1000 Hands (original) (raw)
Album: 1000 Hands
Artist: Jon Anderson
2019 Opio Publishing LLC
CD: 0 51497 08077 8
Jon Anderson: vocals (all), vocalisations (2-4, 7, 9-11)
Tommy Calton: guitar (1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11), acoustic guitar (4, 7)
Michael Franklin: keys (3, 5), piano (4, 8, 11), harpsichord (8), Kurzweil (2, 4, 6-11), Wurlitzer (7), B3 (7), samples (2, 9), backing vocals (5), uke (not specified)
Tim Franklin: bass (2), fretless bass (3, 7, 11), string bass (4-6, 8, 10), electric bass (4), uke (5), backing vocals (not specified)
Jason Thomas: violin (2)
Carmine Appice: drums (2)
Matt Brown: drums (2, 3, 5, 7, 8), backing vocals (not specified)
Mitch Corbin: banjo (2)
Larry Coryell: guitar (3, 10), acoustic guitar (4)
Pat Frost: steel pans (3, 10), trombone (not specified, but this just looks like an error)
Steady Joseph: percussion (3, 4, 10)
Pat Gullotta: trombone (3, 4, 8, 11), French horn (4, 8, 11)
Brian Snapp: sax (3), woodwinds (4, 8, 11), flute (not specified)
Brian Scanlon: trumpet (3, 4, 8, 11)
Zap Mama: backing vocals (3, 10)
Voices of Lindhal
[Karen Schnurr, Jackie Stressman, Sarah Whittemore, Michelle Lindahl, Tony DeRosa, EJ Cardona, Kurt von Schmittou, JC Fullerton]: choir (3, 4, 10, 11)
Solar Choir [Jana Exposito, Nana Franklin, Andrew Jackson, Meredith Walker, Joe Cabrera, Jasmine Travick, Natasha Dealecio, Amy Garton, Randie Paul, Margarita Medina Restrepo, Beatrice Autumn, Rick Melvern, Lorne Franklin, Michele Amato, Suzie Hosmer, Sofia Hudson]: choir (3, 4, 11)
Ian Anderson: flute (4)
Chris Squire: electric bass (4), bass guitar (10)
Alan White: drums (4)
Olga Kopakova: violins (4, 6, 8, 11)
Robby Steinhardt: electric violin (4)
Paul Fleury: cellos (4, 6-8, 11)
Steve Walters: trumpet (4)
Billy Boyd: trumpet (4)
Brian Chatton: synth sounds (4, 8), synths (10)
Superstars Choir [Ronnie Dee, Andrew J DiNicola, Nick DiNicola, Jamie Lee Justino, Lee Walker, Jamie Perlow, Dave Walker, Riley Walker, Nalani Rothrock, Joshua Lamkin, Linda Johnston, Leroy Myers, Raymond Hillary]: choir (4)
Pat Travers: electric guitar (4)
Steve Morse: electric guitar (4)
Michael Winslow: SFX (4), beat box (5)
Tower of Power [Emilio Castillo, Stephen "Doc" Kupka, Tom Politzer, Adolfo Acosta, Sal Cracchiolo]: horn section (5)
Rick Derringer: guitar (5)
Crossover Band [Fredrick Cabellaro, Ivan Guy Zerna, Spark Florin, Lynette Gaurino, Cocoy Declaro]: backing vocals (5)
Jane Anderson: vocals (7)
Jerry Goodman: violin (7)
Christie Lenee: acoustic guitar (7)
Charlie Bisharat: violin solo (8)
Dariaz Grabowski: accordian (8)
Chick Corea: piano (9, 10)
Billy Cobham: drums (10)
Jean Luc Ponty: violin solo (10)
Jonathan Cain: keys (10)
Jeff Abbott: Keytar (10)
Stu Hamm: bass guitar (10)
Steve Howe: classical guitar (11)
Bobbie Koelble: guitar (11)
Keith Heffner: keys (not specified)
Antonio Exposito: keys (not specified)
Russel Chalk: uke (not specified)
Don Oriolo: uke (not specified)
Charlie DeChant: sax (not specified), flute (not specified)
Hu Yue: backing vocals (not specified)
Kim Lovering: backing vocals (not specified)
Fei Peng: backing vocals (not specified)
Mary Shafer: backing vocals (not specified)
Jocelyn Hsu: violin solo (not specified)
Krissi Franzen: cello solo (not specified)
Eddie Metz Jr.: percussion (not specified)
Bunky Garrabrant: trumpet (not specified)
Chris Charles: sax (not specified)
Bobby Kimball: backing vocals (not specified)
Vioelectric [Michelle Jones, Brandy Moulden, Franzen, Kaitlin Higby, Fleury, T Franklin, Jennie Landau] (not specified)
Nana Academy Youth Choir [Yue, Max Wei, Lucas Wu, Timmy Franklin, Kevin Wei, Leah Chen, Sofia Melick] (not specified)
OrlandOrchestra (not specified)
Produced by M Franklin
Arranged by M Franklin/Jon Anderson
Executive produced by Jane Anderson
Recorded and mixed by Brown at Solar Studio, Orlando, FL
Additional recording by Gary Barlough at Conway Recording Hollywood, CA
Mastered by Bernie Grundman
Artwork by Jay Nungesser
Tracks:
1. "Now" [Anderson/Chatton] (1:13)
2. "Ramalama" [Anderson/Franklin] (3:49)
3. "First Born Leaders" [Anderson/Chatton] (5:22)
4. "Activate" [Anderson/Chatton] (8:51)
5. "Makes Me Happy" [Anderson] (3:50), listed on the download as "Make Me Happy"
6. "Now Variations" [Anderson/Chatton] (1:03)
7. "I Found Myself" [Anderson] (5:05)
8. "Twice in a Lifetime" [Anderson/Chatton] (5:06), "Twice Upon a Lifetime" in the liner notes
9. "WDMCF" [Anderson/Franklin] (4:11), short for "Where Does Music Come From"
10. "1,000 Hands (Come Up)" [Anderson/Chatton] (8:24)
11. "Now and Again" [Anderson/Chatton] (3:40)
Notes (*****): The physical album lists players, but not who played on what. The team behind the album released a list with the track-by-track breakdown, plus a list organised by instrument (including some names not in the track-by-track breakdown, and which is close to what's printed on the album, but with several omissions). I have combined these above; if an individual is listed as playing on the album, but isn't on the track-by-track breakdown, I've indicated this as "not specified". The album's website initially carried a different list, including Trevor Rabin on guitar, Rick Wakeman on keys and Edgar Winter on sax, but none appear.
