This page last updated: 20 Nov 2008
 

YES and projects with several Yesmen	Jon Anderson	Chris Squire	Steve Howe	Alan White
Rick Wakeman	Bill Bruford	Tony Kaye	Peter Banks	Patrick Moraz
Trevor Horn	Geoff Downes	Trevor Rabin	Billy Sherwood	Igor Khoroshev
Anderson & Wakeman	Asia	CIRCA:	Squire & White, but not Wakeman, at Ahmet Ertegün memorial	Others associated with the band

In a Nov 2007 interview, Bruford reflects on his future plans and the possibility of taking a sabbatical. He also re-affirms his commitment to jazz: "My interest in laying down a big beat ended with the last millennium. Happily jazz exists. Everyone hates 'jazz' but it's the only word to describe a musician who wants to say something fresh and react to what others are doing around him."

pianocircus playing the music of Colin Riley featuring Bill Bruford
Bruford has been working with composer Colin Riley (MySpace page; Brunel Univ. page) and keyboard collective pianocircus (MySpace page; have worked with Brian Eno, Yumi Hara Cawkwell). Bruford and Riley met in the latter half of 2006. Their first public output was a show (described by Riley as more like an "open rehearsal") in Sep 2007 in London. After an opening set by pianocircus, Bruford and pianocircus (4/6 of the usual group, performing on keyboards) performed 6 pieces by Riley (with some improvised parts), who conducted. Audience of ~50. Further live appearances are planned. The pair are also working on an album for release on Summerfold early next year. Audio samples can be heard at their MySpace page. Riley describes the work: "[it] will not only continue the sparse delicacy of recent electronic works, but also explore high-energy groove-based territory." In a Mar 2008 blog entry, Bruford described an "experimental day" with Riley, recording engineer Chris Lewis, and musician/digital technologist David Plans Casal (Brunel Univ. page). In a Jun entry, he said:

In a Sep 2008 interview, Bruford said, "The CD is somewhat influenced by guitarist David Torn's recent album called Prezens. Like Torn, Riley reserves the right to judiciously alter, or tamper with, or wreck what he hears, but in Torn's case, the source material was mostly improvised, and in our case it is mostly written."

Read my interview with Colin Riley about the collaboration here.

With Michiel Borstlap
Bruford's main live activity lately has been his improvisational duo with Michiel Borstlap (piano, Fender Rhodes). They have played 3 European dates in the summer (2 UK, 1 Italy, 1 Netherlands), but a Jul date in Spain was rained out. The Bruford-Borstlap album, In Two Minds (BBSF019), recorded live on 2007 dates, is out on Summerfold; tracks: "Kinship", "In Two Minds", "From the Source, We Tumble Headlong", "Flirt", "Low Tide, Camber Sands", "The Art of Conversation", "Conference of the Bees ", "Sheer Reckless Abandon", "Duplicity", "Shadow Dance", "The Odd One Out", "All Blues" (Miles Davis cover).

Bill Bruford's Earthworks
After a 18-month hiatus, Earthworks returned for a short residency at Ronnie Scott's in London in Jul. The line-up was as in 2006/7: Bruford (drums, percussion), Tim Garland (Chick Corea, Dean Street Underground Orchestra) on saxophones, Gwilym Simcock (Acoustic Triangle) on piano and French horn, and Laurence "Laurie" Cottle (ex-Tim Garland Quartet, ex-Eric Clapton, ex-Brian Eno) on electric bass and trombone.

In the aforementioned Nov 2007 interview, Bruford described the band thus: "It's parked up, refuelling. The key is still in the car and I can drive it any time but I do think you do need a clear idea of what you're doing when you play a concert." On his website timeline (perhaps written in Feb 2008), Bruford says of 2005: "Earthworks drifts artistically, as Bill remains uncertain as to its future development. [...] the band functions mostly on repertoire, and breaks little new ground." Of 2007, he says, "With Earthworks parked and re-fuelling at the twenty year mark". In a Sep 2008 interview, he said, "I continue to run Earthworks only as long as I can find something useful, or at least meaningful to me, to do with it. Currently the group is parked, but there’s gas in the tank in case we need to make a quick start."

Clinics & other performances
Bill Bruford is doing a solo show before an invited audience at Words and Music Live, part of BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival, in Liverpool, UK on 1 Nov. This will also be broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

In early Jul, Bruford performed with Tim Garland (Earthworks; saxophones), Dave "Fuse" Fiuczynski (MySpace page; Screaming Headless Torsos; guitar), Andrei Kondakov (piano, keys) and Andrei Svetlov (bass) at the Hermitage Music Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. In May, Bruford hosted a rehearsal with Nicholas Meier (guitar) and Pat Bettison (bass).

Bruford played with jazz pianist Will Butterworth (MySpace page) in London on 2 Apr. On his website, Bruford described the gig beforehand as "of the research and development variety, which, translated, means it'll be well outside by comfort zone." After the show, he described it as "all improv, very loose, lot of fun". Chris Squire, Steve Hackett and Paul Stacey were all in the audience.

In Nov 2007, Bruford did a drum clinic tour of the eastern US and Canada. The clinics included Bruford playing, to backing tracks, extracts from: "Hell's Bells", "If You Can't Stand the Heat", "If Summer had Its Ghosts", "Beelzebub", "Indiscipline", "Footloose and Fancy Free", "B'BOOM", "Presto Vivace/In the Dead of Night". The New York clinic had an attendance of 600, the venue's most successful drum clinic ever. Bruford said in the aforementioned Apr 2007 webchat that he is giving "serious consideration" to doing a DVD of the clinics. In an 11 Jun 2008 blog post, Bruford said he had no clinics planned at present.

In the 11 Jun 2008 blog post, Bruford also said he has no plans to tour the US, saying:

no immediate plans to tour the US. This is mostly economic – it’s financially unviable [...] My US friends are consistently surprised at the knock-on effects of post- 9/11 fortress America. Getting a work visa is rough work [...] the legal fees for producing the visa on time will be approx 1000 USD per travelling musician. Additionally, our currencies have gone the wrong way [...] Europe has gone the other way, in terms of fees and ease of access, so that’s where I’ll be for the time being. I’ve enjoyed playing in the US so much for my whole career, and these things change, but sadly I cannot in all honesty plan a tour till things change. And things always change!

Re-issues and archival releases
Due Feb 2009 are two compilations, Winterfold Collection (1978-1986) (13 tracks from 6 albums) and the 2CD Summerfold Collection (1987-2008) (22 tracks from 12 albums).

In his 15 Jul 2008 blog, Bruford said: "I think Voiceprint is about to release a live Gong album from the short time I was with them, but you’d have to check their website". As yet, there has been no announcement from Voiceprint on this. Bruford played with Gong for a few months in late 1974. An example set from Dec 1974 went: "Invocation", "Master Builder", "A Perfect Mystery", "Never Glid Before", "White Christmas", "Solar Musik Suite", "Flute Salad", "Oily Way", "Inner Temple", "Outer Temple", "Sprinkling of Clouds".

Voiceprint hare re-released "Bruford and the Beat", his 1982 instructional video, on to DVD for the first time; duration: 30 minutes.

A sampler DVD with a lengthy interview with Bruford (done by Jon Kirkman) is now available. The DVD includes samples from releases by Bruford, Earthworks, Bruford-Borstlap and the World Drummer's Ensemble. 2000 copies of the DVD were available for free. The sampler will also be included with the DVD release of Earthworks' "Footloose in NYC" (BBSF 020DVD) and can be viewed on Voiceprint's YouTube page. It is also available for sale from Voiceprint under the name "Sampler and Interview".

"Footloose in NYC" was previously available as a companion to the 2CD Footloose and Fancy Free, but has now had an independent release. Extra features include behind the scenes footage and interviews.

Now out is the 43-minute DVD "Rock Goes to College" (produced by Bill Bruford; Winterfold BBWF008DVD; Region 0) of the Bruford band's 1979 BBC TV performance featuring Dave Stewart (keys), Jeff Berlin (bass), Allan Holdsworth (guitar), Annette Peacock (vocals; this being one of only two shows Peacock did with the group) and Bill Bruford (drums). Tracks: "Sample and Hold", "Beelzebub", "The Sahara of Snow (Part One)", "The Sahara of Snow (Part Two)", "Forever Until Sunday", "Back to the Beginning", "Adios a la Pasada (Goodbye to the Past)", "5G". The release was the fastest selling in Voiceprint's history. A CD of the show (BBWF009CD) followed.

