Tag: Under A Mediterranean Sky

Review – Steve Hackett – Under a Mediterranean Sky – by John Wenlock-Smith

We are now into the second year of this wretched virus, this time last year we were eagerly looking forward to a holiday we had booked to Italy in Sorrento with a view across the water to Pompeii.

This was, of course, cancelled by the virus and we watched in horror as Italy became the focus of the world, the virus spreading around the country and then globally. Obviously, this has had a massive impact on our abilities in what we can do, where we can go, all events have pretty much been cancelled leaving touring activities curtailed with most musicians left high and dry, unable to do anything really which has in turn led to a raft of new music being created. This new album from Steve Hackett being amongst that number.

This being Steve Hackett, he has done something rather different from the norm in that he has created an acoustic album, his first since 2007’s ‘Tribute’. This is an album of instrumental mood pieces, themed around travels that Steve has made in recent times.

The album opens with the epic song M’dina – The Walled City with a similar sound to those used on the Fallen Walls and Pedestals from Steve’s ‘At the Edge of Light‘ album of 2018. The big difference here being that, instead of a bold electric guitar, this is all performed on acoustic guitar, backed by the expansive and atmospheric keyboard orchestrations of Roger King. This piece is almost a mini concerto in the style of the Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell (that was written for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight which was concerned with the polish struggle in 1939 against Nazi Germany), Malta, itself, has seen its share of occupation by hostile forces, especially during World War 2 when the island was occupied by the Nazi’s.

Steve of is of Polish immigration historically as his grandparents escaped the pogroms of Poland in 1919 and the ethnic cleansing of the Jews. As such, he feels strongly about the rights of people who are being oppressed or persecuted, this piece reflects those feelings and conflicts using lots of orchestration that is intercut with gentle but evocative guitar runs from the fleet fingers of Steve.

Adriatic Blue is a far more mellow piece with chiming guitar lines and some delicately plucked finger-style playing. Sirocco then follows, bringing to mind the wonders of Egypt, Jordan and other desert lands. Steve has been to the Pyramids in Cairo, along the Nile and also to Petra in Jordan and this song reflects those travels with ethnic percussion elements amongst the orchestration and a decidedly Arabian swing and feel to this piece. It is all very evocative of distant lands and of Arabian nights in the desert under the skies and stars of the region. This really is an excellent and emotive piece that acts as an imagined journey for the listener to those lands full of imagery and magic.

Joie De Vivre  is a reflection in the joy of life that travelling offers, a chance to escape an everyday world by taking or making voyages of adventure, exploring different cultures and ways of life and the feelings of freedom that these voyages provide. As listeners who are unable to travel at the present time, these musical pictures offer relief to the humdrum existence we are all under until this blasted virus has been curtailed and we have been inoculated against so that we can resume our everyday lives.

The Memory of Myth is a further invocation of the sounds and senses of desert lands and the mystery and magic of these desolate places that have remained largely unchanged for millennia. The evocative violin of Christine Townsend underpins the whole track, really adding to the mysterious aura.

Scarlatti Sonata is a piece that Steve has composed in honour of Domenico Scarlatti who was an Italian composer in the 17th Century. Born in Naples in 1685 he was a composer in the Baroque style.He is known largely for his 555 keyboard sonatas and spent much of his life in the service of the Spanish and Portuguese royal families.

We are then treated to the very evocative piece The Dervish and the Djinn which includes contributions from Rob Townsend on Woodwind instrumentation that evoke imagery of whirling dervishes and their mischief. This is also a fine exponent of Steve’s fabulous guitar playing along with the added impact of drums that really creates an exciting mood picture. Lorato is a brief piece full of Spanish guitar flourishes with a fine melody that recurs throughout the track.

Andalusian Heart is another strong Spanish themed track with lots of Flamenco type playing throughout that reminds me of Steve’s guitar work on I Wish by Amy Birks (a track that he provided Spanish guitar for). This song has a similar feel to that song but without the vocals and is another very expressive and imaginative piece with the sumptuous orchestration giving sense of stately majesty.

The Call of the Sea is Steve’s reflections on staring across the Mediterranean Sea to distant lands and how this body of water connects us together, geographically, musically, and emotionally. It is another excellent piece of music that conveys its message without words and closes this rather different, but no less satisfying, album in fine style.

The cover of the album is in itself rather evocative, with its image of a wall overlooking the blue sea under a cloudless sky. It’s a beautiful image and one that fits in perfectly with this armchair voyage of musical discovery.

This album is so different to Steve’s usual output but, nonetheless, it is a journey of musical delights and very fitting and welcome at this strange time. As you can’t take a holiday at the present time, this is a worthy musical trip around the Mediterranean. Why not take this trip for yourself? you will feel better for it I’m sure.

