Private Parts & Pieces IX -
XI (News date: 22-2-18, updated 10-4-18)
Esoteric Recordings is proud to announce the
release of a remastered 4 CD clamshell boxed set which gathers together Volumes
IX to XI of the Private Parts & Pieces albums (Dragonfly Dreams,
Soirée and City of Dreams) along with Private Parts and Extra Pieces
III, an additional 18-track CD of previously unreleased material,
featuring recordings made between 1990 and 2012. Private Parts &
Pieces IX - XI is the definitive statement on these classic albums.
The set includes a lavish booklet with an essay by Jonathan Dann and
fully restores the artwork of the original releases.
Originally released in 1996, Dragonfly
Dreams drew upon a mixture of newly-written and previously
recorded material. The album features a number of tracks co-written
and recorded by Ant with Quique Berro Garcia as well as Chinese
Walls, a 17-minute piece for 12-string guitar. Soirée
was the second album in the Private Parts & Pieces series to feature
a collection of pieces for solo piano. The newly-composed
material featured on the album is complimented by a freshly arranged
version of Creation, which was written in 1968.
City of Dreams is the eleventh and to date the most recent
release in the Private Parts and Pieces series. It
draws upon keyboard-based material to
take the listener
through a number of moods ranging from the epic to the reflective
via atmospheric soundscapes to create a rich and ultimately
rewarding journey for the imagination.
Private Parts &
Pieces IX - XI is due for release on 27th April 2018 and is
available to pre-order now from
Cherry Red
and Amazon. The
complete track listing for the set can be seen
here.
Harmony for Elephants CD (News
date: 31-3-18)
Following a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2016, the
Harmony for Elephants fine art book about elephants and elephant
conservation to support the charity Elephants for Africa was
published. The book was accompanied by a CD of music specially
written for this project, which is now receiving a wider release to
help support the on-going work of the charity.
Ant has contributed two new solo pieces to the CD (Sunset Trail
and The Elephant's Tale) and in addition has teamed up with Steve
Hackett and Roger King to produce In A Perfect World, a new
collaborative track. Other artists who have contributed tracks
to the CD include Nick Magnus, Nad Sylvan, Tony Patterson, Rob
Townsend, Amanda Lehmann, Andy Neve, Andy Tillison, Brendan Eyre,
Dale Newman, Brian Coombes and Anna Madsen.
Harmony for Elephants is released on 25th May 2018 and
is available to pre-order now from
Cherry Red and
Amazon
Dale Newman (News date: 28-3-18)
The name and voice of Dale
Newman will no doubt be familiar from his vocal contribution to
Ant's album Sides, mostly
notably on the epic Bleak House.Dale started working as a guitar roadie for
Genesis in 1975 and after several years of touring with the band, he
accepted the challenge of finding a property suitable for their
private studio, which became known as The Farm in Surrey.There Dale contributed to the setup and
maintenance of recording sessions and found time to write and record
three albums of his own material.After his time working with Genesis, Dale
built his own studio and has continued to write and record music,
recently completing a new studio album which he has co-produced with
Brian Coombes.
You can find out more about Dale and hear
extracts from the new album on his
recently launched website,
where copies of his new album can also be ordered.
Dale also has a
Facebook page and can be followed on
Twitter.
Gemini performance
video (News date: 23-3-18)
In January we reported about the World Premiere of Gemini, a piano
piece which Ant recently composed and subsequently developed into a duet for two pianos with the help of pianist
Gabriele Baldocci. Gemini is dedicated to the internationally renowned pianist
Martha Argerich and during two concerts which she and Gabriele
performed in Valencia and Barcelona, the piece was included as one of the encores following a
programme which included piano works by Liszt, Shostakovich, Schumann,
Rachmaninov and Ravel.
An official video of the performance of the piece from the concert at
Barcelona has now been released and can be seen below.
Invisible Men reviews
(News date: 8-1-18, updated 21-2-18)
Further to the video we posted a few months ago of a live performance of
Part One of Slow Dance from the German Genesis Fan Club "Anthony Phillips
Event" in 2014, a new video clip has just been released. This
documents a session by the musicians involved to record a studio version of
the same section of Slow Dance a few weeks after the event. The studio
version was recorded but remained unmixed for almost four years when the
anniversary of the untimely passing of Thomas Waltner who took part in the
original performance and the subsequent recording provided the impetus to
complete it.
