This page last updated: 1 Jul 2009

On other pages: Yes news - Anderson & Wakeman - Jon Anderson writing with Trevor Rabin - ... and with Peter Banks

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Health
Anderson has been suffering from asthma for some time, with problems during Yes's last period of touring up to 2004. (In a Mar 2008 interview, Anderson said he has reactive airway disease (RAD), which is akin to asthma. He discussed his health problems as they then were in an early-Feb 2008 interview with Notes from the Edge.) On 13 May 2008, he suffered a very serious attack and was hospitalised in intensive care for some days. Yes's summer tour was cancelled; see discussion on main page. It is unclear what the long-term implications are for Anderson. There have been suggestions that he may never tour again or that he may be significantly curtailed in any future touring. All of Anderson's ongoing projects, as described below, must be affected. The June press release from Yes said:

Overview of the direction of Anderson's career
Central to Anderson's future plans is the question of whether he will have an ongoing relationship with Yes or not. Squire/Howe/White are touring without him, but Anderson and Squire have talked about a reunification in 2010—see on Yes news page. Anderson appears to be focusing on his solo career and some other collaborations, but it is unclear how his protracted ill health has effected plans.

In a Mar 2006 article, Anderson explained, "When I look back at the some of the artists I've met over the years, they're most creative [later in life]. Whether they're commercial is not the point. They're creative around 60 or 70 years old [...] there is that delicate balance of getting older and wiser and more in tune with your creative self." Anderson has talked about his current and future plans in a number of interviews: while it is hard to join up all the dots, perhaps often reflecting how the plans being described are still in flux, four broad themes had emerged, but it is as yet unclear how what impact his health problems may have:

• Anderson has been keen to tackle a substantial backlog of projects and musical ideas. In a Jan 2005 Rockline interview, he said his new year's resolution was "to finish all the songs and projects I've started and not finished for the last twenty years." In a circa May 2004 JamBase interview, he said, "I just got in a trunk full of songs I've written over the years and there must be a thousand songs there. [...] I was wondering what am I doing [with all this music]. And this thought came to me: I better start. I better get on with it." In the Mar 2006 article, Anderson discusses various projects that he has started over the last few decades, saying, "I want to get [those] finished and get ready for the coming next few years because I think these are the best years of my life coming up." In a Mar 2008 interview, Anderson is quoted as saying: "I'm always working on one or two or three things. I've got to finish this stuff, but there's time. I've got another 20 or 30 years left." He is going about this in a number of ways, including The Lost Tapes and other archival releases, re-visiting his "Chagall" musical and what seems to be his main musical project, a sequel to Olias of Sunhillow, The Songs of Zamran: The Son of Olias.
• Anderson is keen to use DVD and other technology. For example, in the interview for JamBase, Anderson commented: "DVD is really where we're going, visual music, visual art, visual everything." His first solo DVD release was "Tour of the Universe". His methodology also includes greater use of the Internet and he has been talking about doing live webcasts from his home studio. In an Oct 2005 interview, he said, "The modern way of making music is not the same as it was thirty years ago. There aren't the record companies interested, so you've got to make your own website. And that's what I'm doing, is creating my own broadband system, so that I will do some concerts next year [2006] just straight to broadband and they'll go all over the world. Whoever wants to download them, they can." In a Nov 2005 interview and another in Dec 2005, Anderson describes similar plans, also talking about these live webcasts being interactive with the audience able to send him messages. The aforementioned Mar 2006 article also refers to a CD-ROM "that will incorporate original music and philosophies that have shaped him as an artist." He hopes to start transmitting solo shows from his own studio, presumably over the Internet. He blogged in Jul 2007: "i hope to be transmitting shows from my studio in October [2007] [...] it will be fun , singing YES songs old and new....Jon & Vangelis songs....Andy/Waky [Anderson & Wakeman] songs.....talking about projects....the world news...singing new songs from ZAMRAN [see below]". In an early Feb 2008 NftE interview, Anderson said, "I love to experiment, and I'm working on…I'm doing some podcasting next month, and I got my podcasting system". These projects have yet to start however.
  
• Some of Anderson's recent projects generally involve a solo approach to making music: so, as with how Olias of Sunhillow was made, Anderson performing, recording and producing the material all by himself.
• Meanwhile, Anderson has also embarked on a large number of collaborations. In a Mar 2008 interview, he said, "I'm doing a zillion things with the Internet and with a dozen musicians around the world on a dozen projects." In another, he said, "I've got about 20 people around the world I've been working on and off with for over a year now. Your backyard now is the Internet." These typically involve both the collaborators working on Anderson's demos of the various projects described below (including, in particular, multiple people working on orchestrations) and Anderson adding to material from the collaborators.
  

New releases
Anderson has been working on multiple projects (detailed below), but timelines are unclear. Some new recordings have appeared. A re-release of 3 Ships (see below) includes two new tracks: "I Give Hope" and "Ray of Hope". As "Give Hope 2007", the former was previously to be heard on Anderson's MySpace page.

In an interview with German magazine Eclipsed in late Nov 2007, Anderson said he would be releasing 6 albums on his own label in 2007 that will be available in selected stores or for download ("Ich habe auf eigenem Label 2007 satte sechs Alben veröffentlicht, die man sich in ausgesuchten Laden kaufen oder downloaden kann."). He goes on to describe these as "Ethno-Music" influenced by different world cultures ("Eine Art Ethno-Musik, die von den unterschiedlichsten Ecken dieser Welt und ihren Kulturen geprägt ist."), but that it is not for classical Yes fans ("Es ist nichts, was dem klassischen Yes-Fan gefällt, dafür ist es zu wenig symphonisch."). I presume he is referring to his Opio label on Voiceprint and is including re-releases: Voiceprint re-released 3 Ships and had two more re-releases in early 2008 (see below) followed by a new release (possibly of archival nature) in From Me to You, part of The Lost Tapes collection, in the middle of 2008.

Anderson has made a number of MP3s available for free on his MySpace page. These have changed over time, but have included new recordings of "Time and a Word" and "Give Love Each Day"; and various new pieces. Recent live material (see below) has also been included. 2007 began with "Give Hope 2007" and an instrumental, "Relaxadagio". Further new pieces in 2007 included "Thirteen", "Third", "Songbirding" and "Three", while currently there is "PEACE". Some pieces are also on his Facebook page, including what seems to be a new piece called "Heaven" (dur. 9:33).

Solo appearances
Anderson is returning to live performance this summer following his severe asthma attack in May 2008. He is playing some new material: about 5 new songs, although reports are unclear. These songs have been described under a number of different names; I've tried, where possible, to connect the different references. One of the new songs (called "There are Doors" in one report, and which is not the song known as "Under Heaven's Door") is based on the chords of "Richard".

His first show back, a warm-up for the Have Guitar Will Travel tour, was on 6 Jun at Mongo's, Grover Beach, CA celebrating his wife Jane's birthday. This was a one-man show, along similar lines to his Tour of the Universe shows (see next section), but with three new songs. He played 2 sets, of about 35 and 45 minutes respectively with a 20 minute intermission, using acoustic guitar, a MIDI guitar and a Yamaha electric piano. Set list: [SPOILERS—highlight to read] "Yours is No Disgrace", "Long Distance Runaround" (aborted), "Time and a Word" (reggae style, also incorporating "She Loves You" by The Beatles), "Sweet Dreams", "Under Heaven's Door", "I'll Find My Way Home", "Unbroken Spirit of Mine" (new song; written with Jan Kantor (spelling uncertain) about Anderson's period of ill-health), "Wonderous Stories", "Owner of a Lonely Heart"; intermission; "Piano Medley" ("Set Sail"/"Close to the Edge"/"Marry Me Again"/"The Revealing Science of God" intro), "Long Distance Runaround", "And You and I", "Starship Trooper", "No Point", "This is (Buddha Song)", "I've Seen All Good People", "Roundabout", "Happy Birthday to Jane", "Soon". The audience was about 200 people.