The New Percussion Group of Amsterdam's 1986 Go Between (BBSF018CD), featuring Bruford and Keiko Abe, is out on Summerfold. Tracks: "Go Between", "Redbone", "Marimba Spiritual", "Maenaden". Bruford plays acoustic drums and percussion just on the 14-minute eponymous opener, composed by Rudd Wiener of the NPG. Wiener, Peter Prommel and Herman Rieken also perform on that track, all three playing xylophone, vibraphone, marimba and bass marimba. Abe just plays on "Marimba Spiritual".

Previously, Winterfold releases have generally come with a Summerfold sampler, and vice versa. However, this practice has ended. An Introduction to Summerfold and An Introduction to Winterfold are available for free (postage and packaging only) from Bruford's online shop. (Voiceprint are still selling them for £4.99).

As for future bonus tracks, in the May 2004 interview, Bruford says, "I have one or two strange bits and pieces up my sleeve and a fair amount of recorded live stuff. [...] I do have some very exciting playing from the Bruford group". In a Dec 2003 interview with Voiceprint radio, Bruford is asked whether he has any unreleased material in the archives for Winterforld. He replies:

Somewhat. The bands I'm in always tended to be playing new material, which [...] was likely to be recorded for some upcoming album. If that album never got made, then you find that that album is available in stocks... the material is available in some live concert. For example, the Stewart/Berlin/Holdsworth or John Clark group was working on a fourth studio album after Gradually Going Tornado, but it never got made. So there are some demos from rehearsal rooms and things which are just great and several tunes played live that were also very interesting. However, the only minor fly in the ointment back then of course is that the recording... bootleg recordings were pretty low quality. There's usually some guy just sticking up a cassette in a venue somewhere and not terribly great. And we didn't spend a lot of money recording things live all the time. Now, of course, with portable recording systems, everybody records everything. You record the rehearsal room. You record walking in to the rehearsal room. One of the nightmates in King Crimson was that everything was always recorded [...] The opposite problem occurred in the mid-seventies with Bruford, which was that almost nothing was recorded. So a lot of material went past, but we can, sure, find things and I'm sure you'll find the remastered and re-packaged material will come with interesting tunes of one sort of another or out-takes or some of that, I think.

Chris Squire's solo album Fish Out of Water, on which Bruford plays, has been re-released by Squire—see under Squire for details. Bruford also appears on some of Patrick Moraz' solo albums, now remastered and re-released—see under Moraz.

Phil Manzanera's website had described a possible archival collection entitled Rare Two including material with Bruford, but news of the release was withdrawn. In Apr 2003, bassist Bill MacCormick answered a question about the relevant sessions on the Phil Manzanera/Roxy Music forum saying:

Some of the early sessions for the Listen Now album [...] involved Bill Bruford + Phil, [Brian] Eno and me (not sure about Eddie [Jobson] though he certainly played on other sessions).  These tracks were never used though I believe Phil still has the 24-track masters somewhere.  Every now and then we talk about what we might do with them.  We haven't come up with an answer yet.

King Crimson Collectors' Club releases, consisting of varied archival Crimson material, are available via the DGM Shop. #36 was Live in Kassel, April 1, 1974 and features Bruford. #37 is Live at the Pier, NYC - August 2, 1982 and #38 is Live in Philadelphia, PA, August 26, 1996; both feature Bruford and Levin. Various archival King Crimson (and ProjeKct) shows are available to buy for download through DGM Live. The current line-up of King Crimson, without Bruford but with Levin, continues to play material co-written by both from the 1980s and 1990s line-ups and some tracks from the 1972-4 line-up with Bruford.

Bruford is on a number of King Crimson compilations. The (eventually 8CD) 21st Century Guide to King Crimson is a sort of replacement for the 1991 Frame by Frame compilation. Vol. One: 1969 to 1974 (DGM 0403) contains 4 CDs; Bruford is on the latter two discs: CD3 In The Studio: 1972-1974—"Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part I" (abridged, from Larks' Tongues in Aspic), "Book of Saturday" (Larks' Tongues...), "Easy Money" (Larks' Tongues...), "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part II" (Larks' Tongues...), "The Night Watch" (Starless & Bible Black), "The Great Deceiver" (Starless & Bible Black), "Fracture" (Starless & Bible Black), "Starless" (abridged, from Red), "Red" (Red), "Fallen Angel" (Red), "One More Red Nightmare" (Red); CD4 Live: 1972-1974—"Asbury Park" (USA), "The Talking Drum" (The Great Deceiver), "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part II" (USA), "Lament" (USA), "We'll Let You Know" (Starless & Bible Black), "Improv: Augsburg" (previously unreleased, concatenated with preceding track so does not show up as a separate CD track), "Exiles" (abridged, from USA), "Easy Money" (USA), "Providence" (The Great Deceiver), "Starless & Bible Black" (The Night Watch), "21st Century Schizoid Man" (USA), "Trio" (The Night Watch). Bruford also appears on DGM's new 2CD The Condensed 21st Century Guide to King Crimson (1969-2003). DGM are planning to release a DVD compilation of archive video footage of King Crimson, including previously unreleased footage.

Dust is a collection of rarities from Adrian Belew. While once planned as a boxset, instead the collection of 85 tracks is being released as a series of downloads ("Dust particles") available from StoreBelew. Some of these features Bruford and Levin, including "Dust" (unreleased 1983 King Crimson song from sessions for Three of a Perfect Pair) and "Manhattan/Neurotica" (recorded by Belew/Bruford/Levin in 1982). At one stage, it was announced that the set would include an early version of "Heartbeat" and other outtakes from Beat.

Paul Amlehn's forthcoming feature film "The Tears of Eros" will use music from several Crimson and related projects, including THRaKaTTaK and the ProjeKcts. Shooting was due to begin in 2006.

A cover of King Crimson's "Starless" by Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy and Randy George is due as a bonus track on Morse's next release. Bruford describes the version as "brilliant". John Wetton is also doing Asia, King Crimson and UK material with the Paul Green's School of Rock All-Stars on Mar 2009 US dates.

UK
Out in Japan is Live in Boston (Universal), a mini-LP sleeve, limited edition release. This is a remaster of Concert Classics Vol. 4, the 1999 album on Renaissance that was withdrawn very soon after its release following legal action. The album features the original UK line-up, including Bruford. Tracks: "Alaska", "Time to Kill", "Only Thing She Needs", "Carrying No Cross", "Thirty Years", "Presto Vivace—In the Dead of Night", "Caesar's Palace Blues".

UK, also with Bruford on drums, as well as Danger Money and Night After Night from after Bruford's departure, were also to be re-released in Japan, although they now appear to be indefinitely postponed. These have been remastered by Mark Powell, who has done remastered series for bands including Caravan, Camel, Van der Graaf Generator, Steve Hillage and Steve Hackett. Eddie Jobson has been critical of these releases—more details here.

Other news
Bruford has written his autobiography: "Perpetual Change: My Four Decades at the Heart of Yes, King Crimson, Earthworks, and More" (336 pages; ISBN: 1906002231). Amazon has a release date of 1 Mar 2009 from Jawbone Press and it is already available for pre-order on Amazon.ca (Canada) and elsewhere, but Bruford said in Oct that the book would be out "April-ish 2009". He's also suggested he may do some book signing events in autumn 2009. He also wrote a chapter for "The Drum and Percussion Cook Book: Creative Recipes for Players and Teachers" (Meredith Music; ISBN: 1574631012), edited by Rick Mattingly. Bruford has contributed to the new and official Genesis biography "Genesis: Chapter and Verse", now out. (Bruford drummed with the band on their 1976 tour.)

Bruford has done a library of loops etc. for Esoundz' Studio ProFiles. In a Jun blog entry, Bruford referred to doing some solo drum stock tracks for TV.

Bruford is doing some teaching at the Academy of Contemporary Music (Guildford) and Kingston University.

Since Back Against the Wall, Kaye has been working on multiple projects with Billy Sherwood that also include further Yesmen and so are covered here. These chiefly include CIRCA:, a new band project also with Jay Schellen and Jimmy Haun; their debut album is out and the band hope to be touring in the latter half of 2007 and into 2008. Kaye also guests on a post-Conspiracy album by Sherwood and Schellen. Kaye also played on Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, a tribute album to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, and its predecessor Back Against the Wall, as well as Led Box: The Ultimate Tribute to Led Zeppelin and a forthcoming Beatles tribute album, all organised by Sherwood—details here.