The story of this album goes back to the early 1990s. Anderson related events in an interview released Mar 2018, but seemingly recorded Oct 2017: "[Franklin] got in touch with me about a year ago [so, 2016]. He asked me about this project I started 27 years ago, 28 years ago [...] the tapes got put in my garage and I forgot about them, because I was on tour with, with Yes and recording other albums and things like that. [...] So, Michael [...] we got together in California where I live and he said, er, 'Why don't you come over to Orlando and do some work on the tapes and make the music happen.' [...] 27 years later, we're finishing it". These early '90s sessions are the Uzlot sessions and all the Anderson/Chatton co-writes (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11) stem from here. The name is a phonetic spelling of "us lot" in a Northern English accent. In a 6 Feb 2019 Facebook post, Anderson described the Uzlot sessions as having music written by Chatton, but vocal melodies and lyrics by himself, and the sessions as starting with himself, Chatton (keys), Heffner (keys), Barlough (producer/engineer). Further sessions took place with Hamm, Squire, White, Heffner and others, and 8 songs were recorded. Squire's, White's and Bisharat's contributions are from this period. In a 1991 interview, Anderson also mentioned Wayne Shorter as involved, while percussionist Luis Perez was also reportedly to be involved, but it is unclear whether he actually was. Eduardo del Signore played on one piece. However, none of those three made it to the final album. I've heard the Uzlot versions of what became "Twice in a Lifetime" and what's called "Come Up": what's on 1000 Hands are the same songs, but effectively new performances.
Anderson repeatedly told the story of the Uzlot sessions in promo for 1000 Hands, but his version tends to jump from the original sessions to working with M Franklin. However, Anderson and Chatton remained in touch about the project and collborated further. On ProgressiveEars.com in Jan 2017, Chatton said, "The Uzlot project is still unfinished. We have 7 songs in the pipeline and as soon as Jon has the time, it will be mastered and released." However, Chatton was not to be involved further. M Franklin approached Anderson about releasing the album, they had to bake the earlier 24-track tapes, and new sessions began. These new sessions went on until May 2018. In a third May 2018 interview, Anderson explained: "I had tapes lying around in my garage that I'd been working on for years and I got this great producer and said that I really wanted people who I'd met with throughout my life to play on it [...] and it sounds like it was made last week. Some of the recordings go back years but we have upgraded them and improved them over the years but the songs still sounded great. I've written 3 or 4 new songs to go with it". An Aug 2018 report had that the album was due in Sep 2018, to be released in three parts. In an interview conducted late Aug 2018, Anderson just said the album would be out "next month". In an interview conducted late Jul 2018, Anderson said he was "going to Orlando to finish mixing next week". He described the project there thus: "I started a piece of music 28 years ago in Big Bear, which is southeast of L.A. I was just getting away from the world for three months, and I decided to do an album[.] But it never got finished because life is like that. Now, 28 years later, I'm just finishing five of the songs, plus five new songs and an album called 1,000 Hands." An early Sep 2018 interview has Anderson as having just finished mixing, and again reference to 5 songs being from 28 years ago: if we exclude the two variations on "Now", that figure of 5 old pieces fits. If we count "Now and Again" as a new piece, then we get 5 new pieces in total (2, 5, 7, 9, 11). On Facebook, Franklin described Grundman as mastering the album on 31 Aug 2018. Anderson, M Franklin, T Franklin and Brown were back in the studio in Sep 2018 for video shoots, with Jon's daughter involved in the videos. Deborah did videos for (2) and (5).