A low-intensity schedule covering a number of European dates follows; Anderson described it on Facebook as "more like a vacation, with one show every week", with he and Jane basing themselves in Paris for a period and then he will "pop out" to play a number of shows. In a Jun 2009, Polish radio interview, asked about Yes, Anderson said, "The Yes group is touring with, er... somebody who looks like me and sings like me when I was 30. [...] I was very sick last year. And I was only singing two months ago, three months [...] It's very impossible for me to tour on the big scale, so that's why I come just for a show here [in Poland]." The first confirmed date was in Warsaw, Poland on 30 Jun; attendance was around 875. The set appears to have included everything played at the Mongo's show, plus the addition of "Polonaise" and two more new songs, "Music is the God of the World (Have Guitar will Travel)" and "Count Your Blessings". His version of "Roundabout" had an intro, possibly taken from "Concerto Uno". "Under Heaven's Door" and "Count Your Blessings" were played on a three-stringed Chinese instrument.

He played Bilston, UK on 3 Jul; the set included "Sound Out the Runner" and "To the Galleon". He plays the Colours of Ostrava festival (11 Jul) in Ostrava, Czech Rep. Two Italian dates follow: Sorrento (at Parco Ibsen) on 14 Jul and Rome on 16 Jul. He is also playing Paris, France, probably in late Jul. He then has 3 UK dates: Southend-on-Sea on 25 Jul, Northampton on 1 Aug and Liverpool on 2 Aug.

An appearance in at hrad Devín (Devín Castle), Bratislava, Slovak Rep., is planned for 15 Aug. This free show will see Anderson performing "Sadness of Flowing" (from Peter Machajdík's album, Namah; see below), "Close to the Edge" and "Nous Sommes du Soleil" with a group of Slovakian musicians, Miki Skuta (ex-Capella Istropolitana; piano), Juraj Burian (ex-Klobása; guitar), Oskar Rozsa (Marian Varga; bass), Martin Valihora (ex-IMT Smile, ex-Midi, ex-Prúdy; drums), Eugen Prochac ('cello) and Jozef Luptak ('cello), with Machajdík and possibly also Marian Varga on keys. The show will be part of the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain and include a number of Czech and Slovak bands, as well as speeches by Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa and others.

Anderson then talked on Facebook of "maybe some shows on the [US] east coast at the end on August". He has also tweeted about playing Carnegie Hall, New York in Aug, but Carnegie Hall is closed throughout that month.

Tour of the Universe—DVD, live album and tour
Several releases have come from Anderson's solo touring, notably Live from La La Land (OPIOVP02-CD), a 2CD recording of a 2005 US solo show, and "Tour of the Universe" (Region 0, Classic Pictures Entertainment DVD7045X (PAL)/DVD7045XNTSC (NTSC)), a live DVD recorded at XM radio in 2004. Having been originally released in the UK, the latter was released in the US/Canada in Feb 2009.

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

Anderson has been using visual backdrops on his tours, including material by artist John S Banks. Those visuals appear on "Ritual Path", a new DVD from Banks, including a guest appearance by Anderson—see details below. Further live DVDs are planned. In an interview circa Apr 2006, Anderson said, "By the end of this year [2006] I'll record a new DVD of a totally new show." It's unclear whether this happened as planned. Talking further about the new songs he's played, Anderson continued, "Some of the new songs are based on a project that I am sort of slowly discovering over the next two or three years. I've written about five or six other songs this year [2006] - now I have about a dozen songs for next year [2007]. For the next five or six years I want to put together about four or five DVDs of new songs plus old Yes songs and songs of Vangelis that I've never actually done before and songs of Yes that I've never recorded before, which should be nice to do." As for where these DVDs will be recorded: "I'm going to do it here at home. I have my studio all ready to do it. [...] I'm actually going to try to do it on the Internet LIVE." A Mar 2006 article reported Anderson was archiving performances for future release. Anderson says, "We actually filmed a concert in Poland [probably the 11 Sep 2005 show], a concert in Paris and a concert in Brazil. They're all sitting here, but I haven't looked at them yet because there are so many things I gotta do!"

In a Feb 2004 Delicious Agony interview, Anderson talked about not recording his new songs on a studio album, but continuing to tour the new material and releasing a series of DVDs; he suggested then that it will take about three DVDs. In an interview later that month with Rockline, he spoke of having solo shows for the next five years planned and affirmed plans for DVDs thereof. Comments while on tour in Mar 2004 fit in with these ideas of no studio recordings, concentrating on touring and multiple DVD releases. "I think I'll release five DVDs over the next eight years," Anderson said in a Dec 2005 interview with Anil Prasad of Innerviews. "I have to space them 18 months apart to have the animation be created. The packages may contain both a DVD and a CD of the audio."

Studio solo work
Anderson has talked about dance music projects. In a Mar 2008 interview, Anderson said he is working on, according to the article, "various solo projects that incorporate trance and dance music." Another article the same month described him as "cooking up some dance music he plans on sending free of charge to clubs; working on an opera based on the Brazilian novel "The Alchemist"; and writing songs for an upcoming Yes album and tour." A third article that month says Anderson is "now creating a concerto for strings with arranger Bill Kirkpatrick" (this is distinct from his guitar concerto) and "a full-length work for choir and orchestra called For Children Yet to Come." (Another 2008 article refers to a Bill Kilpatrick in collaboration with Anderson, which I presume is the same person, but I don't know which article has the name right.) Anderson is quoted: "I have some trance-dance music that I'm doing, and rap-hop which I wrote 18 years ago is coming through again." References to dance and trance may be to a collaboration with Fritz Heede (see below). The choral and rap projects are described below.

Anderson has described various projects, including The Songs of Zamran, a sequel to Olias of Sunhillow covered in its own section below. The new songs played on Anderson's solo tours were associated with a possible album called The Big If. In the earliest reports, The Big If was called Solo Singing—Songs from the Spirit Game, seeming to be connected with plans for a computer game. By Jun 2003, Anderson had approx. 24 songs partly written for The Big If, including "The Big If", "Summerlight", "Tony and Me", "Those Days", "White Buffalo", "Tiger, Tiger", "This Is (Buddah Song)", "Don't Think Twice" and "Father Sky". ("Show Me", recorded by Yes, was also linked with The Big If.) Anderson has been working on these songs, performing (nearly all on MIDI guitar and keys), recording and producing the material on his own.

Visuals are important to the project(s). To quote Anderson (circa May 2003): "I want to create a very freeform album based entirely on a surround sound concept with video and strong imagery tied directly to the music. Movement is very important to music, and to the future of music." Early reports described an associated computer game with interactive music called "The Spirit Game", for which Anderson has been developing ideas for some years. He was working on the game with Sierra Studios (who did the game "Homeworld"), then put out a call for game developers to work on the project, but nothing more has been heard along those lines. More recent comments have not been clearly linked to discussion of The Big If: in an interview published Jan 2004, Anderson said, "I've also been working on the idea of creating a video game. I want to be in video games because it's the future of our world, in more ways than one". In the Dec 2005 interview by Anil Prasad, Anderson said, "I'm trying to build a framework of a video game because it's a way for young people to connect with what I'm doing." In a 2003 interview for iO Pages, Anderson said there was more to The Big If than just an album and referred to an associated computer game based on Olias's story (so, presumably, related to The Songs of Zamran).