On 24 May 2007, Kaye said on his MySpace blog that he has "been working on [a] project called End Of Inocence that is an orchestral interpretation of 9-11-2001." In an interview published Mar 2008, Kaye talks further about the project, saying:

I’m working on an instrumental album based on the events of 9/11. My wife co-wrote and sings on one of the songs. It’s mostly orchestral and I’d like to have an actual orchestra perform it, but they are very expensive.

Kaye's wife is singer Daniela Torchia (MySpace page). Her debut album Have No Fear was executive produced by Kaye, and produced by Brian Yaskulka and George Alayon. Kaye also plays keys on the song "I Promise You". Also appearing are Robin LeMesurier (ex-Rod Stewart; guitar), Cole Coleman (MySpace page; Davison/Coleman, worked with Circa:; guitar), Kevin Holmes (guitar), Joe Jewell (guitar), Jeff Hawley (guitar, bass), Willard Lozano (Flamenco guitar), Mike Bennett (drums), Morris Goldberg (sax), Glen Sobel (drums), JJ Kleutgens (bass). There is a Spanish-language version of the album entitled Sin Miedo. See Yescography for details.

On his MySpace page, drummer Paul Cassarino (stage production for CIRCA:) says he is, "Currently, working along side Tony Kaye [...] and his wife Daniela Torchia's solo project." I am unclear whether this is the 9/11 project, another album from Torchia or something else.

Kaye is also executive producing several new artists. He was playing piano, Hammond and synths in The Neil Deal, a tribute band for Neil Young and Crazy Horse based in Los Angeles, CA, but seems to have left in 2007. The rest of the band are Dennis Neil (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica), Jim Altman (ex-Steve Vai, ex-Eric Burdon; guitar, backing vocals), Bruce Spiegel (bass, backing vocals), Bert Wolf (drums). The band play regularly in California. Their live set included "After the Gold Rush", "Alabama", "Barstool Blues", "Cinnamon Girl", "Cortez the Killer", "Cowgirl in the Sand", "Down by the River", "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere", "Harvest Moon", "Heart of Gold", "Helpless", "Hey Hey My My", "Hurricane", "The Loner", "Long May You Run Mr. Soul", "Mansion on the Hill", "Needle and the Damage Done", "Ohio", "Old Man (Look at My Life)", "Only Love Can Break Your Heart", "Out on the Weekend", "Over & Over", "Powderfinger", "Rockin' in the Free World", "Sedan Delivery", "Southern Man", "Sugar Mountain", "Tell Me Why", "Walk On", "Welfare Mothers", "When You Dance I Can Really Love", "After the Garden". The band were recording a studio album; it is unclear whether Kaye will be on this.

Harmony in Diversity and Self-Contained
Harmony in Diversity is an improvisational trio with Peter Banks (guitar, MIDI guitar), Nick Cottam (Pulse Engine; bass) and Dave Speight (a.k.a. Jick; drums). Speight replaced Andrew Booker (Pulse Engine, Tim Bowness, Improvizone; MIDI drums, drums), who left the band in Jun 2006. The band's debut release is Trying, available only from their website; it features Banks, Cottam and Booker and largely consists of material recorded in late 2004, save for the last track recorded live in Jun 2005—details in Yescography. The new trio are compiling an album: Banks blogged in Apr 2008 about "the Harmony In Diversity project I have and the tracks are being worked on and assembled by H.I.D bassist Nick Cottam , who has done an outstanding job and continues to work on this up coming release." Sound samples from Trying and from recent shows with the new line-up can be heard at their website.

Since 2007, Banks has had a call for collaborators on his MySpace blog. It currently reads:

 Diligence, tenacity, precision, a driven confidence, iconoclastic lateral thinking and er....stuff.

Pete Banks is looking to hear from musicians who like breaking rules, for his HARMONY IN DIVERSITY project. The gigs will be 80% improvised, no prisoners will be taken. If you're interested in playing between the lines, if you are in the London area I would like to hear from you.

Call today!
44-776-694-2372

Harmony in Diversity played various European shows in 2007. A Feb 2007 show in Budapest, Hungary was recorded, either for a separate live release or material from it will be used on their forthcoming album. In Mar 2007, they played in Newport, Wales, courtesy of Islwyn Acoustic Guitar Club. (Streaming video from this show is now up on Banks' MySpace page.) The new line-up's debut was two English shows in Oct 2006 supported by Whimwise (led by Nick May, ex-The Enid). While the band's live performances were initially entirely improvised, they have introduced a prepared piece, an arrangement of a piece from The Two Sides of Peter Banks.

Banks is collaborating on a number of projects with Gonzalo Carrera (dB-Infusion, Whimwise, Karnataka, Wild Turkey; keys). They have been planning live work in London: they initially talked about a duo, Harmony in Diversity II, with the same improvisational ethos as its namesake. The pair are also planning live work as Self-Contained, playing rock instrumental material composed by Banks. In Apr 2007, Banks said he, Carrera and Dave Wagstaffe (Landmarq, Oliver Wakeman; drums) were planning some London gigs of composed material. Banks has also talked of wanting to assemble an instrumental band to play material from his 1990s solo albums: in a Nov 2006 interview, he said, "I'd like to put an instrumental band together and go and play my stuff, and do some covers of different songs and pieces, instrumentally, and put a whole different spin on it." In Apr 2007, Banks joined dB-Infusion (with Carrera) plus John Etheridge (guitar) for the last two pieces of their London show. In the audience were Wagstaffe, Chris Welch (author of "Yes—Close to the Edge") and Nick May.

Yes & related collaborations
Banks guested on Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, a tribute album to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon organised by Billy Sherwood—details here. In an interview for Guitar Player (Sep 2006 publication date, but conducted in the first half of the year), Banks says, "I may be doing something with former King Crimson violinist David Cross, and there are two potential projects involving former Yes personnel that I'm sworn to secrecy about for now." One of these Yes-related projects was probably a reference to early ideas around what became CIRCA: (with Sherwood, Tony Kaye and Alan White), but Banks ultimately was not involved with this. The other may have been writing with Jon Anderson.

Banks and Jon Anderson are writing some new material together—details also on main page. In Oct 2007, former Flash road manager George 'TheMiz' Mizer reported that "Pete [Banks] has givin up on a FLASH reunion [see next paragraph] at this time as he wants to be part of the YES 40th Anniversary in 2008". See main page for more on Banks and Yes. On the other hand, in an interview in Record Collector (circa Oct 2006), Banks said, "It's been suggested to me to do an album of Yes pieces, but why? I don't want to repeat something I did 200 years ago."

Flash
Banks and former Flash road manager George 'TheMiz' Mizer, through their production company AdequateSounds, are trying to arrange a release entitled In Public, an archival 16-track recording of a complete 1973 Flash concert recorded by the Record Plant. Banks blogged in Apr 2008 about the album, describing it as "a forth coming CD called FLASH "In Public" we have had many offers for a JAPAN release but this is worth a wider release. So we shall see what comes ." An edited version of one track ("There No More", a.k.a. "Room with a View", originally 18 min.s long) can be heard on Banks' MySpace page.

Syn
Banks left The Syn reunion: in an interview in Record Collector (circa Oct 2006), he says, "That was a bitter experience [...] the singer [...] was impossible."

Other news
Banks has been planning a project with singer Reggie King (ex-The Action). In a Nov 2006 interview, Banks talks of producing King and assembling a backing band: "I'm hoping to put a special band together, can't say too much about it because I've not spoken to Reggie about it. [...] I'm hoping to tempt him into the studio. It would involved people who played the Marquee in the late 60s, like Phil Collins, Chris Squire, Stevie Winwood, this kind of thing. But we're still discussing things."

Banks will be guesting on a number of tracks on the next studio album by Yesterdays, due spring 2008. (Banks' Harmony in Diversity were supported by Yesterdays at MiniProg Festival in Budapest in Feb 2007.)

In an interview in Record Collector (circa Oct 2006), Banks says, "I have almost enough material for a solo album too, but I'm not sure I want to release one, as I burned myself out on the previous one. If I did, it'd be live-in-the-studio with my wish-list of players. It's been suggested to me to do an album of Yes pieces, but why? I don't want to repeat something I did 200 years ago."

