Phil Gould Debut Album Released This Month

Phil Gould is set to release his highly anticipated debut solo album, ‘Watertight’ this month. The collection of 11 original songs is the second release on the Level 42 founder member’s Bongosaloon label. It features performances from Wally Badarou, Mike Lindup and Boon Gould. The album will be available on CD – which features an illustrated lyrics booklet – and digital download stores including iTunes. For more information and to pre-order the CD visit www.philgould.com

Love Meeting Love On Clear Vinyl

Click here to watch a video of one of the most rare Level 42 records in existence.

Ski Oakenfull - Love Meeting Love

It's 1980 and Level 42 release 'Love Meeting Love' as their first single. It became the cult track from their 'Early Tapes' LP. Deep and jazzy, it proved that the UK could forge its own original funk sound. 

As one of musician / producer Ski Oakenfull's earliest musical influences, he has decided to pay tribute to this classic track with a little update for 2009 employing the vocal talents of long time collaborator Valerie Etienne.

Ski was kind enough to send me a promo. I've long been a fan of his work and this lives up to the high standard of his previous projects.

'Love Meeting Love' is released on March 6th, 2009.

Visit Ski's label website to listen to audio samples and for more details on the release - which I understand will be a digital download only, via iTunes most likely.

Gary Husband's Drive - Heaven In My Hands

British drummer Gary Husband -- renowned for his stellar collaborations since the 1980s with guitar hero Allan Holdsworth as well as with guitarist John McLaughlin and the mega-selling UK jazz/funk band Level 42 -- introduces his new modern jazz group on his upcoming Abstract Logix debut. Though widely regarded as one of the top fusion drummers around, the Yorkshire native concentrates on his jazzier side with Gary Husband's Drive on Hotwired, a propulsively swinging quartet outing on which a lot of his most important jazz drum influences emerge, including Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, John Von Ohlen, Jack DeJohnette and Mel Lewis.

"This project was very much born out of the inspiration I derived from a lot of the great American bands that I used to go see at places like Ronnie Scott's club in London. Elvin Jones would bring his band through, as did Art Blakey, Tony Williams, Jack DeJohnette and both Ralph Peterson, Jr. and Jeff 'Tain' Watts have done the same in recent years. Seeing all of these great bands led by those great drummers always really affected me, so this time I wanted a band for myself that really has a lot of that very hard-hitting, more American-influenced presence to it - that kind of in-your-face, New York style. It's a vibe and attitude in jazz I always particularly loved and I am really enjoying exploring more that kind of approach with this band now."

Along with veteran tenor saxophonist Julian Siegel, bassist Michael Janisch and 23-year-old trumpet sensation Richard Turner, Husband turns in imaginative interpretations of Level 42's 'Heaven in My Hands,' the Duke Ellington's 'Take The Coltrane' inspired 'Take The Coltrane Around' and the Dave Brubeck Quartet jazz anthem 'Take Five.' His potent originals include the powerful Tonyesque opener, 'The Defender', the somber, chamber-like mallets number 'The Agony of Ambiguity', the rolling, Elvinesque mid-tempo swinger 'Deux Deux's Blues', the elegaic piano and sax feature 'One Prayer' and the dramatic 'Angels Over City Square', an expansive work inspired by the evocative Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire that builds to a whirlwind drum solo by Husband. Saxophonist Siegel contributes the intriguing and metrically intricate '10/4'.

Says Husband, "I am thrilled that the chemistry and the quality of this band is really powerfully evident on this album. But what I also love about it is the fact it's very much a feature for a way of playing drums that probably not a lot of people have heard from me. Certainly my output has been very much based in the fusion realm in the past, but this recording really highlights my more swinging and straight-ahead angle, revealing a lot I guess about many of my formative influences in this realm right through to my more present day ones in fellows like Bill Stewart, Gary Novak and Eric Harland too."

Also an equally accomplished keyboardist, Gary has released a series of piano trio recordings as well as solo piano interpretations of the music of Allan Holdsworth (2001's The Things I See) and John McLaughlin (2005's A Meeting Of Spirits). In 2004 and 2005, he toured the UK with his Gary Husband's Force Majeure group, an all-star ensemble featuring trumpeter Randy Brecker, electric bassist Matthew Garrison, keyboardist Jim Beard, percussionist Arto Tuncboyaciyan and trombonist Elliott Mason with former Mahavishnu Orchestra violinist Jerry Goodman. In addition, Husband has toured and recorded as a keyboardist with Billy Cobham and John McLaughlin bands and has played drums with guitar greats Mike Stern, Gary Moore, Jeff Beck, Ray Russell, Andy Summers as well as in a power trio with guitarist Robin Trower and bassist Jack Bruce.

'Hotwired' by Gary Husband's Drive is available now on CD from Abstract Logix or high quality digital download - with bonus track - on iTunes

Unreleased minimix by Ben Liebrand

This unreleased mix by Ben Liebrand was made from original Level 42 multitrack recordings. All separate instruments as well as the vocal parts were taken one by one from the original multitrack. They were timestretched to a new steady tempo, and combined to form tracks containig lead vocals, harmonies, backing vocals, pads, basslines, percussive effects etc. This mix never appeared commercially on any format and was broadcasted on dutch radio only.

Mrs Pink's Level 42 Photo Blog

Lisa (Mrs Pink to her friends) is an absolute Level 42 nut! She has met and seen the band live more times than most of us have had hot dinners and has a very impressive collection.

