December News Bytes

• Atlanta Technical Progressive Metal Band Canvas Solaris have split up.
• British project Magenta has re-recorded the Emerson/Lake/Palmer track "Lucky Man" and can be found on their website at http://magenta-web.com/
• Swedish band Beardfish are getting ready to release their new album for 2011 titled "Mammoth" to be released on the InsideOut label.
• Opeth will start the recording of their 10th album on the 31st of January 2011. The band has picked the legendary Atlantis studios (ex Metronome studios) in Stockholm and will once again work with Jens Bogren engineering. Mixing duties will be handled by Steven Wilson (Porcupine tree). Possible release worldwide in the fall of 2011, through Roadrunner records.
• A new Jaco Pastorius two-CD boxed “audio biography” is being released and provides a seamless account of Jaco’s development from his very beginnings as a musician all the way through his tenures with Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, and the ‘70s super group Weather Report. It includes an 80-page full-color booklet and over two hours of never-before-heard music including Jaco’s very first home recordings, solos, sessions, record dates, and earliest original compositions. Includes, spoken words from family, friends and music luminaries.
• Stan Whitaker of "Happy the Man" - now "Oblivion Sun", and Ray Bennett of "Flash" are both finishing new CD's for their respective bands, and are considering a joint tour in 2011.

Carl Palmer States No More Reunion Shows For ELP

FROM CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINES DAVE LING:

Carl Palmer has told Classic Rock that, so far as he is concerned, Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s 40th anniversary reunion gig at this summer’s High Voltage Festival will be the trio’s final appearance together.
We asked the drummer whether, after 12 years away, it was difficult to reactivate the beast.

“Well, for reasons I won’t go into it’s always hard to rev it up. We rehearsed for it for a month, which almost killed me. Not the physical side of it, just keeping interested. Me personally, I didn’t need a month. But that’s what we did, and when it came to the gig what you saw was what you got. That’s as good as it will ever be (again). Everyone seemed pretty happy with it, and I think that gig will be far as the three of us can take things.”

After so long away, standing at the side of the stage how did it feel to go on there and do it again? Was there some anxiety?

“Not from me, I’m not the nervous type. I play all the time,” Palmer responded. “Greg (Lake) and Keith (Emerson), on the other hand, were highly nervous and that was part of the problem though they both did the best they could. I looked at it not exactly as just another festival, but well… Asia have played more than 200 gigs since the reunion, and of course I’ve also got my own band. For me, like I said, it was the month’s rehearsal and not the gig that really frustrated me.”

If you missed the band’s High Voltage farewell then do not panic. A DVD of the event is being put together.

“We’ve been doing some overdubs and there will also be an audio CD, but it’s looking really good,” reveals Palmer. “And that’s about it, really. There are no plans to do anything else, not from my perspective anyway. I’ve let the other two know that. Being the 40th anniversary, it seemed a great way to finish things. Let’s just leave it there.”

Palmer tours the UK with Asia throughout December. For details go to: http://originalasia.com/

ELP Deluxe Editions In The Works; Band To Reunite In 2010?

ELP are to release two deluxe editions on November 12, through Sanctuary/UMC.
One will feature Works Vols 1 & 2, brought together for the first time. Both were originally released in 1977, Works Volume 1 being a double LP, while Works Volume 2 was a single album. The CDs here have been remastered.
The other deluxe edition is of the 1974 triple live album Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends… Ladies & Gentlemen, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. (Possibly the longest album title since Tyrannosaurus Rex’s My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair… But Now They’re Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows.) Again, the ELP album has been remastered.
Recently, rumours have been rife concerning a 40th anniversary ELP reformation for 2010 – although nothing has so far been confirmed.
Drummer Carl Palmer recently told the Birmingham Post:
“We were going to reform ELP this year but we had a few medical problems involving Keith [Emerson, keyboards].
“One of his hands needs looking at so we had to postpone it. It’s an occupational hazard, with both of my hands having been operated on, but hopefully we can make it happen next year. Our second reformation was from 1991 to 1998 so I suppose we are due another one.”
In addition, Esoteric Records have acquired the ights to ELP’s label, Manticore. Starting in November, there will be a huge reissues campaign, featuring artists like Stray Dog, PFM, Keith Christmas and Pete Sinfield.
For further details, go to www.emersonlakepalmer.com

Emerson,Lake, and Palmer Manager Dee Anthony Dies at 83

SOUTHPORT, Conn. – Dee Anthony, who began a 40-year music-managing career representing neighborhood friend Jerry Vale in the 1950s and later worked for Tony Bennett, Peter Frampton and other popular artists, has died. He was 83.
The Southport, Conn., resident died Sunday at Norwalk Hospital of pneumonia, family spokesman Jay Strell said.
Anthony was Frampton's manager when the singer-guitarist released the wildly successful "Frampton Comes Alive" album in 1976. He also represented British acts including Traffic, Jethro Tull and Joe Cocker when they first came to the United States in the mid-1960s, Strell said.
Born Anthony D'Addario, he grew up in the Bronx and met Bennett in 1954 at a nightclub in Yonkers, according to an obituary prepared by his daughter, Michele Anthony, former president and chief operating officer of Sony Music. He represented Bennett for more than a decade.
"He was an amazing man, tremendous father, grandfather and husband," Michele Anthony said in a statement Monday. "We're now reflecting on all of the wonderful times we spent together as well as the impact he had on so many others."
Anthony founded Bandana Enterprises with his brother, Bill, in 1968. The company managed a host of bands including The J. Geils Band, Ten Years After and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Anthony went on to represent Peter Allen and Devo in the 1980s and retired in the mid-1990s.
A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel in New York City.

Keith Emerson Cancels Upcoming Tour And ELP Reunion Temporarily

From Keith Emerson:

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/chiropract ic/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 world-wide 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