[Support this website by buying Return to the Dark Side of the Moon and other releases through Amazon (US or UK): go to the Where Are They Now? Amazon listings page.]

Some while back, Banks recorded parts for three tracks on Ant-Bee's planned album Electronic Church Muzik (as Billy James, Ant-Bee co-wrote Banks' autobiography "Beyond and Before"). Other guests include Daevid Allen (Gong), Gilli Smyth (Gong), Jan Akkerman, Napoleon Murphy Brock (ex-Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention; vocals), Don Preston (ex-Mothers), Bunk Gardner (ex-Mothers), Rockette Morton (ex-Capt Beefheart's Magic Band), Zoot Horn Rollo (ex-Capt Beefheart's Magic Band), Moogy Klingman (ex-Todd Rundgren; keys), Roger Powell (ex-Todd Rundgren; keys) and members of the the Alice Cooper Group. At last report, Ant-Bee (a.k.a. Billy James) is still working on the album.

Banks was interviewed (circa Nov 2006) for a documentary about Pink Floyd's Meddle album. He said in the aforementioned Nov 2006 interview that he wanted to write another book: "not a biography, about music in general and the way I view it now and the way it was. I'm pretty opinionated and want to get it out of my system."

Peter Banks has a MySpace page. This may feature some archival recordings Banks has, including The Syn live in the 1960s.

Around May 2007, Moraz recorded a solo show for XM Radio, with a set including new material written for this show. The recording was being mixed in May, with broadcast to follow in Jun on XM Fine Tuning (channel 76). In an Oct 2006 interview with the Francophone Yes fanclub, Nous Sommes Du Soleil, Moraz talked about possible live work in the US, Japan, UK and the Netherlands. In a Feb 2007 interview, Moraz talked of his desire to play live with a band and that he was rehearsing for live performances, but he did not seem to have any specific plans for shows. Moraz had said that Vega Music, a Japanese label who are re-releasing Moraz's solo album Resonance there (see below), would like to bring him to Japan for both some piano and electronic concerts. In a interview for Innerviews published in May 2007, Moraz talked about what material he might play live, describing delving deep into his back catalogue with material from Mainhorse, Refugee ("like "Papillon" or a bit of "Credo.""), The Story of i, Out in the Sun, Future Memories, and "even" Timecode. He adds, "Perhaps I'll play some Moraz-Bruford pieces like "Children's Concerto" as well" and that he "might consider playing something from Yes like "Soon"".

Moraz has done music for a forthcoming DVD release called "Transmuteo" by Jean-Luc Bozzoli; trailers featuring Moraz' music are now online. In his interview for Innerviews, Moraz expands:

it’s a story made up entirely of visuals and music, with no story or words. [...] The music will have a very symphonic approach and some of the pieces are very emotional.

My friend Ahmin Bhatia just asked me if I would participate on one of his projects celebrating 60 years of analog synthesis. He’s going to recreate a huge piece by Ravel and is inviting several keyboardists to take part. I said if I have time, I will do it. However, my time is currently being spent in Los Angeles working on film scores and it’s very satisfying.

Moraz and Ronnie Ciago (percussion) have been working on an album together. Moraz has also been recording with drummer John Wackerman (Chad Wackerman's brother, ex-Kazumi Watanabe).

Moraz played on sessions for bassist Dave LaRue (The Dixie Dregs, John Petrucci) for a second solo album which has yet to appear.

Longer term plans
Moraz has talked of multiple further projects, but many of these appear to be some way from producing any output. He has plans for a third "Future Memories" show, which he discusses in a new interview on a forthcoming DVD release of the first two "Future Memories" TV programmes (see below).

For some years, Moraz has been working on an "electro-ethnic" solo album, A Way to Freedom. In an interview circa May 06 (Notes from the Edge #299), Moraz said:

A WAY TO FREEDOM seems to be taking a long time to come out. It's not the lack of material, but more about the inherent inertia which has surrounded the project from the beginning. I have lots and lots of recorded material already, but I never seem to be able to put the finishing touch to the production as a whole. Especially now that I have all these [re] releases [...] coming out [see below] [...] It is still a work in progress and I cannot announce its release yet. But it will come out in the not-too-distant future.

Moraz has expanded "Modular Symphony (1st Movement)" from his 1987 Human Interface album into an entire piano conerto, which he intends to release at some point according to a Mar 2005 interview.

Although he has no immediate plans, in his Mar 2005 interview, Moraz talked of his willingness to do a video or film project based on his solo album The Story of i. In his NftE interview (Jan 2001), he said, "I've also been writing and researching some stories. I'd like to do a movie of THE STORY OF I either in 3-D computer graphics, an animated version, or the real thing. I have also written a couple of other movie scripts; one is a science fiction story and the other is about the life and times of a composer who lived three hundred years ago." In an earlier interview (Oct 2000), he said: "I have just about 30 other projects that I have already composed, I've composed hundreds of pieces of music in the last 9 years. [...] I have also, maybe, studying to get a commission for a symphony orchestra perhaps in europe for next year [2001]." At some point, he has been planning to do a charity Christmas album.

In the 2005 interview, Moraz mentioned too his desire to do some live shows with flautist Syrinx to play music from their album Coexistence/Libertate, although again there are no specific plans at present. Moraz has said he may collaborate with Annie Haslam in the future.

Re-releases and previously unreleased archival material
Voiceprint are releasing remasters of much of Moraz' back catalogue through their and Moraz' new TimeWave label. The first two albums in the series were the eponymous releases by Mainhorse (IDVP001CD) and Refugee (IDVP001CD). These were followed by Moraz' solo albums:

• Story of I (IDVP003CD; bonus tracks "Cachaca Variations" and "Cachaca's Children's Voices")
• Out in the Sun (IDVP004CD; bonus track "Batucada")
• Patrick Moraz III (IDVP005CD; bonus track "Excerpt from Museeka Mageeka")
• Coexistence/Libertate (with Syrinx; IDVP006CD; bonus track "Working Jam with Patrick Moraz and Syrinx")
• Timecode (IDVP007CD; bonus tracks "No Sleep Tonight Remix" and "Black Brains of Positronic Africa Remix")
• Future Memories Live on TV (IDVP008CD; bonus track "Paris in a Bottle")

Future Memories II (IDVP009CD; bonus tracks "A Moment in New York" and single version of "How Basic Can You Get")
• Human Interface (IDVP011CD)
• Future Memories I & II (IDVP010CD; bonus track "Here Comes Christmas Again (Et Revoici Noel)"; alternate version of "More Tea, Vicar")

"Live in Princeton" (VPDVD31) is a remastered DVD, now out; tracks: "Aural Contact I/Sacrifices", "Soul Eternal", "Aural Contact II/Initiation", "Lost Way", "Cachaça", "Isle of View", "Oral Contact: Shout!", "Talisman" (including "Caravan" theme by Duke Ellington), "Caprice of the Gods", "Blue Monk" (originally by Thelonius Monk), "Intro/The Best Years of Our Lives", "The Story of i" (1975 promo film). Also now out is "Future Memories Live on TV", a DVD of the TV programmes "Future Memories" (now in stereo as opposed to the original mono broadcast) and "Future Memories II". Tracks: from "Future Memories I" (recorded 1979)—"Black Silk", "Eastern Sundays", "Metamorpheses"; from "Future Memories II" (recorded 1982)—"Flippers", "Heroic Fantasy", "Satellite", "Pilots' Games", "Navigators", "Video-Games (How Basic Can You Get?)", "Chess", "After the Year After"; interview with Jon Kirkman (dur. 41:58). The "Future Memories I" TV programme realisation was by François Jaquenod, from a scenario by Moraz and Jaquenod; sound engineer: Jean Ristori. "Future Memories II" was recorded by Barry Radman and Ristori, except "Video-Games" by Gregg Jackman (worked with Yes and  Chris Squire); TV-play by Moraz and Jaquenod.

In 1989, Moraz was working on a follow-up to Human Interface for Cinema Records. At the same time, he was renting his studio out to guitarist Kazumi Watanabe, who was recording his solo album Kilowatt with Bunny Brunel (bass), John Wackerman (drums), Wayne Shorter (ex-Miles Davis, ex-Weather Report; sax) and others. Many of these musicians played on sessions for Moraz' album, while Moraz also played on Kilowatt. The deal with Cinema Records fell through, but, according to his 2007 interview for Innerviews, these sessions "will form the basis of [an] album that will come out soon." Moraz refers to recording with Watanabe, Brunel, Wackerman and Alex Ligertwood (ex-Santana, ex-Brian Auger; vocals), while in a Mar 2005 interview, he had also talked about Shorter being on the recordings.