An interesting article about how the live performance and studio recording
came about has been published on the German Genesis Fan Club site and can be
read
here. Our thanks to Tom Morgenstern for letting us know about
the recording and this
video of the session.
Gemini World Premiere (News date:
13-1-18, updated 16-1-18)
Ant recently composed a new piano piece called Gemini, which was
subsequently developed into a duet for two pianos with the help of pianist
Gabriele Baldocci. Thursday 11th January saw the World Premiere
performance of the piece by the internationally renowned pianist
Martha Argerich and Gabriele at a concert held in the Spanish city of
Valencia. Gemini was played as the encore following a
programme which included piano works by Liszt, Shostakovich, Schumann,
Rachmaninov and Ravel.
Two further concerts were played in Spain as part of this tour - at the
Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid on Sunday 14th January (where the
piece was not performed) and at the Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona
on Monday 15th January where Gemini was played as one of the encores.
Online shop open (News date: 9-1-18, updated
23-1-18)
Our online shop is open again and we are pleased to
be able to offer a selection of the titles from Ant's back
catalogue that are currently out-of-print. All CDs are new and
unplayed
and in most cases we only have a limited number of copies available.
Nakedly Examined Music Podcast
(News date: 8-1-18)
Ant has given an interview for an
edition of the
Nakedly Examined Music Podcast, which provides an in-depth conversation
with musicians about their music and the composition process. In the
podcast Ant talks about three tracks from his back catalogue and reveals a
number of interesting facets about them.
Brook Guitars interview
(News date:
15-11-17)
Ant is the proud owner of some
instruments made by the Devon-based Brook Guitars, which he has played on
various tracks including some of the pieces on Field Day. He
has given an interview for a feature in the most recent issue of their
occasional newsletter Babbling Brook. The newsletter can be read in
pdf format
here - the feature on Ant begins on page 14.
Invisible Men remastered &
expanded edition(News date: 25-8-17,
updated 13-10-17)
Esoteric Recordings are proud to announce the release of a newly
re-mastered and expanded edition of Invisible Men.
Invisible Men was a song based album which saw Anthony
collaborate with Richard Scott.
Released in 1983 in the USA and the following year in the UK,
Invisible Men
features the lighter side of Anthony Phillips'
musical character and some fine, well-crafted songs. Material such
as 'The
Women Were Watching'
and 'Exocet'
reflected the times in which they were created.
This new 2CD digipak deluxe edition of the album features a newly
re-mastered original stereo mix of the album and an additional CD of
16 previously unreleased demos and material recorded during the
Invisible Men period. It includes an illustrated booklet that
fully restores the original album artwork and features a new essay
by Jon Dann.
The complete track listing can seen
here.
The expanded edition of Invisible Men
is out now and is available to order
from
Cherry Red and
Amazon.
New interviewonline
(News date:18-9-17)
A new interview with Ant about the deluxe edition of Slow Dance has
been published on the For Guitar Players Only site and can be read
here.
The current edition of Record
Collector which is out now includes a four star review of the deluxe
edition.
In addition, Ant has given an interview
which has been published on the US site of the Huffington Post which can be
read
here - his interview is towards the bottom of the page. A further
interview with Ant can also be read on the
Sea of Tranquility site.
Lastly, the new edition of Prog
magazine is out now and includes a feature with Ant in which he reveals how
to make a dessert with the curious name of Fried Llamas.
Live performance of Slow Dance (News date: 25-8-17)
To tie in with the release of the
deluxe edition of Slow Dance, here's a live performance of the introduction
of Part One from the German Genesis Fan Club "Anthony Phillips Event",
which took place at Welkers in 2014. Ant was present when the
performance took place and can be seen giving his appreciation to the
musicians at the end of the video. Tom Morgenstern, who was one of the
musicians taking part in the performance, tells us that regardless of Ant's
kind words "we were aware that our live performance was far from perfect -
we were under-rehearsed, suffered from stage-fright and struggled with the
musical complexity of the piece" but we think it's still a good performance
which to date remains the only time any part of Slow Dance has been played
live.
Our thanks to Tom for letting us
know about this video.
Tabletop Genesis podcast
(News date: 17-8-17)
The latest podcast in the
Tabletop Genesis
series features a recently recorded exclusive interview with Ant in which he
talks about his solo career, 5.1 reissues, Spinal Tap, his current projects
and more. The interview can heard by clicking on the play button
below.
