Schelhaas, Jan - Living On A Little Blue Dot CD (expanded) (Mega Blowout Sale)
SKU
23-TECD 457
Acoustic Guitar – Doug Boyle (tracks: 6)
Alto Saxophone – Jimmy Hastings (tracks: 1)
Backing Vocals – Pye Hastings (tracks: 3)
Clarinet – Jimmy Hastings (tracks: 5)
Flute – Jimmy Hastings (tracks: 2,3)
Keyboards, Vocals, Bass, Drum Programming – Jan Schelhaas
Lead Guitar – Andy Latimer (tracks: 8), Doug Boyle (tracks: 2-8)
Percussion – Mark Walker (tracks: 2,4)
Rhythm Guitar – Pye Hastings (tracks: 8)
Slide Guitar – Neil Ford (tracks: 6)
Soprano Saxophone – Jimmy Hastings (tracks: 2)
Strings – Geoffrey Richardson (tracks: 5)
The second solo album from the former member of Camel and current keyboardist of Caravan!
"The album opens with the track “Stars On Fire” and this song sets the atmosphere of this consistent album. Spacious keyboard parts and vocal melodies are attractively supported by the instrumental input of the many guests. The seven minutes long title track“ Living on a Little Blue Dot” is one of the highlights of this album. You can find some catchy vocal melodies on this track and I am impressed by the beautiful sung vocals. There is also a very nice drum part in this song. Jan Schelhaas himself was responsible for the vocals and the drum programming on this album. This is a beautiful song that sometimes reminds me of the atmosphere that you can find on the solo albums of the late Peter Bardens. But I think that this counts for the whole album.
Jimmy Hastings is playing a beautiful flute part in the the following track “In Her Mind”. The vocal melodies are very nice. “When The Sun Comes” has a beautiful classical intro. And in “Someone” the guitar of Doug Boyle and the piano of Jan Schelhaas are giving this piece some blues accents. In the piece “The Last Time” the keyboards have a kind of hornlike sound. All the time that must have been put in the drum programming and the programming of the keyboard sounds are paying off. Another highlight is the wonderful piece “The Gypsy's Comin' Home”. The lead guitar solo in this song is played by Jan's old Camel mate Andy Latimer. The album closes with the short song “If Not”. The keyboard orchestrations are very beautiful. It is a worthy ending of a good album.
“Living on a Little Blue Dot” is a lovely album with wonderful melodies and very nice vocal parts. The album has a consistent quality and the music is in balance. Don't expect freaky synth solo's or progressive bombast. Because of the Cavavan connection of some of the guest there is maybe a slight Canterbury flavor to some of the songs. But personally I had think more of the solo work of the late Pete Bardens. And then I am talking about the atmosphere of the music and especially the vocal harmonies. It is a lovely album to listen to after a hectic working day. Your reviewer enjoyed listening to this album very much."-progvisions.nl
- LabelTalking Elephant
- UPC5028479045723