"The Big If" material reportedly has some sort of theme running through what has been written already and future planned material, although the precise nature of that remains unclear. In an interview published in Jan 2004, Anderson described the album as being an hour long song cycle. Anderson has also talked about writing more autobiographical lyrics, like "Tony and Me" about his brother, while an Oct 2003 interview reports a slightly different slant:

His next solo album, Anderson says, will consist of long musical pieces with lyrics based on his observations of and relationship with the natural world.

"I think the lyrics I've been writing have been close to the first albums but more refined," he says. "I think that more than anything, I come from the hippie world of peace, love and forgiveness. [...] I'm working more in the spiritual sense of being."

In a Jul 2005 interview, asked what he was currently up to, Anderson replied, inter alia, "working with this dude 'Chris at his Polish Animation company and A Canny dude in Scotland, and Brad in South Bend .....and this guy John Banks who is perfect for my stories etc.........all these guys are very happening in the Art world..a lot of this work is based on the next 'OLIAS' saga..." (Anderson has also been working on other projects with John Banks; see below.) In a Dec 2005 interview for Delicious Agony, Anderson said he was working on "the next 40 minutes of new music, which is the beginning of maybe 6 episodes of the return of, not Olias, but the son of Olias, who's Zamran." In that interview, Anderson describes having written a story outline of about 20 pages. He again talked about working with animators on the project. Anderson put out a call on his website for animators: "Jon Anderson is seeking talented animators to help him with one of his upcoming solo projects, which he describes as a "return to Olias". If you are an animator capable of producing professional-quality 3D and graphics animation, this may be an opportunity to gain international exposure for your work." In the Jan 2005 Rockline interview, Anderson said he was working with six animators on a project, presumably the same one.

The relationship between 'The Big If' and The Songs of Zamran is complex. In a post to his MySpace page in Aug 2006, Anderson said: "All this new work has been evolving for many years under the title, "the Big If". Eventually it will be known as, "The songs of Zamran". (Son of Olias)." However, other comments have suggested that 'The Big If' or elements of it have a separate existence to The Songs of Zamran. Anderson has long talked about a sequel to Olias of Sunhillow, both in the sense that Anderson is playing all the instruments again but also in terms of continuing the story. In a Feb 2005 interview, Anderson said he's been working on the project for two months and that it will take "two or three years to finish it". In an Oct 2005 ProgRockRadio.com interview, Anderson said, "I'm starting next year with the second installment of that idea, so for the next two or three years I'll be doing sort of the Return of Olias and the Songs of Zamran, which is the son of Olias and the next step in the evolvement of the planet." (In reported remarks to a fan in 2004, Anderson described the Olias project as actually a prequel to Olias of Sunhillow, although that seems incompatible with the repeated references to a son for Olias.) In his Aug 2004 MSN Chat, Anderson said: "I'm working on trying very hard to piece together this large jigsaw puzzle of music that I've been working on for the last 10 years. It will become, hopefully, a DVD or a series of DVDs. It's a lot of music, it will happen. It's Olias' Return." In a late 2003 interview in iO Pages, Anderson said the project would not be finished for three years (so, 2006). He has also said that the album is planned as the first in an ongoing series and, in Jun 2003, "If I do it right, this project will just continue, and it'll be the next ten years or so of my life"; "In my head I can see and understand everything about this project and how the stories should be told, but to put it all down in the proper order is a challenge."

Interviews going back some years refer to this/these project(s). In one from around Oct 2001, Anderson said: "I've been working on this piece of music for a year now [...] I did [...] "Olias of Sunhillow" where I performed all the music, and I'm getting back to that place again." Asked whether this would represent a sequel to Olias..., he continued, "Yeah, I'm trying to figure it out as we speak. It has a lot to do with the mysticism that surrounds us. We're going to go through a period now, because of the Lord of the Rings movie coming out. There will be a lot of interest in the mysticism of life and things like that." In a NftE interview seemingly done in 1999, Anderson said: "I've been working on [a] project for a couple of years and that's going to be the next one. It's going to take me another year to fulfill what it is and figure it out and then I think I want to record everything myself, like the Olias album. I want to go back to that point in time and reinvent that whole idea of a pure solo album and do it that way."

Anderson is also collaborating with author Willow Polson to turn Olias of Sunhillow into a full-length fantasy novel. They are also considering the option of a graphic novel. Polson posted to Yesfans.com in Jul 2007 that, "Basically, I'll be the main author, but will be consulting with Jon at length to develop the details of the world and story he created [...] I will also be presenting this project to the major fantasy publishing houses at Comic-Con (San Diego) at the end of the month, so stay tuned for more info." She continued, "This will be a lengthy journey... don't look for an actual book you can hold and buy for probably 2 years. At least a year to write, maybe more, then the whole selling/editing/production process. We're hoping to get either Roger Dean or David Fairbrother Roe for the cover art." (Roe (worked with Anne McCaffrey) did the artwork for the original album.)

Over Christmas [2006], the Mormon Tabernacle Choir [link] sang a song of mine from an album called "Change We Must," which I did with the London Chamber Orchestra. The guy that actually conducts and does the orchestration for the choir asked me if I would be interested in writing something, and it turns out I've had this piece of music for about 20 years and it's about singing to the children to come. Singing to the souls of the children in heaven who are gonna come and wake us up and make us realize how beautiful life truly is.

Chagall and First Born
Anderson is planning to release "Chagall", his musical about the artist, possibly in a newly recorded version, as well as another piece he wrote around the same time called "First Born" about Daphne Charters' (1910-1991) experiences with fairies. In an Oct 2005 interview with Progressive Rock Radio, he said of "Chagall", "I created a sort of musical interpretation of his life. I should finish it! I know that a demo of the project got [bootlegged] I'm thinking of putting it out as it was originally recorded and finished 18 years ago [...] and then take it on the road as a new version. I'll probably release it next Spring [2006] and then hopefully [in 2007] I'd love to do a one-man show of the idea and that takes a lot of work." In a Dec 2005 interview for Delicious Agony, he talked of working on a "better quality production" of "Chagall" for 2006, but that he was seeking the required permission from Chagall's estate. Prior reports suggested it had undergone significant changes from the version widely bootlegged. In the Dec interview, Anderson talked of "First Born" and then continued, "There's Uzlot. There's about four or five different albums that have never got out there. So over the next couple of years, we're to release them, slowly, so people can build up a sort of library [of his music]." In the Dec 2005 interview with Anil Prasad of Innerviews, Anderson explained:

When I hit 60 I thought "I really gotta get stuff finished." I have the Chagall project which has never been projected onstage. I finished the recording 15 years ago and someone bootlegged it. Now, I'm thinking of putting out the correct version of it in 2006, along with another work I did at the same time which was about the fairy kingdom—the devic world—called First Born. The Fairies of the devic world are the interdimensional light beings that surround us and our world. We live in a world where they say there are eight specific dimensions and we're living in the third dimension, moving into the fourth. The fairies and devic beings are moving from the fourth dimension to the fifth. What's helping us move from the third to the fourth is computer-laser energy

I'm going to put that ["Chagall"] out too. I never wanted it to come out, but it's already out there bootlegged. A very bad copy was stolen from my studio so I'm going to put that out along with [...] a sort of children's fairy tale about a musical kingdom. It's kind of beautiful, funny and a little quirky. I'm going to put that out at the same time.