Released 22nd January 2021

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Interview With Steve Hackett by John Wenlock-Smith

Steve Hackett talks about his new acoustic album ‘Under A Mediterranean Sky’, released on the 22nd January 2021.

John Wenlock-Smith: So how are you Steve, how’s lockdown been treating you and Jo?

Steve Hackett: It is a strange time, at least some of us will get vaccinated soon. I am okay, I have had a bit of kidney surgery recently, so am about 80 or 90% now able to play the guitar again now after leaving it for a month or so. My fingers are working fine, my hearing is working, oops better not jinx it all now though! How are you and yours doing in all this?  I’ve not caught it yet so hopefully all will be fine.

JWS: We are both fine, staying in and avoiding contact with anyone as much as we can. We had a Tesco delivery this morning so, yes, we are both doing ok really. So, let us talk about this new album of yours…

SH: Yes, ‘Under A Mediterranean Sky’, it’s been ready for a while, Jo says it was ready by June last year but I think it was actually a little earlier. We started it around March or April and it took a couple of months to complete and then suddenly it was all done.

The thing that takes all the time on rock albums are the vocals. Drums and, strangely, guitars don’t take that long that, maybe because I have a degree of proficiency in that department.

I don’t have to hire anyone in to do those parts but when, it comes to something like this, it’s basically one guitar, which you have to get your tone right for (and be able to play it) and then there are orchestrations by Roger King, who is proving himself to be somewhat of a genius in his arrangements and his engineering and musical skills.

JWS: I have had a listen to it and I have to say that it sounds particularly good indeed.

SH: I must agree and say that It does sound mighty fine indeed.

JWS: I watched a couple of the videos for the album too.

SH: You know what I think? I think its good for those that like that sort of thing but, if you want Van Halen or Buddy Holly then stop right there. However, it is a bridge between what the prog people might like and what the classical types might enjoy.

It’s an audience that I’ be happy to connect with. When I started doing classical stuff with the ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’ album (1997) I suddenly had people writing to me who obviously would never deign to listen to any rock and roll, wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole actually, and they were saying nice things.

I thought this is nice, people who listen to Radio 3 or Classic FM and the occasional Tchaikovsky album and learnt the piano at some stage of their life, they’re listening to my music. I thought this is nice, it is a different thing, a different strata of listener.

JWS: A different type of listening too perhaps?

SH: Yes, less leather jacket more Laura Ashley I Think?

JWS: For the ladies at least, floral dresses on blokes does not work, well it does not for me at least!

SH: Floral Guitars and decorations?

JWS: You obviously have travelled extensively through those areas in the past/

SH: Yes, it’s a musical journey, I hope it will take people there in spirit even if we can’t go there at the moment. I get Production copies of the album today, I always await that with eagerness as you can actually see the finished article. I listen on CD as you get the full bandwidth of sounds on that.

I don’t think that this will be a big one for Vinyl enthusiasts, I think it needs the purity of CD rather than the snap crackle and pop that vinyl gives, if retro is your thing that is.

On this album there is a piece I have composed for Domenico Scarlatti who was born in Naples in 1685 and was an Italian composer. He was primarily a composer for the harpsichord. On this album I have composed a composition called Scarlatti Sonata as a way of tribute to him.

So that is me, if I want to play a bit of Beethoven then I will or Chopin, Muse could and Keith Emerson used to do that, we used to talk about that all the time. It does not have to be current to be good.

I used to have a friend who was an art Critic and I asked him how he felt about Avant-Garde and he replied that if he was interested in it, he considered it to be Avant-Garde.

I mean Bach was a radical really, anyone who wrote the Italian concerto that has been a ball breaker for keyboard players evermore since has to be, funny that!

JWS: On this album you have some interesting pieces like M’dina, in Saudi Arabia?

SH: No, it’s the other M’dina, the walled city inside Valetta, the capital of Malta. It’s quite a long piece, a sort of mini concerto that’s probably closer in spirit to the Warsaw Concerto by Richard Adinsell (written for the 1941 Film ‘Dangerous Moonlight’ which was about the Polish Struggle against the Nazi’ Germany in 1939.) being a short piece of about 10-minute duration. This song, M’dina, has echoes of that, reflecting the way that Malta has been affected its occupation many times through different wars over the years.

JWS: I also Like Scirocco.

SH: I particularly like that one too, I like how the classical meets the cinematic element of it, I was going to say something else about it, an attempt to pair the Middle East with music and recollections of travels in those places, Morocco, Egypt, Jordan,  fantastic places that I’ve loved.