She has started her own blog site where she plans to feature rare photographs of the band she has collected / taken since the early 1980s.

It's not a patch on this blog of course but you might want to check it out anyway. I'm just joking, Lisa, good luck with it. Looking forward to seeing the photos.

Mrs Pink's Level 42 Photo Blog

Good Man In A Storm (Live)

Level 42 played a few bars of my favourite track 'Good Man In A Storm' during the encore section of the Brighton Dome gig on October 30th. Wish i'd been there!

Thankfully, Andy (Level 42 web digester) captured the impromtu performance. Enjoy!

Good Man In A Storm (Live)

'Sai Satyam' - A new album from Mike Lindup!

Details of a new collaboration involving Mike Lindup. Mike says;

"I have recently finished mixing a CD of devotional Sanskrit Songs or Bhajans, entitled Sai Satyam, which I co-wrote with Gustav and Sabeenamayi Tilmann, and recorded mainly at the Ashram of Sri Sai Kaleshwar in Penukonda in South India. The three of us are spiritual students of Swami Kaleshwar (I have been so for the past two-and-a-half years), and it was a great experience to take my MacBook and bits to Penukonda, where we found space to be inspired and also to overcome the challenges of power surges and cuts. The end result is really a beautiful CD."

The website says;

Our aim is to bring together the Indian Tradition with our Western harmonies. Having experienced the reality of the Indian deities after thousands of hours singing to them, our hearts were ready to find our own personal expression. The devotion and true love that grows in our hearts when singing Bhajans and songs to God, offers a path to achieve anything we wish for in our lives. Om Sai Nath Maharajiki Jai!

1. Suramuni Vandita Vinayaka (Gustav/Mike) 4:58
2. Jay Sai Natha (Gustav/Mike) 4:12
3. Jay Jay Guru Deva (Traditional) 8:12
4. Sadguru Priya (Sabeena /Mike /Gustav) 5:33
5. Durga Divya (Gustav/Mike) 4:18
6. Shiva Shambo (Gustav/Mike) 2:57
7. Amrutha Linga (Gustav/Mike) 4:46
8. Jaya Hanumana (Gustav/Mike) 5:27
9. Gopala Bala (Gustav/Mike) 2:53
Total Running Time: 43:33


Vocals: Gustav Tilmann, Mike Lindup, Sabeena Tilmann, Christine Mag Strasser, Kristina Schmidt
Piano and Keyboards: Mike Lindup
Guitar: Gustav Tilmann, Roman Wagner vom Berg, Christine Mag Strasser
Flute: Sabeena TIlmann
Drums: Sabeena Tilmann, Mike Lindup
Shaker: Sabeena Tilmann, Gustav Tilmann, Mike Lindup
Cello: Ivan Hussey
Recorded at Shiva Sai Mandir, Penukonda
Additional recording at White Room 5, London, and Lower Barn, Hindhead
Grateful thanks to Peter X, Falk(?) X and Joe Harding for their assistance
Produced and mixed by Mike Lindup at Studio99, London
Mix engineer Mike Westergaard

© Shiva Sai Mandir Music 2008

You can order with PayPal here;

https://shop.strato.de/epages/613595.../Products/2036

The store is based in Germany but it only took 3 days to get the CD to me in the UK, so order with absolute confidence.

For a flavour of the album, i've uploaded 'Jaya Hanumana' - a track composed, sung and played on by Mike. For obvious reasons you can only listen to this track.

2008 Tour Access All Areas!

Here are a couple of great pics from Mr Andre Simha, the 'engine' behind www.ultimatelevel42.com. Without Andre, there would be no website. It's on his server for a start! Andre coded the whole site and put up with endless requests which always started "Wouldn't it be great if...." .

The first photo is one of the 'access all areas' VIP passes (lucky bugger, ha ha) and the second is the man himself actually playing with Mr King's instrument (oooh err, obviously). Having heard Andre play, King is reportedly worried.

I will resist jokes about old slappers!

Paul

Live at Newcastle City Hall Photos 14/10/08

I went to see the band for the third and final time in a fortnight last night at Newcastle City Hall. A great and varied set list this year (which i'll not post here in case it spoils it for anyone). I took some pics and thought this would be a good place to publish them. Paul.

Level Forty Shoes!

Anyone who has been to the live shows so far this year will have noticed the band are looking very smart in suits. Turns out they're from the 'Autograph' range from Marks & Spencer - the same range the high street retailer supplied to Take That for their world tour last year!

I've just bought a pair of the shoes pictured above which Nathan King is currently sporting - sad I know! They're actually really nice shoes.

Paul W

Trying hard to be 'Good Man In A Storm'

See what I did there?

Well, despite so many of us voting for 'Good Man In A Storm' to be played on the 2008 tour, it seems our hopes have been dashed by 'The Machine Stops' - who the heck voted for that?

GMIAS has been one of my firm favourites since it first surfaced in 1985 on the World Machine album and i'm gutted it didn't make the setlist.

Just dug out an mp3 given to me donkey's years ago by a Level42 web digester - god knows where he got it from - and it's the earliest known version of the aforementioned track.

As far as i'm aware it was recorded by Mark King in his studio at home as a demo to play the rest of the band. There are no lyrics as such, just vocal sounds from Mark. The quality's not brilliant but hey.