Esoteric Recordings are proud to announce the release
of a newly re-mastered and expanded edition of the classic 1990
instrumental album Slow Dance.Regarded by aficionados of Anthony's music as
one of his finest releases, Slow Dance is a two part
orchestral rock suite which showcases Anthony's music at
its most expansive and imaginative.
This new 3 disc digipak deluxe edition of the album features a newly
re-mastered original stereo mix and a 5.1 Surround sound mix by
Simon Heyworth (on an NSTC / Region Free DVD), along with a CD of
previously unreleased Slow Dance Vignettes. It includes a lavishly
illustrated booklet that fully restores the original album artwork
and features a new essay by Jon Dann.
The full track listing for the set can be seen
here.
The deluxe edition of the album is
available to order now
from
Cherry Red
andAmazon.
Harmony for Elephants book & CD(News date: 19-12-16)
Following a successful Kickstarter
campaign, the Harmony for Elephants fine art book about
elephants and elephant conservation with its accompanying CD album
of music specially written for this project, recorded and donated by
several world-renowned musicians including Anthony Phillips and
Steve Hackett has now been published and is available to buy
here.
A breathtaking combination of
eye-catching photography, knowledgeable insight and evocative music,
brought together as a unique book with an accompanying album of
specially written music, all about elephants and how they can live
in harmony with humans.
This is a joint project between
professional wildlife photographer and biologist Lesley Wood and
Kate Evans, biologist, elephant researcher and founder and director
of the charity 'Elephants for Africa'. 50% of proceeds from the sale
of these books go directly to help 'Elephants for Africa' to
continue their valuable work in Botswana with local communities to
help to achieve harmony between the elephants and humans which live
alongside each other.
The accompanying CD features Anthony
Phillips, Steve Hackett, Nick Magnus, Nad Sylvan, Tony Patterson,
Rob Townsend, Amanda Lehmann, Andy Neve, Andy Tillson, Brendan Eyre,
Dale Newman, Brian Coombes & Anna Madsen.
Ant has
contributed two new solo pieces to the CD and in addition has teamed
up with Steve Hackett and Roger King to produce a new collaborative
track.
Private Parts & Pieces V - VIII
(News date: 25-7-16, updated 26-9-16)
Esoteric Recordings are proud
to announce the release of a 5 CD Definitive Edition clamshell boxed
set of the second four seminal Private Parts & Pieces
albums.Private Parts & Pieces V - VIII
gathers together Twelve, Ivory Moon, Slow
Waves Soft Stars and New England along with
Private Parts & Extra Pieces II, an additional 19-track CD of
previously unreleased material.
The set includes a lavish booklet with an essay by Jonathan Dann and
fully restores the artwork of the original releases.
Private Parts & Pieces V - VIII isthe latest in Esoteric Recordings
award-winning
series of official Anthony Phillips reissues. The
complete track listing for the set can be seen
here.
The
set is
out now
and is available to order
from
Cherry Red
and
Amazon.
The Gift: Why The Sea Is Salt (News date:
26-9-16)
London-based prog band
The Gift
released their third album Why The Sea Is Salt on 28th October. Ant
has recorded some 12-string parts for the track The Tallest Tree, which also
features Steve Hackett on lead guitar.
The album, which features artwork by
Mark Buckingham, is available to
order now.
We've now re-stocked our online shop and are pleased
to be able to offer a further selection of the titles from Ant's back
catalogue that are currently out-of-print. All CDs are new and
unplayed
and in most cases we only have a limited number of copies available.
Esoteric Recordings reissue series wins Grand Design Award
(News date: 2-9-16, updated 18-9-16)
We're delighted to
announce that the Esoteric Recordings re-issue series of Ant's back catalogue
won the Storm Thorgerson Grand Design Award at this years
Progressive Music Awards. Ant attended the ceremony which was
held in London on 1st September to collect the Award in person.
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to vote - your
support is very much appreciated.
Updates:
Ant's acceptance speech for the Design Award can now be read
here.
An interview with
Ant conducted at the Awards ceremony by Eamon O'Neill has been published and can be read
here. Our thanks to Eamon for passing on the details of
the interview.
In addition, a
couple of articles about Ant winning the award have been published
online in Italy which can be seen
here
and
here. Both articles are in Italian.