In an Oct 2006 interview with the Francophone Yes fanclub, Nous Sommes Du Soleil, Moraz was asked whether there might one day be a release of a Dec 1987 live-in-the-studio performance in support of Human Interface. Moraz replied yes:

Oui, celui-là j’en ai le master sur DAT et je vais le mastériser avec Jean Ristori dans les semaines à venir. Bien que la partie électronique de la musique soit très similaire à l’album de studio de « Human Interface », ayant tout joué « live » en direct,  avec l’aide d’ordinateurs et de « midi » cependant, le son lui, est plus « urgent », peut-être un peu moins sophistiqué que sur l’album de studio, et les tempi sont dans certains cas plus rapides ! Et puis les lignes improvisées sont évidemment différentes de celles de l’album de studio. [...] J’ai retrouvé des enregistrements inédits de pièces pour pianos préparés que j’avais enregistrés ultérieurement et que j’ai mis en bonus sur le CD.

In separate developments, Chris Squire's solo album Fish Out of Water, on which Moraz and Bruford play, was re-released by Wounded Bird Records and is being re-released with bonus material by Squire's Stone Ghost Records—see under Chris Squire.

[Support this website by buying the Moraz remasters and other releases through Amazon (US or UK): go to the Where Are They Now? Amazon listings page.]

Refugee
Refugee consisted of Moraz (keys), Lee Jackson (The Nice, ex-Jackson Heights; bass, vocals) and Brian Davison (The Nice; drums). Voiceprint, within their series of Moraz releases, have re-released the band's only contemporary album, Refugee (IDVP001CD), plus the live Refugee CD, Live in Concert - Newcastle City Hall 1974 (VP421CD), one of the band's earliest concerts, sourced from tapes held by Davison and fully endorsed by the band. The set was mainly drawn from the album, but with some further pieces played: "Outro - Ritt Mickley", "One Left Handed Peter Pan" (previously unreleased Refugee original), "The Diamond Hard Blues Apples of the Moon" (originally by The Nice), "Someday", "Papillon", "She Belongs to Me" (originally by The Nice), "Grand Canyon Suite", "Refugee Jam" (previously unreleased original). The CD booklet includes several photos from the gig and liner notes by Martyn Hanson.

In his 2007 interview for Innerviews, Moraz says that he is "not ruling out regrouping Refugee either. I'm in touch with Lee Jackson and Brian Davison every few weeks and we're talking about maybe doing a couple of reunion shows in Europe." However, sadly Davison died on 15 Apr 2008.

Trevor Horn Official site; SPZ website; ZTT Records website
The Producers Official site; MySpace page
The Producers consists of, as the name suggests, various producers: Trevor Horn (bass, vocals), Steve Lipson (worked with Grace Jones, S Club 7, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Annie Lennox, Will Young; guitar), Lol Crème (Art of Noise, ex-10cc; guitar, vocals), Chris Braide (Malmo, written for Glenn Tilbrook, Clay Aiken, Will Young, Kylie Minogue, S Club 7; keys, vocals) and Ashley 'Ash' Soan (Rick Wakeman's English Rock Ensemble, Enrique Iglesias, ex-Del Amitri, ex-Squeeze; drums). Braide is the main vocalist, but Horn and Crème sing lead on some songs. The band began recording their debut album in Dec 2006 at Hook End Studios. In Mar 2008, the band announced they had finished mixing it and that release under the title Studio 1 would follow on Stiff Records (a sister label to ZTT). However, by Jun 2008, the band were back recording and the album is now entitled Watching You Out There and will be released on a different label. The debut single was "Barking Up the Right Tree" (3:21; Crème on lead vocals, Horn on double bass), backed with "Freeway" (5:55; Braide on lead vocals; originally announced as the debut single), now out (Stiff Records, CDBUY270). A number songs could be heard on their their MySpace page and at the Stiff Records website. There is also a video for "Barking...", a hand-drawn animation by Crème. (A teaser video for "Barking Up the Right Tree" and "Freeway", produced by Lol's son, Lalo Crème, can be seen at Braide's MySpace page here.) The band is managed by Luke Mitzman (Lipson's stepson).

The single was co-written and co-produced by all five of the band. Album tracks: "Freeway", "Waiting for the Right Time", "Watching You Out There", "Your Life" (Horn on lead vocals), "Barking Up the Right Tree", "You and I", "Stay Elaine", "Man on the Moon" (Braide on lead vocals), "Music From BelAir" (inspired by Horn's time as a homeowner in California). A song entitled "Seven" (in 7 time about an escort agency, with Horn on Vocoder) was played live; I presume it is included under some other name. Gary Langan (ex-Art of Noise, worked with Yes) is mixed and engineered. "Barking Up the Right Tree" is also included on the 4CD The Big Stiff Box Set (SALVOBX402).

The band have played two recent London dates in Apr and May 2008 (as support for Zucchero). A 5-date UK tour was planned for Oct 2007, but, according to one report, it was cancelled save for the opening London night. The set then was: "Two Tribes" (instrumental, originally by Frankie Goes to Hollywood), "Invisible" (originally by Braide), "Waiting for the Right Time" (from Studio 1; Braide on acoustic guitar and lead vocals), "Rubber Bullets" (originally by 10cc; Crème on lead vocals), "Music from Bel Air" (from Studio 1; Horn on acoustic guitar and lead vocals), "Freeway" (from Studio 1, which Horn introduced under its original title of "Driving"), "Into the Great Wide Open" (originally by Tom Petty; Horn on lead vocals), "Your Life" (from Studio 1; Horn on lead vocals), "Barking Up the Right Tree" (from Studio 1), "Man on the Moon" (from Studio 1; Braide on lead vocals and keys), "Seven" (from Studio 1; Horn on lead vocals and Vocoder, including Soan drum solo), "I'm Not in Love" (originally by 10cc; Braide on lead vocals and keys, Crème on keys), "Video Killed the Radio Star" (originally by The Buggles; with comedy bossa nova intro), "Watching You Out There" (from Studio 1; live debut), medley: "Space Oddity/Highway 61/Everybody Wants to Rule the World". "You & I" (from Studio 1) was also played, but I forget where it came in the set list. An encore of "Get Back" (originally by The Beatles) was planned, but not played due to lack of time. In an interview in Apr 2007, Horn said they might do more Buggles numbers at a future show, including "Living in the Plastic Age".

Production and solo work
Trevor Horn did a film score in 2007 for the forthcoming drama/comedy "Kids in America" from Universal Pictures, but said in a May 2008 interview that he wasn't particularly interested in doing many more films.

Horn is producing the first English-language album from Israeli artist Aviv Geffen (MySpace page; Blackfield). They are recording at Sarm Studios in London with players including Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield; guitar) and Mike Garson (ex-David Bowie, ex-Smashing Pumpkins). The electronic press kit for the album, including a brief comment from Horn, can be seen on YouTube.

Horn is producing the debut album from electronic string quartet Escala (MySpace page), who signed to Simon Cowell's record label, Syco Music, after appearing on TV show Britain's Got Talent. The band are Izzy Johnston (ex-Wild; violin), Chantal Leverton (ex-Wild, ex-City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, worked with Blue, War of the Worlds, Aled Jones; viola), Nastasya (Tasya) Hodges (ex-London Symphony Orchestra, ex-The Heritage Orchestra, worked with War of the Worlds, Arctic Monkeys, Take That, The Streets; cello) and Victoria Lyon (ex-Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, ex-City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, worked with Simply Red, War of the Worlds; violin). The group came together doing session work for McFly. The album, due 12 Jan 2009, includes the "Chi Mai" theme by Ennio Morricone, "Finding Beauty" by Craig Armstrong, Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir", "Children" by Robert Miles, Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars", "Live and Let Die" by Wings and "Palladio" by Karl Jenkins, plus pieces by Prokofiev and Bach.

