lyrics aren’t strong to begin with, and with Cowden you get the feeling he can’t sing at all; “Colorado” is the only track where he hits the right pitch and gets the job done not just decently but even brilliantly. The vocals are thus the album’s biggest weak spot, badly spoiling otherwise strong instrumental backdrops. Worth a mention is also “Here Comes the Flood”, a creation from 1977 that originally belongs to Peter Gabriel. This is where Michael Gill really nails it. The American decided to arrange a slower, piano-led version, which makes perfect sense. And just like the original, it manages to give the listener goosebumps, and so does Michael Gill, which deserves big praise. The average listener, though, will probably go for the cliché ballad “Stay the Night”, which is made for radio airplay.
In conclusion, it has to be said that Michael Gill is an excellent composer and keyboardist, but he’ll have to work hard to break out of the mediocrity of today’s art and prog rock. “Blues for Lazarus” would definitely be a lot better if the vocals were decent. It would be phenomenal if the singer were, well, Peter Gabriel himself, because stylistically he’d surely click with Gill’s musical vision. Still, “Blues for Lazarus” is definitely an album worth listening to, even if you’ll probably only spin it once or twice.
Line-up
Michael Gill – piano, keyboards
Snappy Dave Cowden – vocals
Rick Ellis – vocals
Rob Fordyce – bass guitar
Glenn Harris – guitars
Michael Oliver – drums
Guest musicians:
Amy Brodo – cello
Dave Koz – saxophone
Gary Meek – saxophone
Callie Thomas – vocals
Sylvia Herold – vocals
Tom Valdez – guitar
Mike Jacobs – bass guitar
Dave Weckl – drums
Production
Michael Gill
Track list
1. Merlin’s Journey (8:08)
2. Blues for Lazarus (6:39)
3. Arrakis (8:05)
4. Tomorrow’s World (3:56)
5. Here Comes the Flood (5:54)
6. Memory of a Dream (3:38)
7. Colorado (3:55)
8. Stay the Night (4:33)
9. Rain (5:14)