Anderson wrote and recorded with guitarist/producer Robin Crow an album's worth of material in sessions finishing mid-Jan 2001, but there appear to be no current plans to release the material. Crow brought in Phil Keaggy to record acoustic guitar parts for 6 songs on the project. On a 2004 DVD (Keaggy's "Philly Live"), Crow describes the project as "mostly myself and Jon Anderson... It's mostly just a simple album with acoustic guitar and his vocal." Neal Williams, Keaggy's archivist, wrote in Jan 2002: "I think they are just waiting on Robin and Jon to get it finished! I haven't heard the tracks Philly played on, but he is very pleased with the sessions." In Jul 2002, Anderson said that he hoped to eventually release this album, but that there was so much else that he wanted to work on and put out first. In Dec 2002, someone from robincrow.com reported that there was no release date for the project.

Anderson has been working on a number of other solo projects, but details remain sketchy and it is unclear how different reports and projects interrelate; Record Collector (Jan 2002): "Anderson revealed that he has no fewer than five album projects on the back burner". A late 2003 interview with iO Pages suggested that his next solo album would be a piano and vocals album some time in 2004. Anderson was quoted in Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza in Oct 2001 as saying that he would be releasing a rock solo album in 2002. However, in Record Collector (Jan 2002), he talked of his "next" solo album as being recorded with the London Chamber Orchestra. I remain unclear on how all these relate to each other. As The Big If-related projects are recorded by Anderson alone, they appear to be distinct from the 2002 Record Collector report or the Anderson/Crow project. The rock style reported by Gazeta Wyborcza suggests a different project to Record Collector's with the London Chamber Orchestra. However, the rock album of Gazeta Wyborcza could refer to the Anderson/Crow project. The piano and vocals album might possibly tie in with the London Chamber Orchestra album. Anderson's tendency to talk about projects at early stages of development should be kept in mind. A more recent report describes an unfinished Anderson project from some years back of material in a "rock and roll style", including the song "Sweet Religion", which was performed live in 1993 solo shows.

Collaborations
Anderson and Rick Wakeman have been working together as a duo. An album is expected and they toured the UK in 2006 with a set list including new material, but mostly based on Yes songs. See details here. A Jun 2006 report said that Anderson had been writing together with Trevor Rabin, but a collaboration with Peter Banks has stalled. For both stories, see details on main page.

With the School of Rock All-Stars
Anderson was performing with Paul Green's School of Rock All-Stars. There was a short north-eastern US tour in Mar 2008. A new set of 28 All-Stars included Dave Maruzzella (team captain, drums), Emmett Butler (keys), Devin Calderin (keys), Jenny Founds (keys, guitar, vocals), Jeremy Savo (guitar), Max King (guitar), Dan Murphy (guitar), Gina Gleason (guitar), Ramsey Modiri (guitar), Ronnie Disimone (guitar), Natalie Butts (guitar, vocals). The 7 Mar set was: (approximate order) "Siberian Khatru" (with Gleason on guitar), "Going for the One" (with Founds on vocals)—first two without Anderson—"Roundabout", "Every Little Thing", "Magnification" (with Butts on guitar and additional vocals), "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "I've Seen All Good People", "Long Distance Runaround"—Anderson then left the stage—"the fish", "Clap", "Discipline" (originally by King Crimson), "Long Time Gone" (originally by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young), "Mood for a Day" (played as a guitar duet by Disimone and Modiri)—Anderson returned—"And You and I", "Heart of the Sunrise", "Starship Trooper". This was broadly typical of the tour, but there was some variation across performances. The opening night (4 Mar) included "Mood for a Day", "Siberian Khatru", "Roundabout", "Heart of the Sunrise", "And You and I", "Sweet Dreams", "Every Little Thing", "Discipline", "I've Seen All Good People", "Long Distance Runaround/the fish", "Wonderous Stories", "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Going for the One" (with Founds on vocals), "Starship Trooper", "Magnification", "Sooner" (new Anderson solo song debuted in 2007), "Time and a Word" (reggae version), "Good Times, Bad Times" (originally by Led Zeppelin) and two further songs by The Beatles (including one from Abbey Road). Anderson also performed solo later that month in Canada and some of those shows included members of the All-Stars—see above. Four southern California dates followed in Apr. On the second of these shows, the All-Stars played without Anderson "Highway Star", "The Real Me" (originally by The Who), "Frankenstein", "Mood for a Day" and "Clap". With Anderson, the set included "Yours is No Disgrace", "I've Seen All Good People", "Roundabout", "South Side of the Sky", "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Long Distance Runaround/the fish", "Perpetual Change", "Every Little Thing" and "Starship Trooper".

Dan and Tim made a short documentary following Anderson around on this tour with the School of Rock All-Stars, viewable on YouTube. Their film of the tour is billed as "coming soon".

Anderson and Green talked of plans for the All-Stars to open for Yes on their Jul/Aug North American tour, which was subsequently cancelled due to Anderson's ill-health—see details on main page. The All-Stars have since done a live Yes set without Anderson since.

With Fritz Heede and John S Banks
Anderson is collaborating with composer Fritz Heede and artist John S Banks. Banks has previously worked with Anderson, including visuals for his solo touring, and those visuals appear on a new DVD from Banks and Heede: "Ritual Path" (Artek Images, distr. Koch Entertainment). The DVD, a sequel to their "Illuminated Manuscripts" DVD, is about an hour long. It contains 10 tracks of images to music and an additional 14 environmental loops, all in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. Music is by Heede; Anderson wrote lyrics for and sings on "Come By (Waterfall Ascent/Descent)" (dur. 4:08), used for the short film "Ascent/Descent". An accompanying 14-track soundtrack CD (Aeon of Horus Music/Magical Eye Records) is out. The other vocalists on the project are Heede's wife Nijole Sparkis (singing and co-writing plus loops, on 3 pieces), kaRIN (Collide) and Molly Pasutti (worked with Spock's Beard).

Heede and Anderson have co-written a forthcoming album, Dream Dancing (previously going under the working title of Trance-scendent Dance), with Heede (guitars, piano, sitar, electronics, vocals), Anderson (layered vocal rhythms), Gilbert Levy (ethnic percussion), Suzanne Teng (native flutes), Terry Glenny (violin), Sparkis (choral background singing, vocal arrangements, engineering and possibly some songwriting), Pasutti (choral background singing). Heede described the album to me as "The album will not be traditional trance music (rave) ... it is much more sophisticated. It is groove-based so it will have a natural uninterrupted flow. The songs develop over long arches with Jon sing[ing] a dozen or so layers of pulsing rhythmic chants." The album, with at least four tracks, is now expected 2009 on VoicePrint. An accompanying DVD in 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound is also planned. This is presumably the project(s) Anderson first mentioned in 2004: in his MSN Chat of Aug that year, he talked about 'trance' music, but seemingly in the context of a Yes project (see under Yes news), while in an interview from circa May 2004, he said:

I was talking to a guy an hour ago about a project I've had in my head all summer [...] I'm getting into trance music [...] Not rave but trance. [...] it's going to be very exotic and it's going to be transforming and transcendental. [...] I heard about this great music from India that lasts seven days. I love that, that it would last so long. And I start thinking, that's what I should do!