Horn produced Set the Mood, the debut album from David Jordan for ZTT/Mercury Records, now out. Tracks: "On the Money", "Place in My Heart", "Sun Goes Down", "Set the Mood", "Love Song", "Move On", "Sweet Prince", "If I'm in Love", "Glorious Day", "Only Living Soul" (co-written with Chris Braide (The Producers)), "Fight the World". The album peaked at #8 in the UK and #60 in Switzerland. "Place in My Heart" was the lead single, with remixes by Joey Negro and StoneBridge; there is also a music video. While it failed to chart, the second single, "Sun Goes Down", peaked at #4 the UK, #20 in Ireland, #34 in Italy and #42 in Switzerland. The third single is "Move One", including new track "Ghost Train" as a b-side, and also charted in the UK. Musical director for David Jordan's band is Paul Sayer (also guitar), while also working on the album were Braide and Steve Lipson (The Producers).

Horn is also producing the forthcoming album (rumoured to be called Maladies) from singer/songwriter Kid Harpoon (a.k.a. Tom Hull; MySpace page); summer recording sessions in Los Angeles, CA were planned. Tracks are expected to include a re-working of his own song "Riverside" plus new material.

Now out is Evolver, the 11-track album from R&B singer John Legend. Horn co-produced the final song on the album with Devo Springsteen (a.k.a. Devon Harris; worked with Estelle, Kanye West, Aretha Franklin), "If You're Out There", which was inspired by Barack Obama's Presidential campaign. The track, which also features the Agape International Choir, has been released as digital download in the US (and is available free from Obama's website, but you need to supply a US zip code and phone number). It made #10 in the Billboard US Bubbling Under singles chart (i.e. approx. #110 on the singles chart) and #135 in the UK chart. The album entered the US chart at #4 (15 Nov) and the UK chart at #21 (1 Nov); it reached #26 in Japan and #5 in the Japanese foreign album chart. Others working on Evolver include Andre 3000 (Outkast), Kanye West, Estelle, will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas), Pharrell Williams, Brandy, Akon, Kelly Rowland and The Neptunes.

Vocalist Fiona Renshaw (worked with Lisa Stansfield, Kubb, Mr. Scruff) has recently recorded some vocal sessions with Horn and Lol Crème (The Producers, Art of Noise, ex-10cc), although for what project is unknown: presumably her own forthcoming album. She's also signed to Horn's publishing company Perfect Songs.

This is Hazelville (EMI) is the debut album from Captain (MySpace page) and produced by Horn. The band are Rik Flynn (vocals, guitar), Clare Szembek (vocals, piano, percussion), Mario Athanasiou (guitar), Reuben Humphries (drums, piano) and Alex Yeoman (bass). Another new band with links to Captain and The Delays (who have worked with Horn) is Ghosts and they have signed to Perfect Songs, Horn's publishing company.

Horn had been working with Enrique Iglesias on an album, at one point expected in Nov 2005, but delayed. Geoff Downes has played on two tracks of the project, including a cover of Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight". However, this material appears to have not been used.

In a Yahoo chat in Oct 1999, Horn wrote: "I'm writing a musical [...] about Robots." In a 2008 interview, Horn said he had an upcoming "Musical/Show project".

[Support this website by buying This is Hazelville and other releases through Amazon (US or UK): go to the Where Are They Now? Amazon listings page.]

Pet Shop Boys
Horn produced the Pet Shop Boys' Fundamental (Parlophone); tracks—all written by Tennant/Lowe unless otherwise stated: "Psychological", "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show", "I Made My Excuses and Left", "Minimal", "Numb" (written by Diane Warren, originally intended for the PopArt compilation but not used), "God Willing", "Luna Park", "I'm with Stupid", "Casanova in Hell", "Twentieth Century", "Indefinite Leave to Remain", "Integral". See details in Yescography. A special edition version includes a second disc (Fundamentalism) with 8 remixes: "Fugitive (Richard X extended mix)", "Sodom (Trentmoller remix)", "Psychological (Alter Ego remix)", "Flamboyant (Michael Mayer remix)", "I'm with Stupid (Melnyk mix)", "In Private (Stuart Crichton club mix)", "Minimal (Lobe remix)", "Gomorrah (Dettinger remix)". Various alternate mixes and versions of the songs appeared on different formats. The album went Gold in the UK where it peaked at #5 (#1 on the album dance chart). It also made the top ten in Denmark and Switzerland, and the top twently in Sweden and Finland. It made the US electronic chart's top five. Singles from the album were "I'm with Stupid", "Minimal" and "Numb", the last of those in an edit with new production by Horn. B-sides on various formats include a new dance mix of "Psychological" by Ewan Pearson and a live version of "West End Girls" from Concrete on which Horn plays (see next paragraph).

Concrete (Parlophone/EMI) is a 2CD live album out in the UK (no US release planned). It is a recording of an exclusive London show on 22 May 2006 by the Pet Shop Boys with the BBC Concert Orchestra (conducted by Nick Ingman) with Horn (bass, musical director), Dudley (keys, piano), Phil Palmer (ex-Tina Turner; acoustic guitar), Steve Lipson (The Producers, ex-Grace Jones, ex-Frankie Goes to Hollywood; guitar), Paul Robinson (ex-Buggles;drums), Lol Crème (The Producers, Art of Noise, ex-10cc; backing vocals), Andy Caine (backing vocals), Lucinda Barry (backing vocals), Sylvia Mason-James (ex-Robbie Williams, ex-Chicane; backing vocals), Sally Bradshaw (opera singing), Pete Gleadall (programming) and guest vocalists. Tracks: "Left to My Own Devices", "Rent", "You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk", "The Sodom and Gomorrah Show", "Casanova in Hell" (with Rufus Wainwright), "After All", "Friendly Fire" (with Frances Barber), "Integral", "Numb", "It's Alright", "Luna Park", "Nothing has been Proved", "Jealousy" (with Robbie Williams), "Dreaming of the Queen", "It's a Sin", "Indefinite Leave to Remain", "West End Girls". The album made #61 in the UK.

The Pet Shop Boys' Disco Four, now out, includes "Integral (PSB Perfect Immaculate mix)" and "I'm with Stupid (PSB Maxi-mix)". In conjunction, "Integral" was released as a download single (making #197 in the UK chart), with a physical version released only as a promo. Ewan Pearson's re-mix of "Psychological" is included on his album Piece Work, also out.

Produced by Trevor Horn: 25^th anniversary celebration
Produced by Trevor Horn was a celebration of Horn's career on the 25th anniversary of The Buggles' The Age of Plastic, his first major release, encompassing a charity concert recorded for DVD and a compilation album (see in Yescography). The live concert was held in Nov 2004 in aid of The Prince's Trust charity. The line-up consisted of artists who have been produced by Horn and both Yes and The Buggles appeared. The show was recorded (and overdubs done, it seems) for a DVD release. A Region 2 release came in Japan first as "Produced By Trevor Horn: The Best 25 Years of Pop" (Geneon Entertainment). A US release under that title was announced (Clear Channel Entertainment Home Video 00110-7, distributed through Ventura Distribution; dur. 2 hours 40 minutes), with bonus material to include backstage footage, interviews and "Frankie Say Reform" (the documentary about Frankie Goes to Hollywood's search for a new singer), but did not appear and its status is unclear. The show was broadcast on HDNet (US TV). A 2-hour UK release through ZTT is now available under the name of "Slaves to the Rhythm". The Japanese release has songs out of order compared to the evening's perfomances and seems to omit Dollar's "Mirror Mirror" entirely, whereas the UK release is complete.

