Where are they now? - Steve Howe
This page last updated: 20 Oct 2008
On this page: Solo projects - Guest appearances
On other pages: Yes news - Asia - Billy Sherwood's Pink Floyd tribute albums (with Howe) - Where Are They Now? front page
Steve Howe's official site: Homepage - News - MySpace page
Yes & Asia
Howe had significant commitments to a Yes
tour this year, but this has been
cancelled following Jon Anderson's ill health. Instead, Howe is touring
with Chris Squire and Alan White—see
details on main news page. He has also been continuing to
work in the original Asia reunion with Geoff
Downes, John Wetton and Carl Palmer. Asia have been touring and
have a new album in Phoenix—see
details here.
The
Steve Howe Trio
The Steve
Howe Trio brings together Steve on electric guitar, son Dylan
Howe on drums and Ross Stanley (Dylan Howe Quintet)
on Hammond XK3
organ. The band toured the UK in
Jun in support of their debut album, The
Haunted Melody,
now
out;
tracks: "Kenny's Sound"
(originally by Kenny Burrell),
"Mood for a Day", "The Haunted Melody" (originally by Roland Kirk), "Siberian Khatru",
"Blue Bash"
(originally by Jimmy Smith with Burrell), "Momenta" (originally from Quantum
Guitar), "Laughing with
Larry" (original solo guitar
piece
dedicated to the cover artist), "Travelin'"
(originally by Burrell with Smith), "Dream River", "Close to the
Edge"
(based on the opening section of the piece), "Sweet Thunder" (originally from Pulling Strings). Pieces are
arranged for the
trio
format, so some depart significantly in form from the originals. On
the UK tour, performances began with a solo set by Howe (largely
playing material from Motif Vol. 1—see below),
with
the Trio's set being close to their album and to last year's
shows. The 15 Jun set, to a capacity crowd at Ronnie Scott's, was: Howe
solo set—"Intersection
Blues", "Masquerade",
"The Golden Mean", "Concerto in D 2nd Movement", "Ram", "Sketches in
the Sun", "Laughing with Larry", "Trambone", "Clap"; trio set—"Sweet
Thunder",
"Dream River", "Travelin'", "Siberian Khatru", "The Haunted Melody",
"Blue Bash", "Momenta", "Kenny's Sound"(?), "Mood for a Day", encore:
"Close to the Edge"
(opening section).
Eastern Canadian
dates
followed in Sep/Oct, with 4
solo shows in Quebec and Ontario (2
Oct show sold out), then 5
Trio shows in Ontario (7 Oct show
sold out with audience of ~130). The set was again most of the album;
on 7 Oct, the first encore was a solo piece by Steve.
The band played their debut UK tour in May 2007. The set list varied slightly over the tour, but on 17 May was: first set—"Travelin'", "Dream River", "Chitlins con Carne" (originally by Burrell), "Distant Seas" (originally on Natural Timbre), "Mood for a Day", "Blue Bash!", "Close to the Edge" opening section; second set, acoustic section—"Bareback" (Not Necessarily Acoustic), medley "Smile/Whispering/Trambone" ("Smile" originally by Charlie Chaplin; "Whispering" is a 1920s piece but Howe referenced Les Paul's version as how he first heard it; "Trambone" originally by Chet Atkins), "Cactus Boogie" (The Steve Howe Album), "Sketches in the Sun", "Intersection Blues"; second set, trio format—"Kenny's Sound", "Momenta", "The Haunted Melody", "Sweet Thunder", "Clap"; encore—"Siberian Khatru". The London show had an audience of ~200, while the Birmingham show had an audience of ~50. Read my review of the 2007 London show.
Solo[Support this website by buying through Amazon (US or UK): go to the Where Are They Now? Amazon listings page.]
So Far is the name given to a planned 3CD anthology of Steve Howe's career to date with accompanying DVD which was originally due in 2001. This appears to be the same project earlier tentatively entitled Headstock, being compiled by Howe for Rhino. At least at some point, So Far was to include "Traveller" (written by Currie/Howe—Currie: keyboards, viola; Howe: guitar, bass; Toby Anderson: synth) from Billy Currie's 1988 Transportation. Comments from Howe suggest So Far may also include some Yes or Yes-related material. It has been many months since anything was heard of this project. Howe has also previously talked about a documentary of his career, concentrating on his solo work from 1975-1994, which may be somehow related to So Far, and two new books, one called "The Guitarist's Survival Kit", the second a collaboration. Most recently, at the Steve Howe Appreciation Society workshop in Jun 2005, Howe read a chapter from an autobiography that he is writing (which I guess may be related to some of these other projects).
There are long-standing reports of plans for a guitar and orchestra project. In a Nov 2002 interview, Howe referred to "an orchestral project that would likely turn some ears".
Guest appearancesWoman Transcending is a 16-track rarities compilation from Annie Haslam including "Lily's in the Field", co-written and performed by Howe and only previously released as a limited single. David Biglin plays keys on the piece, while other guests on the album include Tony Visconti (ex-Rick Wakeman) and Stan Perkins.
Other news
Steve Howe guests on his son, Virgil's album
Geniac
(released under the moniker of DJ Sparo), seemingly in the sense that
he's
been sampled on the album rather than any new recording.
Jonathan Mover, drums in GTR, is planning a "a two volume collection of works from various artists that I've played with over the past twenty or so years. Mainly, a variety of tracks that are dear to me in one way or another and have not had the chance to see the light of day." On his website, he refers to "unreleased GTR (1985)". As GTR was released in 1986, presuming this is not a typo, Mover would appear to be referring to material before the first album.
As well as playing with Yes, Howe joined Frankie Goes to Hollywood for "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome" at the Produced by Trevor Horn concert in 2004. A DVD is out—details under Horn.Howe appears to have formed his own record label, Howe Sounds, who released Motif Volume 1 and the Steve Howe Trio's The Haunted Melody.
Any news, additions or corrections, please e-mail Henry
Potts. Thanks.