Calls for collaborators
In 2006 and 2007, Anderson's websites requested submissions from people interest in collaborating with him. The first, in Aug 2006, read, "Jon Anderson is looking for fresh talent! Specifically, he seeks Symphonic and World Music keyboard players and orchestrators to contribute to an array of musical projects he is planning." In Jul 2007, Anderson announced on his webpage:

A while back, we posted a message calling on keyboard players to contact us if they were interested in collaborating with Jon. The response was tremendous, and as a result Jon is currently working with a number of excellent musicians on some exciting new musical projects.

Jon [...] is now inviting additional "Symphonic and World Music keyboard players and orchestrators" to submit samples of their work for possible collaboration.

Jon has also started work on three large-scale choral projects and a work he calls a "rap opera", so he has expanded his search to talented choral singers and rap producers as well!

In an interview for the May/Jun 2007 issue of the Classic Rock Society magazine, Anderson talked about the results of the first call:

In a late 2008 interview for YesFANZ, Layton talked at length about his work with Anderson. Their collaboration began with Anderson's rap opera:

I received [...] pretty much the content of his entire rap opera [...] I was actually shaking with excitement that day. I thought I’m through, I’ve got the gig, and I’m Jon’s producer. Because, although he has got people working on the orchestrations, they were working off my compositions or expanding my ideas. As the producer I am pretty much expanding the basic ideas. Much of the opera section is Jon’s composition. I was supplying the beats for those [...] I spoke to him over the phone. I said ‘Jon, I think we need the rap section which is kind of a ghetto feel; it is very black, very dark. I think that should be very organic, very dirty sounding, but the opera, I think we should go for a very contemporary electronic beat, very clean, very pristine.’

‘Great idea, perfect’.

So I added very little to the opera except for Kraftwerky kind of simple beat. In some places more like Vangelis where I would add one of those kind of Chariots of Fire ‘duh duh duh’ bass lines. [...] We worked very intensely, very closely probably for about three months.

[...] we got to the end of the assigned work and he said ‘We need six new songs’. He was continuing to elaborate the story. He’d fax me the storyline and he came up with an idea for a bit of comic relief in a character in the story [...] we wrote a song together [...] he is a very funny character, he is one of those recurring light comic relief.

Jon can work extremely quickly [...] I think that is one of the reasons we did work so well together. I work very fast. [...] I could work on maybe three songs a day, send it back to him and he could do a vocal overnight here in his studio and bounce all three back to me the next day with maybe five or six overdubs. This one particular comic character, Jon blew me away because I don’t think anyone in the world would know that Jon Anderson can do one hell of a Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong impersonation. You would not think Jon with that high pitched voice can do that really deep growly voice. [...]

We got to the end of the project and we still needed three or four songs and he said ‘Can you give me some….like we need a love song between this character and that character and it still needs to have this kind of beat.’ So I sent him some basic chord structures, he’d write lyrics to them very quickly, ‘they are just rough but these will do.’ We finished the first draft of the project early this year [2008].

[...]

I am going to have to get some clearance from Jon because I have signed confidentiality agreements on the rap opera so [...] I can’t tell you anything about the nature of the story. Somewhere in between starting and finishing Jon realised that it would make a very good film [...] he seems to be, if not confident, optimistic that he can get this made into a film. Therefore it would be released as a soundtrack rather than as a Jon Anderson solo project. [...] I have probably got maybe three hours of running time just on my computer because some things we’ve let run long. Because at one stage he had a view of just putting it on stage and he said that’s great for choreography. We can extend this section and that can be used for a dance sequence. [...] So which is why as what I think of myself, I might be confabulating my role in the whole thing, as co-producer of the venture, Jon has said that I will want you here when we finish it. Because in its present form, it’s the digital equivalent of two kilometres of unedited tape and none of us are quite sure where to cut and splice

It remains unclear at least in my mind what constitutes a finished product because if it is to be for a stage musical it only needs to be presented in a rough format to be scored [...] He may find that he can’t get the backing for it to go on stage or as a film soundtrack and he might decide to just get fresh vocal performances in because he’s sourced his opera singers, his rappers and he might just bring me in and we’ll tighten the whole thing up and release it either as a double or single CD. Or who knows, the third possibility is that it may fizzle out. I would like to think not

Layton then talks about their subsequent collaborations:

I thought now that is pretty much the end of that. [...] [Then] there was another email [...] ‘Send me some more of those songs with the beats, [...]’ [...] At first I didn’t really know quite what to do. I had a few tracks just lying around which had been discarded by other singers or weren’t to their liking which I thought had potential. And he very quickly wrote some, which were some of the other songs that I had previously [...] on MySpace. There is probably five or six of those which are in a very rough state. [...] none of them had I specifically written for him.

And then [...] I wrote ‘Shine Shine Deliverance’. Now this really grabbed his attention [...] he said ‘You’ve got to release this’. I don’t know where he thinks my connections are, [...] I’m certainly in no position to be releasing anything. But he said, ‘This is a single, we have got to get this out there, but the ending has got to have a gospel choir.’ [...] I don’t know quite where he thought I was going to get a gospel choir from. He obviously was very intent on the idea because I saw on You Tube that when he had the School of Rock together once he had the backing track of Shine Shine Deliverance. He had them singing the backing vocals trying to get them to record it. [...] I think he obviously saw that it wasn’t really happening either because it never went any further than that.

We then had a series of discussions about how would we release this? [...] ‘Are you going to release this as Jon Anderson solo material?’ He said ‘no, no, no no, I don’t see that in my future.’ I don’t know exactly what he meant by that. But I said whatever we call it, it’s your voice and you are the voice of Yes.

[...]

After that point Jon started asking me to write Yes type music. He said ‘Can you give me some lighter, acoustic Yes-flavoured music?’ [...] He said ‘[...] write your music but write the kind of music you would like to see Yes doing now. Pick out everything that’s your favourite and give it to me and I’ll sing.’ Which is what I did with Sacred Balance, I just picked out everything that I felt my perfect Yes song would have [...]

But Jon, before he got a chance to finish it, started having health problems and it’s missing the last vocal section but I’m hoping that it sees its way onto any potential project. [...] We’ve been working on three or four tracks which again he asked me to do them in a Yes style. [...] I kind of reflect on the Time and a Word period as where I see Jon being now. [...] he writes much more rhythmically than melodically. His mind thinks in terms of rhythm first. He places less emphasis on the ebb and flow of the melody than he does on the impact of the beat of what he is singing.

[...] In view of producing Jon in the here and now, I see him more as going back to the simple Jon, the Olias Jon or the Time and a Word Jon where he communicates simple messages in a simple fashion. I don’t think anyone else that he is working with is approaching it like that.

As for progressing to a release of any of this material:

there is my view of it and there is Jon’s view of it. My view is in the realms of the known; Jon’s is in the realms of the unknown. Because Jon just has so many things going on and it causes immense frustration, well it did to me at first and I got used to it, but there are people out there who have worked with Jon who really harbour a good deal of resentment towards him. He has used them for a song and then ignores them for a month or two. And they’ll let him know. [...] I think from what I now know of Jon, when he is very focused on one thing, then that is what he is focused on. When he is on something else you have just got to let him go on to whatever else he is doing. When he is not thinking about me he is not thinking about me and it doesn’t do me any good to email him and chase him because out of the blue he will get in touch with me and I will be the centre of his world for the next two weeks and we will continue working on the material. [...] we probably have sufficient material right now if his voice was up to it that we could finalise. But his voice won’t be anywhere near up to it, I would say probably, and I’m no expert, until mid 2009. [...] I’m not expecting him to place any priority on our project.