There was a 'house band' for much of the evening, which varied somewhat, but included Horn (bass, backing vocals), Dudley (Art of Noise; keys), Geoff Downes (keys), Jamie Muhoberac (ex-Seal; keys), Lipson (electric guitar), Robinson (ex-Buggles; drums), Alan White (drums), Lol Creme (The Producers, Art of Noise, ex-10cc; acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Palmer (ex-Tina Turner; acoustic guitar), Luis Jardim (ex-Asia;percussion), Bruce Woolley (ex-Buggles, ex-Grace Jones; backing vocals, guitar), Tessa Niles (worked with The Buggles; backing vocals), Barry (backing vocals), Debi Doss (worked with The Buggles, The Kinks, Pet Shop Boys; backing vocals), Linda Allan (worked with The Buggles; backing vocals), Andy Caine (backing vocals) and an orchestra (conducted by Nick Ingman (worked with Jon Anderson), string leader Gavyn Wright, horn leader Steve Sidwell). Tim Weidner (produced Magnification) was also in attendance, while orchestral sound was by Greg Jackman (worked with Chris Squire, Steve Howe). The acts were:

• The Buggles: "Video Killed the Radio Star", "Living in the Plastic Age"
• Dollar (with house band): "Mirror Mirror", "Give Me Back My Heart"
• Belle & Sebastian: "I am a Cuckoo", "Come Into My Office, Baby"
• Grace Jones (with house band): "Slave to the Rhythm"
• Art of Noise (including Horn, White, Dudley): "Close (to the Edit)"
• Propaganda (Claudia Brücken/Michael Mertens/Ralf Dörper/Susanne Freytag with house band): "Das Testament des Dr Mabuse"
• ABC (with Dudley): "Poison Arrow", "All of My Heart", "The Look of Love"
• Yes (Chris Squire—bass, White—drums, Trevor Rabin—guitar, vocals, Steve Howe—guitar, Downes—keys, Horn et al.—backing vocals): "Cinema" (Downes on Keytar), "Make It Easy" intro/"Owner of a Lonely Heart" [Squire, White and Downes were seemingly involved in mixing "Owner of a Lonely Heart" for the DVD]
— intermission —
• Pet Shop Boys (with Sally Bradshaw): "Left to My Own Devices", "It's Alright"
• Lisa Stansfield (with house band): "Takes a Woman to Know"
• t.A.T.u. (with house band—Horn and Creme both on bass): "All the Things She Said"
• Seal (with house band): "Killer", "Kiss from a Rose" (new arrangement), "Crazy"
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Ped Gill—drums, Mark O'Toole—bass, Paul Rutherford—vocals, Jed O'Toole—electric guitar, Ryan Malloy—lead vocals, with Steve Lipson—electric guitar, Luis Jardim—percussion et al.): "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome" (with Howe—lap steel), "Two Tribes", "Relax" (with Horn—backing vocals).

The Buggles
Horn and Downes were discussing the possibility of reforming the Buggles. In his blog for 20 Jun 2005, Downes wrote, "I was supposed to have a meeting with Trevor Horn and Jill in London today, but [...] we did it remotely. [...] It's just about a new Buggles album we've been talking about for some time and maybe to coincide with the 25th year anniversary next year of MTV." As well as appearing at the Produced by Trevor Horn show in Nov 2004, thought has also been given to further live work. An article in Jul 2004 in The Independent (UK newspaper) reported that "The idea for reforming Buggles for a belated tour emerged when [Horn] performed "Video Killed the Radio Star" at a Belle and Sebastian concert in Los Angeles last year [2003] and the audience went wild. [...] no decision has yet been made on a full tour because of the cost, leaving the Wembley concert [of 2004] as possibly the only option for older pop fans to see Buggles perform live." At the Produced by Trevor Horn concert, Horn said his original idea had been a low-key Buggles tour. Downes also previously hinted at the possibility of live Buggles work, saying in an interview in early 2004: "The Buggles was much more a studio environment idea, which we never actually took on the road. Things may change though - watch this space later this year [2004]!"

ZTT were promising a remastered release of the second Buggles album, Adventures in Modern Recording, in 2005 including all the original b-sides and a new interview with Horn, but this has not appeared.

The reunited Asia, including Downes, are playing The Buggles' [SPOILERS—highlight to read] "Video Killed the Radio Star" in their set—see details here.

Art of Noise
In the Apr interview for Future Music, asked about whether the Art of Noise will be doing anything new, Horn said, "We keep talking about it." He also describes how they worked on a "visual sampler" before The Seduction of Claude Debussy: "So when you hit a note, you get a picture as well as sound. [...] there's about a 20 minute video that Lol Creme did, and I'm going to put it on DVD."

Now out, And What Have You Done With My Body, God? (ZTT) is a 4CD box set about the early Art of Noise. The set includes a 36-page booklet with track-by-track commentary by Horn and the other four original members, Anne Dudley (ex-ABC), Gary Langan (worked on 90125), JJ Jeczalik (worked on 90125), Paul Morley. One track is entitled "Close to the Edge" in reference to the Yes song of the same name on which this piece was loosely modelled; Alan White plays drums. Disc 1-3 consists of previously unreleased material, including from the original Who's Afraid... demo tapes, and Anne Dudley has collated fragments into a set of finished pieces (including "It's Not Fair" and "It Stopped"). Disc 4 consists of the full 'Into Battle with the Art of Noise' EP and 'Close (to the Edit)' and 'Moments in Love' cassingles, released on CD for the first time.

ZTT have also produced a new, limited edition, promo-only sampler CD (ZTT202CD) in unique slip-case artwork taken from the box set, shipped free with orders over £10 placed at the ZTT shop. It has 12-tracks, including "Once Upon a Lime" and "Close to the Edge".

Other news
Now out is Zang Tumb Tuum: The ZTT Box Set (Salvo Music (Union Square Music), SALVOBX405) is a 3CD/1DVD box set compilation of 25 years of ZTT Records. The set includes both hits and rarities, plus remixes, from multiple artists, including many produced by Horn. The DVD will be 72 min.s long, consisting of music videos. The box is being compiled by ZTT's archivist Ian Peel, who has also penned a 72-page booklet. This will also include contributions from Horn and particularly Paul Morley (Art of Noise). Details in Yescography.

ZTT are planning an anniversary Frankie Goes to Hollywood release with rarities. Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" (produced by Horn) is included on the 2CD collection North By North West: Liverpool & Manchester from Punk to Post-Punk & Beyond 1976-1984 (Korova), compiled by Paul Morley (Art of Noise). (A 3CD limited edition version is also available.)

A Jul 2004 article in The Independent (UK newspaper) reported Horn as saying "that he knows he will have to give up producing some day because the hours are "just crazy"." The article goes on to quote Horn directly: "It's a tough game being a record producer. I've always worked very hard and very intensively. I've never left anything to chance." In a May 2008 interview, Horn said that his children and running the business (since his wife's accident) takes up most of his time, but that he still likes making records.

Horn's music business concerns are complex, but there is SPZ Holdings Ltd., which then owns Sarm Studios (who operate recording studios and manage record producers and engineers), Perfect Songs (music publishing company) and ZTT Records Ltd. (record label; MySpace page).

Horn was made a Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (Lipa) Companion in Jul.

Geoff Downes Official site; Official online store; MySpace page

Asia
The Four Original Members of Asia
The original Asia line-up—namely Downes (keys), Steve Howe (guitar), John Wetton (ex-King Crimson, ex-UK; bass) and Carl Palmer (ex-Emerson, Lake & Palmer; drums)—have re-united and have a new album, Phoenix. Details are on the Asia page.

iCon
The Wetton/Downes collaboration iCon is continuing in parallel to their work together in Asia. (In a Mar 2006 interview, Downes said, "It's important to point out [...] that the Icon stuff is quite a different approach [...] So this is Icon, this is Asia. There are really two quite different styles we address to each one.") The pair have been writing together and will be recording the collaboration's third album in Sep, with live dates planned for early 2009 (before Asia tours from Apr) and a subsequent release. The new line-up, in the studio and live, will be with Hugh McDowell (ex-ELO) on 'cello, who has worked with Asia and iCon previously, plus Dave Kilminster (MySpace page; Roger Waters, ex-John Wetton, ex-Qango, ex-Keith Emerson; guitar) and Pete Riley (Dave Kilminster, ex-Keith Emerson; drums). They have announced a special concert at St Mary-Le-Bow Church in London on 21 Feb 2009 (moved from 30 Jan) for an audience of 200, to be filmed for DVD release: see press release here. The set will premiere material from their third album plus include [SPOILERS—highlight to read] earlier iCon and Wetton/Downes material and "songs from their heritage bands including King Crimson, UK, Buggles, Yes and ELO". Before that, the band play a short Japanese tour with 4 dates 7-12 Feb (I think the Japanese dates will be without McDowell).