It was M Franklin who proposed changing the title to 1000 Hands on account of the vast guest list. The modern recordings were done at Solar Studios, Orlando, FL. The first of the recent sessions was with Cobham on "Come Up", while Corea also recorded parts for that song a year later. Ponty's contributions are also recent. Oct 2017 sessions for the album were with Anderson, M Franklin, T Franklin, Brown, Snapp, Scanlon, Galotta, Calton, Steinhardt, Chalk. In a joint interview with Jon and Ian Anderson for the Aug 2018 issue of Record Collector, Ian Anderson described his contribution, which were done recently, with Ian recording it in his home office, as being for "a long, epic song [...] very much in the progressive rock tradition". Corea was recording in Mar 2018. Travers posted to Facebook about meeting Anderson on 23 Apr 2018 at Orlando, FL sessions with Franklin. Howe's contribution was also recent, but recorded remotely. In a Mar 2019 interview, Anderson said:
I just felt that I was gonna ask if he would play on the last song which was "Now and Again" and he played this beautiful guitar work on it and... 'Cos we met up at the Hall Of Fame and everything, and I kept looking at him saying, "We're gonna sing together! We're gonna work together again!" [...] So he sent this recording back and I just wanted to sing with him so I sang on it, added some lyric and... In fact, the lyric is about me and him. And it was great to [...] sing with him again. We connected again, shall we say.
In another interview later that same month, Anderson explained, "I just called him up and he said he'd love to play on it[.] I haven't sang with him in many, many years. It felt really comfortable and cathartic to do that. We're brothers. Sometimes you don't understand or misunderstand your brother and want to do different things. I think that is called a family."
A dedicated website was launched Oct 2018, but then disabled before returning. The initial release date was pushed back. Around the same time, Anderson said on Facebook:
Some wonderful things have been happening
1000 Hands is very a special album
I have decided to add a few new songs to Chapter One
Late Nov 2018, Franklin said on a Facebook group, "The mystery will be revealed soon, a lot of bits need to be in order before a release. Pat Travers tracks are new, as are most of the artists, 90% recorded in the last two years. Much of the recording process was subject to the touring artist schedules. Thanks for the support." Calton was doing additional recording sessions for the album in early Dec 2018. In Dec, Franklin described the recording of an Xmas song:
We worked on a beautiful xmas song [t]his week.
I had a "tis the season to be jolly" blast, ........collaborating with too of my favorite people, Jon Anderson and guitar miester Tommy Calton. The tune will blastoff into cyberspace before the holidays. Peas on Earth Goodwill is where I get my stuff. Ho Ho Ho
"Love is Everything" (2:55) was uploaded to YouTube late Dec 2018, but was not made available for purchase.
The album was originally given as follows: "Now", "Activate", "Ramalama", "First Born Leaders", "Now Variations", "Makes Me Happy", "I Found Myself", "Twice in a Lifetime", "WDMCF", "Come Up". A new track ordering then appeared on the website's front page: "Now", "Ramalama", "First Born Leaders", "Activate", "Makes Me Happy", "Now Variations", "I Found Myself", "Twice in a Lifetime", "WDMCF", "Come Up". But there were no new songs listed (no "Love is Everything"). However, the limited edition LP was advertised as coming with an unspecified bonus digital download (I still don't know what that was). However, the album was then released with an additional track, "Now and Again", and some changes to the other titles.
In a Feb 2019 interview and another article that month, Anderson said a Chapter 2 would probably be worked on winter 2019/20 for a 2020 release. In the first interview, he said it will be based on "some songs that I wrote at that time" (i.e., the same time as the original Uzlot sessions). In the second article, he said, "we have a lot of songs left over". In a Mar 2018 interview, Anderson described how working on the project, they had enough material for two albums, and he talked of the second coming out, "next year [2020] maybe the year after [2021]".
You can tell the material dates from two periods. The Uzlot songs have echoes of Anderson's writing style on albums from Animation to The Ladder, with longer songs with recurring themes and mysterious lyrics, whereas the new material is more typical of his recent work, shorter pieces with chant-like vocal melodies (nicely turned into some EDM by Franklin on "WDMCF"). In all, a successful album.
There was touring from Mar 2019 onwards. The touring band was Anderson (vocals, tambourine, acoustic guitar), M Franklin (keys, backing vocals, producer, musical director), T Franklin (bass, backing vocals), Calton (guitar), Hsu (violin, ukulele, backing vocals), Joe Cosas (keys, trombone, guitar, ukulele, backing vocals), Joseph (percussion), Billy Meether (saxes, flute, guitar, backing vocals) and, on drums, Brown at 5 warm-up shows and Rayford Griffin (from the Anderson Ponty Band) subsequently. A typical set was: intro music: "Ocean Song"; "Owner of a Lonely Heart", "Yours is No Disgrace", "Ramalama", "State of Independence" (Change We Must arrangement), "Makes Me Happy", "I've Seen All Good People", "WDMCF"; intermission; "Flight of the Moorglade", "Sweet Dreams", "To the Runner", "First Born Leaders", "America", "1,000 Hands (Come Up)"/"Starship Trooper"/"Solid Space" (extract); encore: "Roundabout". (HP, 23 Jun 19).