Personally I’m pretty sure that the first thing that he’ll want to get finished is the opera project. That’s got, as far as I know, an immense amount of work to do. He has requested for me to be present for future work at his studio. There is only so much we can do via email.

Anderson has also been collaborating with drummer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Tom Curiano. They did 16 songs together in 2007/8 (with "Blessings of Water" and 3 other tracks, Anderson's vocal was recorded circa Nov 2008). Six of these songs are composed by Curiano (including "Lament", "Blessings of Water") with lyrics and vocals from Anderson. Nine are based on demos by Anderson, typically vocals/piano; there is also a piece that Layton (see above) has called "Sacred Balance", but for which Curiano has done a different backing track. In addition, there is a new version of Yes's "Don't Kill the Whale": Curiano also has a MySpace presence as Clearer Companions and that page has his instrumental arrangement to which Anderson is expected to be adding vocals.

Various Anderson/Curiano demos have been briefly available at Curiano's MySpace page and some are now are at the new MySpace page dedicated to their collaboration, including "Lament", "Animal Life", "Many", "Know Now", "Blessings of Water", "The Knowing" (parts 1-3), and on his Facebook page. On these, Curiano produced and plays all the instruments (except piano on "Animal Life", "Know Now", "The Knowing") and also contributes backing vocals. Another piece on Curiano's MySpace, "Glow", may be used in further collaborative work. Subsequently, further pieces were again briefly available on MySpace, including "Beginning" (music by Curiano with vocals and lyrics by Anderson) and two versions of "How". I reviewed some of Anderson's work with Zvonchek, Layton, Curiano and others here.

Anderson has been writing with John Young (ex-Asia, ex-John Wetton, ex-Fish). Young said in his MySpace blog in Aug 2007:

Jon Anderson and myself are writing together albeit a somewhat long distance affair as Jon has been in Hawaii whilst I soldier on in darkest Bucks. (Isn't e-mail a wunnerful thing).
The results are most enjoyable and I hope that it won't be too long before we can share them with the outside world.

Another collaborator is Dan Spollen. He said on 1 May that, "For the past few months I've been creating music with Jon. We have several tracks, most of which are works in progress and slowly evolving." There is a piece with Anderson entitled "Vocal EXP" on his MySpace page and Spollen said, "Jon has some additional melodic layers for this that will be added eventually." A Yes medley on acoustic guitar by Spollen is on Anderson's Facebook page (as "Going for the One" medley).

Ryan Fraley has also been working with Anderson on orchestrations—see on the main page for more on Yes-inspired work by Fraley and the band he co-founded, Wave Mechanics Union. Members of Wave Mechanics Union have produced a big band track for Anderson called "Sweet Jazz". The piece was written "many years ago" by Anderson, and has been arranged by Fraley and performed by Wave Mechanics Union with vocals from Anderson. The recording is for release on an unspecified future Anderson solo album. An excerpt can be heard here.

At least one further collaborator is known to be working with Anderson in secret, under a contractual agreement that prevents any discussion of the project. There are multiple further collaborators as yet unknown to the public.

With composer Peter Machajdík
Peter Machajdík's new album, Namah (Music Fund Bratislava/Musica Slovaca, MAMAH SF 00542131; dur. >70 min.s), is out as a limited edition of 500 copies, and has nearly sold out. Tracks include the 10-minute "Sadness of Flowing", a collaboration with Jon Anderson, who supplied lyrics and vocals. Piano on the track is by Mayuko Kida Takine. (The song is based on a 2002 composition of Machajdík's entitled "Flowing Into the Unknown" from his album Flowing Into the Unknown.) Further tracks on Namah include "Namah" for string orchestra and "To the Rainbow So Close Again" (winner of the 2006 Jan Levoslav Bella Prize), while also appearing on the album are Floraleda Sacchi (harp), David Moss (vocals, drums), Guido Arbonelli (clarinet). Excerpts from the album, including "Sadness of Flowing", can be heard on Machajdík's MySpace page. The album is available by e-mailing PM Management at namah[AT]machajdik[DOT]de; details also on MySpace. Details in Yescography. In Nov, Machajdík did a presentation in Berlin of the album and he talked live during the event with Anderson via Skype. Read my interview with Peter Machajdík about the collaboration with Anderson here. Machajdík has done some further work with Anderson, orchestrating some of his songs.

With Glass Hammer
Anderson guests as an additional vocalist on 2 tracks of Culture of Ascent (Arion Records) from Glass Hammer, now out, and is collaborating further with the band. The band is Fred Schendel (keys, programming, acoustic guitar, string arrangements, backing vocals), Steve Babb (bass guitar, keys, percussion, harp, programming, backing vocals), Carl Groves (Salem Hill; lead vocals), Susie Bogdanowicz (lead vocals), Matt Mendians (drums), David Wallimann (electric guitars), Rebecca James (violin), Susan Whitacre (viola) and Rachel Beckmann ('cello), while Eric Parker (acoustic guitar) and the Adonia String Trio (arranged by Schendel) also appearing. Tracks: "South Side of the Sky" (9:24, cover of the Yes song with a new intro by the band; lead vocals by Bogdanowicz, backing vocals by Anderson), "Sun Song" (9:33), "Life by Light" (7:29; lead vocals by Groves, also with Anderson), "Ember Without Name" (16:33; lead vocals by Groves), "Into Thin Air" (19:14), "Rest" (6:30; lead vocals by Groves). The album has a running theme around Mt. Everest and mountaineering. Babb explained to DPRP, "Jon has been sharing musical ideas with us for a couple of years now [...] the first things to come from this exchange will be on our new album!" Glass Hammer collaborator Bethany Warren said in an interview circa Mar 2007:

Fred [Schendel] and Steve [Babb] are BFFs (best friends forever [...]) with Jon Anderson. Well, I'm probably reaching with that statement. But Steve paid a lil' visit to Jon (the two spent plenty of time in the studio talking about music), and the three have been talking for a few years now. Both Steve and Fred are writing with Jon - there are several works they are joint producing as well, from what I've gathered. Jon is something of a big fan of GH work, and the respect is obviously mutual. Both GH guys are huge fans of the work of Yes and Anderson.

Glass Hammer have since been playing "South Side of the Sky" live and it appears on their DVD "Live at the Tivoli".

With the California Guitar Trio
"Concerto Uno", also known as "Concerto for Four Guitars and Voice", is a piece by Anderson developed in collaboration with the California Guitar Trio (CGT). The concerto (or concertino) originated as part of Anderson's "Chagall" project, entitled "Paris Dance". It may or may not also be the piece described some while before as "Concerto Tre", following on from "Concerto Uno" (a different piece despite the same name) and "Concerto Due" on Earthmotherearth, but written before them. Paul Richards of the CGT described their first meeting with Anderson in his online diary (8 Dec 2004): "Jon got his classical guitar and began playing through all 3 movements of his guitar concerto. Jon strummed his guitar and sang various melodies, explaining that he wanted the CGT to help him embellish on his basic form. [...] we then listened to a CD that he had recorded of all the basic parts played by Jon on guitar and Synclavier synthesizer." An earlier report said the piece was about 12 minutes long. The California Symphony Orchestra with the CGT premièred an orchestral arrangement of the first movement (arrangement by Stan Funicelli (worked with CGT)) in May 2006 as part of a larger programme; Anderson was not present at the shows. The version with the CSO and more recent CGT performances are in the key of D major, whereas the piece was previously in C# major. The orchestral debut of the first movement (in May 2006) was about 6 minutes long: in the programme notes, Anderson writes that another two movements are "in the works". He was said to be considering adding vocals to the concerto's second movement. In an interview circa Apr 2006, Anderson said the CGT and himself have "three movements done now so we're on the fourth movement." The CGT played the first movement of the concerto live on tour in 2005-6 (some early 2005 dates were with Tony Levin or Levin and Pat Mastelotto (both King Crimson)), as well as their version of "Heart of the Sunrise". Live at the Boulder Theatre (CGT Direct Collectors Series Volume 3) is a live CGT show with Levin including a performance of the first movement, available as a download to buy from the CGT Direct store. In an interview, Richards described the piece thus:

I think it sounds very much like Jon Anderson wrote the music but it does have some Spanish-style influences. If it does eventually become a full-blown concerto I think it will be quite interesting to hear. It’s really in its bare essence, maybe it’s more like a sonata at this point but it has some of those wonderful melodies that Jon is known for.