Their second album, Icon II: Rubicon (Frontiers Records, FR CD 309), is out in Europe, Japan (on Marquee/Avalon Records) and the US (on Renaissance Records, RMED-0802). Tracks: "The Die is Cast", "Finger on the Trigger", "Reflections (Of My Life)", "To Catch a Thief", "Tears of Joy", "Shannon", "The Hanging Tree", "The Glory of Winning", "Whirlpool", "Rubicon". The album was recorded with familiar Wetton/Downes collaborators, Christey, Mitchell and McDowell. Guests included Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering; vocals) and Katie Jacoby (Paul Green's School of Rock All-Stars; violin). "Tears of Joy" is co-credited to Eddie Jobson as it is based on "[t]he last song EJ and I were working on , many years ago," explained Wetton. See Yescography for details. Never in a Million Years (Frontiers Records, FR CD 306; duration: 60:27) is a live album, on Marquee/Avalon Records in Japan and Renaissance Records in the US. The album was taken from live touring in 2006. It appears that the content comes from more than one show; tracks include "Pane Bruno", "The Heat Goes On", "Only Time will Tell", "Voice of America", "I Lay Down", "Days Like These", "Bolero", "Meet Me at Midnight", "Never in a Million Years", "We Move as One", "Paradox/Let Me Go", "Don't Cry", "Open Your Eyes", "The Smile has Left Your Eyes" (recorded at a Roland Virtual Icon show in Germany with pre-recorded contributions from McDowell on 'cello).

In his Jan and Feb 2007 blog entries, Downes describes a project of "short pop-songs" with his friend, long-time collaborator and lyricist Ben Woolfenden. They "are looking for a few killer vocalists to do this work justice (hopefully) and finish it all off."

Again in his Feb 2007 blog, Downes describes a new project also involving Tony Levin (bass), Michael Holmes (IQ), Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard, ex-Genesis), Thomas Lang (ex-John Wetton; drums), Rob Aubrey (worked with Wetton/Downes; engineer). Downes writes:

[In Feb] We [Downes, Holmes & Aubrey] were working on a few tracks that they have been putting together at their respective studios. At the moment it's what you might call a 'virtual' project, with people sending in their stuff/parts from all over the World. [...] It's a fairly interesting but low-key kind of project, and the material - quite different and unusual, but at the moment is still very much a kind of 'work-in-progress' type of thing. Any of you prog-heads out there will probably love it all and lap it up

Other news
The Buggles appeared at the Produced by Trevor Horn show in Nov 2004. As well as playing in the Buggles, Downes was in the 'house band' for much of the evening, performing with many of the other acts. A DVD is out. More details and other Buggles news under Horn. Downes also plays on an Enrique Iglesias project being produced by Horn—details under Horn.

Downes appears on a number of projects headed by Billy Sherwood: a tribute album to Pink Floyd's The Wall; another for Led Zeppelin; a forthcoming Beatles tribute album—details here.

Downes appears on a new project from Starwood, a spin-off from the band Lizzy Borden.

Jerusalem were an early 1970s British heavy rock band whose one album was produced by Deep Purple's Ian Gillan. Bob Cook (guitar) and Lynden Williams (vocals) have reformed the band for an album produced by Rob Aubrey and, in his Jan 2007 blog, Downes describes doing a session for the project. Others appearing on the album include Pete Trewavas (Marillion; bass), Dave Meros (Spock's Beard; bass) and Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard; drums).

Downes sometimes plays with the Loco All-Stars, also with Hugh McDowell (Wetton/Downes, ex-ELO; cello), Paul Martinez (ex-Paice Ashton & Lord, ex-Robert Plant Band; bass), Ian Luther (guitar), Nicky Hopkins (ex-Robert Plant Band; drums). The band, who have a fluid line-up, were recording a CD to be sold at live shows; Downes is on six tracks including "How Long", "Keep on Rocking", "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Superstition".

News about Asia Featuring John Payne and associated releases is on the Asia page.

New solo album
Rabin is actively working on a new solo album. In an interview published Mar 2008, Tony Kaye said, "I think [Rabin i]s working on a jazz album. [...] I think he's doing all the instruments himself." Talking to Innerviews back in late 2003, Rabin said he hoped to record a new solo album soon. "But if I get a call from someone I'm excited about working with, it's very difficult to turn down." He continues "I've got quite a lot of material together that I'm happy with. When I get enough together I'll start to do an album." In an Aug 2002 interview for Notes from the Edge, he said:

I've got enough material for about half an album at least [...] I just haven't got time to get around to it.

I think I'd sing on it, but it would be far more instrumental. The previous solo albums were very much singer-songwriter efforts with me delivering a lyric and performing as a guitar player [...] Now, I think it would be a little more eclectic and a lot more natural maybe. It wouldn't stick to a certain genre. I wouldn't do what I'm expected to do. I think it would be a lot freer.

Film scores etc.
Rabin is doing the scores for two forthcoming Disney films: "Race to Witch Mountain" (remake of the 1975 film; due 2009) and "G-Force" (animation due summer 2009). On the latter, Rabin takes over from former collaborator Harry Gregson-Williams, as he has moved to another Disney project. He is also working on "12 Rounds", also due 2009.

Rabin was a speaker at the Fimucité (Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife/Tenerife International Film Music Festival) in Jun in Tenerife, Spain. The festival included a performance of Rabin's film music by the Tenerife Film Orchestra & Choir, a 90-piece orchestra and 60-member choir; set (conducted by Joel McNeely): "Gettysburg/Virginia" (from "Remember the Titans"), "Closing Cards (Overture)" (from "The Great Raid"), "Launch" (from "Armageddon"), "Aftermath" (from "Deep Blue Sea"), "Ben" (from "National Treasure"), "The Game" (from "Remember the Titans").

Rabin scored "Get Smart: The Movie". A 20-track release, Get Smart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Varèse Sarabande, 302 066 904 2), is out in the US; tracks: "Smart Dreams", "Get Smart Theme", "Cake Factory", "Theme (Look One)", "Max Denied", "Max Takes a Bow", "Dropping Like Flies", "Theme (Look Two)", "Agent 23", "Max Ejects", "Skydiving", "Laser Hallway", "Entering Moscow", "Rooftop Fight", "Max Calls 99", "Theme (Look Three)", "The Big Chase", "Wish We Had More Time", "Smart Exit", "Theme (Look Four)". The album includes several re-interpretations of the original TV show's theme, which was by Irving Szathmary, in different styles. The score was performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony in Jan, conducted and orchestrated by regular Rabin collaborator Gordon Goodwin, as well as using electronic elements, guitar and percussion. The score incorporates Irving Szathmary's title theme from the original television series. The score was produced by Paul Linford and mixed by Steve Kempster, with Greg Dennen as the score recordist and ProTools by Larry Mah. Music executives for Warner Bros. are Debi Streeter and Carter Armstrong. The film opened in the US in Jun and was #1 at the box office there. A sequel is planned with Rabin to do the music again.

Rabin continues to be busy with soundtracks for films. He did the score for "Hot Rod", out now, and a score album has been released on Sony Legacy with 9 tracks by Rabin, music by other performers and dialogue. Additional music was by frequent collaborator Paul Linford. The score was recorded and mixed by two more frequent collaborators, Steve Kempster and Paul Linford, and produced by Rabin.

He worked on "National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets". It was the 12th highest grossing film of 2007 in the US (despite only opening 21 Dec). The score is available on digital download and Rabin was given a BMI award for his work. Rabin previously worked on "National Treasure".

[Support this website by buying Snakes on a Plane: The Album and other releases through Amazon (US or UK): go to the Where Are They Now? Amazon listings page.]

Two tracks on CIRCA:'s debut album, CIRCA: 2007, are co-written by Rabin, being based on material Billy Sherwood and Rabin worked on in 1995 after the Talk tour—see details here.

Rabin is interviewed in the documentary film "Finding Kraftland" about Richard Kraft, who heads Kraft-Engel Management, the agency to which Rabin is signed.

Rabin has employed Jesse White (Alan's son) as a ProTools operator.

Archival releases
Two Rabbitt albums have been re-released on CD in South Africa by Fresh Music. The band's second album A Croak and a Grunt in the Night comes with the bonus track "Morning Light", while their first, Boys will be Boys, comes with "Brand New Love" and "Auld Lang Syne". Voiceprint have released a Trevor Rabin compilation in their Sixty Minutes With... series (VP6019CD).

Projects with multiple Yesmen
Billy Sherwood is the nexus for a number of projects involving other Yesmen, both current and former band members (particularly Tony Kaye and Alan White), which are covered on their own page. In summary, there is:

• CIRCA:, a new band with Sherwood, Tony Kaye, Jay Schellen (GPS, ex-Asia, ex-Hurricane, ex-Lita Ford, ex-Badfinger, ex-Peter Banks; drums, percussion) and Jimmy Haun (played on Union, w