Anderson had said he would like to write more with the CGT. "Heart of the Sunrise" has been part of the CGT's repetoire since prior to their collaboration with Anderson and, at Anderson's suggestion, they learnt some other Yes pieces and have since played "Long Distance Runaround" live. Bert Lams of the CGT wrote of a Jul 2005 meeting (diary, 13 Jul 2005): "Jon casually played us a few songs and idea's accompanied on his midi guitar; we brought our guitars in and rehearsed the first two movements of Jon's guitar concerto, and an acoustic arrangement of "Long distance runaround" [already by then played live] [...] Tomorrow we will do some recording." Richards' diary (15 Jul 2005) describes developing the guitar concerto and their arrangement of "Long Distance Runaround" and then recording both. It is unclear whether these recordings are for release or demos. At a Mar 2006 live CGT show, Richards said that the CGT and Anderson are planning further live and studio work together. In a Feb 2008 interview, Richards said:

We have been doing some collaboration with [...] Anderson. He has some music he has invited us to work on and thats kind of another project that I hope wi[ll] come to light at some point. Its a bit tricky with his schedule and our schedule. I just spoke to him a few days ago and he invited us to his house in southern California to work in the studio he has at his home.

The CGT with Levin played a set at a previous NAMM convention and Anderson joined them for performances of "Heart of the Sunrise" (Anderson on vocals) and (without Levin) the first movement of his concerto (Anderson on guitar and vocals). Anderson, the California Guitar Trio and Levin performed at the Quebec City Summer Festival in Jul 2006, opening for sets by Jon Anderson & Rick Wakeman and then Wakeman's Return to the Centre of the Earth—details are on the main page, here. The CGT with Levin and Mastelotto were to open for Yes at the 2008 Festival on 12 Jul, but the Yes tour has now been cancelled.

With Messertraum and Deborah Anderson
Messertraum (Messertraum Music) is a song-based electronic EP from Andreas Dietrich Allen (Bloodshot Sounds production company, ROCAsound production company, ex-Outside, worked with Sting, David Sylvian, The Dandy Warhols) and Sebastian Arocha-Morton (ROCAsound, worked with Sting, Counting Crows, Enrique Iglesias, Chaka Khan) featuring several guest vocalists, namely Jon Anderson, his daughter Deborah Anderson, J.B. Eckl (ex-Outside, worked with Santana), Andrew Thomas, Mink and Vikter Duplaix. Jon and Deborah duet on "The Key" (duration 4:27), recorded early 2006. Further tracks include "Run", "Messertraum" and "Tonite"; all four tracks can be heard on the Messertraum MySpace page. "The Key" was written by Allen, Arocha-Morton and the two Andersons. The EP is complete, but seems not to have been released yet.

Older collaborations
Uzlot is an album project that Anderson has been working on with Brian Chatton (ex-Warriors, ex-Jackson Heights), which has been many years in the making. The music is reportedly composed by Chatton. Sessions took place in the early nineties—with Stuart Hamm (bass), Chris Squire (bass), Alan White (drums), Keith Heffner (ex-Jon Anderson; keys) et al.—and 8 songs were recorded. (Luis Perez (ex-Jon Anderson; percussion) was also reportedly to be involved, but it is unclear whether he actually was.) A piece by Anderson and Chatton entitled "Welcome Touch" is available on Chatton's MySpace page, but it is unclear when it was recorded or whether it is part of Uzlot.

Anderson has written lyrics for Festival of Dreams, a 'funk-rock' opera by actor Sherman Hemsley. In an interview (Mar 2003), Hemsley said, "I write music [...] The show would be a monster, but I can't get anyone to take it seriously, because they only see me as George Jefferson. We're trying to get it going. All we need is one producer." In another that month, he said, "Jon's taking the music I've written and [is] putting it into 15-minute segments. We've been trying to get this thing happening for three years now" and was reported to be trying to get Anderson to Atlantic City for rehearsals in Apr 2003. In comments to a fan in Oct 2005, Hemsley said that he had not talked to Anderson "in a while" and that "not much happening right now," but that he was "still really looking forward to it coming out."

Guest appearances
Anderson guested on Excalibur II: The Celtic Ring (a.k.a. Excalibur II: L'Anneau des Celtes; Babaika Productions/EMI; Excalibur trilogy MySpace page) from Alan Simon (ex-Roger Hodgson). He sang on "Circle of Life" (composed by Simon with minor amendments by Anderson). In all, 120 musicians played on the album, with guests including John Wetton, Martin Barre, Justin Hayward and Richard Palmer-James (ex-King Crimson, ex-Supertramp; mandolin). The album is available in a regular version or an edition with a bonus DVD of "Making of Excalibur II" (Anderson appears in the video, at work and talking about the project). "Circle of Life" was also the debut single from the album.

The Lost Tapes
The Lost Tapes (Voiceprint) is an 8CD box set, now out, and also a planned, future series of releases, largely consisting of previously unreleased (live and studio) recordings from throughout Anderson's solo career, but also including some previously released but rare (out of print) material. As with Rick Wakeman's Treasure Chest, a box set, The Lost Tapes, was released first with the individual albums now being made available separately (except for two CDs that will remain exclusive to the box set). Unlike Treasure Chest, further archival releases in the series have been intended to follow with the initial box having room for 20 albums in all.

The first subsequent release in The Lost Tapes collection is From Me to You (Voiceprint JAVPBX07CD), now out. It consists of 3 tracks of birdsong interspersed with multi-layered vocals by Anderson; tracks (all written by Anderson): "Songbirding" (18:17), "Birdsonging" (11:13), "Singsonging" (11:28). (Some of this material previewed on Anderson's MySpace page a while back, and some was used as ambient music before his solo shows in 2007.) The executive producer on the release is Voiceprint's Rob Ayling, with artwork again by Mark Wilkinson (worked with Marillion, Judas Priest, Rick Wakeman, Geoff Downes). Copies were sent free to The Lost Tapes purchasers.

The project, with Anderson's full co-operation and endorsement, has been co-ordinated by (long-time friend of this webpage) Daniel Earnshaw. The Lost Tapes box set is only available through a dedicated website. Those buying the box set get an Opio member's card, giving some discount on future releases. Sound restoration on the box set was by Mike Pietrini (worked with The Syn, Thijs Van Leer) and artwork by Wilkinson. See details in Yescography.

Earnshaw and Anderson are trying to track down further archival material and have made this appeal:

Since 1969, Jon has recorded many music sessions especially for radio stations.

Sadly, these radio stations (even the BBC!) often neglected to archive these unique performances.

Did you record any of Jon's musical radio sessions (playing solo and/or with others) ?

If you still have your off-air recordings (or even masters!) please get in touch here !

(Notes : We have the bootlegs, and its not interviews we're interested in, but the radio studio performances you may have recorded.. Don't presume what you have isn't of interest - please get in touch !)

Album 4 is 2 CDs: Jon Anderson with the New Life Band, Live in Sheffield 1980, taken from the tour in support of Song of Seven plus further material from rehearsals. See details in Yescography. The standalone release (JAVPBX04CD) is out. Album 5 is Watching the Flags That Fly, a set of studio recordings from 1990 intended as work towards a second ABWH album. See details in Yescography. The standalone release (JAVPBX05CD) is out. Album 6 is The Lost Tapes of Opio, an instrumental album recorded in 1989 that had a limited cassette-only release in 1996. All profits from this CD will be donated to UNICEF. Album 20 is Binaural in Boston, a binaural recording of a show from Anderson's 2005 US tour. This disc will remain exclusive to the box set. See details in Yescography.

Details of albums 8-19 have not been determined yet, but both live and studio material is planned. Live material from the 1982 Animation tour was not in the initial release because of difficulties in locating a high-quality audio source, but it remains planned that a later release in the series will cover that tour. King Biscuit Flower Hour have multitrack recordings of a full show and, in Dec 2006, Earnshaw said he was in negotiation with them. The series may also include a CD and DVD of 1993's The Best of South America. In an interview published in Exposé, Anderson described the content: "a lot of different stuff that was [...] bootlegged. Plus [...] a lot of other stuff that was just sitting around. I have so much unreleased music at home and I'm not sure why. It's just that there is no avenue for certain music."

Anderson revealed more in an interview for the May/Jun 2007 issue of the Classic Rock Society magazine: "I'm designing a piano works. You might remember I had an accident a couple of years ago [...] so I spent a lot of time making piano pieces and got this guy called Jeremy [...] he's transcribing all the music for me and that'll come out next year [2008] as part of the box set." The article continues:

There are 2 or 3 things sent to Jon from South America to consider along with [...] some recordings that Jon did in a cave in Southern China. "I was singing in to the cave and it was so beautiful, I just sang doing Opionian which is my secret language. So that will be on another CD. It's like singing to the Divine out there."

In Mar 2008, in a post to Yesfans.com, Earnshaw said, "I'm 100% commited to future volumes of the box set, and have done some work on future ones. Jon and I spoke about this just before he went on tour, and I'm itching to work more on it." In a subsequent post to Yesfans.com, Earnshaw continued:

I did do work on 2 box set volumes in 2007, hopefully further work will lead to them being released.

Jon is involved in a multitude of ventures, we all know about all the collaborations over the Internet and touring for example, and in 2007 it just worked out that no box set releases happened. Just the way it goes I guess !

In Jun, he added:

Solo re-releases
Voiceprint are re-releasing some of Anderson's solo albums. 3 Ships (OPIOVP03CD) is out. Billed as a "22nd Anniversay Edition", the album has an altered cover design, has been remastered and comes with 5 bonus songs; tracks:

1. Give Hope (bonus track: previously unreleased new song, previously on streaming audio as "Give Hope 2007" on Anderson's MySpace page—see above)
2. Save All Your Love
3. Easier Said Than Done
4. Three Ships
5. Candle Song (bonus track)
6. Forest of Fire
7. Ding Dong Merrily on High
8. Hurry Home (bonus track)
9. Save All Your Love (Reprise)
10. The Holly and the Ivy
11. Day of Days
12. Ave Verum (bonus track)
13. 2,000 Years
14. Where Were You?
15. Oh Holy Night
16. How It Hits You
17. Jingle Bells
18. Ray of Hope (bonus track: previously unreleased new song)

Apart from the insertion of the bonus tracks, the listing is otherwise in the same order as for the original release. A number of errors have been reported in the printed lyrics on the CD booklet. The 3 previously released bonus tracks are from other Anderson solo albums: "Candle Song" and "Hurry Home" from Change We Must and "Ave Verum" from Toltec. There was a limited edition deluxe edition, now sold out, of 500 copies with 5 Christmas cards based on watercolours by Anderson, with one signed by Anderson. (Coincidentally, Chris Squire has done versions of "Three Ships" and "Ding Dong Merrily on High" on his Christmas album Chris Squire's Swiss Choir.) Toltec (OPIOVP05CD) is also now out and comes with two bonus tracks: "Longwalker Speaks" (17 minute version, probably the same as on The Lost Tapes of Opio) and "True Horizon" (3:40; remix of "Horizon" on the Jon & Vangelis album Private Collection). The Promise Ring (OPIOVP04CD) is also out, but contains no bonus material. Pietrini did the mastering for 3 Ships and presumably the other two re-releases.

Re-releases of Earthmotherearth and Change We Must were announced, but then cancelled. Earthmotherearth was to include three bonus tracks at the end of the album: "Birding Symphonica Uno", "Birding Symphonica Due" and "Birding Symphonica Tree".

Voiceprint/Opio Media have also given Animation (originally released in 1982) its first ever release on CD (OPIOVP01CD). It includes two bonus tracks: "The Spell" (11:40; previously unreleased, a.k.a. "Twins" and known on bootlegs as two tracks, "Child of the Lord"/"Two Old Ladies", although the released version is slightly different to the boot) and the b-side "Spider" (2:51). The executive producer for the re-release is Voiceprint's Rob Ayling; mastering and additional audio work on "The Spell" were by Mike Pietrini (worked with The Syn, Thijs Van Leer). Although original master tapes of the album exist, they were not used for this release. The CD (apart from the bonus tracks) was mastered from a vinyl transfer and there have been howls of protest from fans at its poor audio quality. A Japanese paper-sleeve release of the album followed on Arcangelo (ARC7190) using CDs printed by Voiceprint. These appear to be a second printing using a different and improved mastering of the album. If you look at the data side of the CD, on the inside rim, the small print says OPIOVPCD01 01 for the first printing but OPIOVPCD01 02 on the Arcangelo release. This (presumed) second printing is also now being used for stock direct from Voiceprint in the UK, although distributors still seem to have 01 stock. The improved second printing is of uncertain source: I believe it is still a vinyl transfer. While there is agreement in reviews that it is an improvement on the first printing, opinion varies as to how much of an improvement. MSI Music seems to have re-released in 2008. This seems to be the Voiceprint version again, presumably the second mastering.

Other news
Anderson, Howe and White appear on Johnny Harris's 1973 All to Bring You Morning, now released on to CD for the first time—see on the main page.

Anderson is working on a music video for an unidentified project with Carl B Richetti.

Anderson has been negotiating for the release of a book of his paintings and lyrics. In a Jun 2008 interview with Joe Benson, Anderson said that he has submitted a movie script to Steven Soderbergh (directed "9012Live"). On his website, Anderson says he is looking for a stained glass artist "to help create a large mural". On his Facebook page, he said:

last year I started a 'mural' [...] it was amazing to create, I couldn't sing for five months..so I painted, and painted [...] [it] is 25 foot long...wow!!, what a trip......it's finished now......and I will be showing the full work soon

In early Mar 2009, Anderson became a US citizen. He recently started a Twitter account, while a second account (zamran) has now closed.

Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry Potts. Thanks.