When I go to such places I tend to write things in my notebook. I don’t carry an instrument with me really because it’s too valuable and puts you at the mercy of airport baggage handlers, which is not something you really want, so it’s easier to record impressions in a notebook for reference at a later point.

I first went to Egypt many years ago and spent 24 hours in Cairo and visited the museum and the Sphinx and the Pyramids, of course. It is the spirit of things really. We went back to Egypt a few years ago and took a Nile cruise where you can really feel the history and the culture of the area.

I usually write the chords and the top line and Roger comes up with the rest, I think I am at the stage where I am ready to call him a genius! We went to Petra in Jordan and saw Lawrence’s pile of stones, there is lots of history there, we also rode with the Bedouin in the desert too.

JWS: I like the Andalusian Sky track too.

SH: You like the orchestral ones?

JWS: I like that they evoke a feeling of a place.

SH: It is the interaction between us that makes it work.

JWS: Where did you find Roger?

SH: Originally, he was just a name in the phone book! He was a composer with a background in Film Music who had worked on the movies Cliffhanger and In The Name Of The Father, so that is where he came from. I think for much of it he was uncredited, often the way with folks like Michelangelo and his acolytes who painted much of the Sistine Chapel.

JWS: I was watching the video’s last night and thought that you would be good at doing one of those type of programmes.

SH: I really enjoy watching those type of programmes and had thought that I would like to do that, standing there talking about things that I know a little about.

JWS: Well, it has worked for Michael Palin and Steve Coogan!

SH: Yes, however I would rather be down with the locals finding out what they do, how they live and what they eat etc.

JWS: So what is next for You?

SH: Well, I have started work on the next album, although I have temporarily stopped due to this lockdown. I have got about 45 minutes done already, I have a shopping list of all sorts of things I want to do but it is not finished until it is finished.

There is quite a lot to live up to from recent albums, a house band, some great singers, it has been quite a big team of musicians from all around the world. some great singers and musicians all working together and I like to work as part of a team. It is a lot of fun to me, like a toy that I have never outgrown.

JWS: Yes, I think if you are not enjoying it then it is time to give it up!

SH: I agree and guitars in particular, I have only got to hear a guitar tone, it could even be someone else’s sound possibly from some time ago, the sound that I have heard in my mind and been striving to attain. When I find that tone then you have the vehicle to go anywhere you have imagine. This is the vehicle, the rocket, the boat, and that is the voyage that I want to take.

Steve Hackett announces the release of a new acoustic album – Under A Mediterranean Sky on 22nd January.

Iconic guitarist Steve Hackett, releases his new acoustic album Under A Mediterranean Sky on 22nd January 2021 as a Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP + CD + LP-booklet and Digital Album via InsideOut Music. Under A Mediterranean Sky is Steve Hackett’s first acoustic solo album since Tribute in 2008 and takes inspiration from Steve’s extensive travels around the Mediterranean with his wife Jo.

Working closely with long-time musical partner Roger King, Hackett has used his time during 2020’s lockdown to take us on an extraordinary musical journey around the Mediterranean, painting vivid images of stunning landscapes and celebrating the diverse cultures of the region. Famed for his rock roots with Genesis, and through his extensive solo catalogue, Hackett demonstrates the exquisite beauty of the nylon guitar at times venturing into the exotic ethnic and often supported by dazzling orchestral arrangements.

“A lot of acoustic ideas had been forming over the years, and it felt like the perfect time to create this album,” notes Hackett, “a time to contemplate the places we’ve visited around the Mediterranean with the kind of music which evolved from the world of imagination.

“Because we can’t really travel, substantially at the moment, I hope that the album will take people on that journey. Whether you sit down and listen to it or drift off to it with a glass of wine…”

Track Listing:
Mdina – The Walled City (Steve Hackett / Roger King)

Adriatic Blue (Steve Hackett)

Sirocco (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett / Roger King)

Joie de Vivre (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett)

The Memory of Myth (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett / Roger King)

Scarlatti Sonata (Domenico Scarlatti)

Casa del Fauno (Steve Hackett / Roger King)

The Dervish and the Djin (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett / Roger King)

Lorato (Steve Hackett)

Andalusian Heart (Steve Hackett / Jo Hackett / Roger King)

The Call of the Sea (Steve Hackett)

Our journey around the Med begins on the island of Malta, in Mdina – The Walled City. It’s imposing strength is portrayed by Roger King’s dramatic orchestration while Hackett’s guitar weaves through the atmospheric streets describing the creativity, love and strength that held Malta together between all the waves of conflict.

With Hackett’s delicate guitar work, Adriatic Blue paints an enchanting view of stunning scenery as tall cliffs of forested mountains plunge into the deep blue sea along the Croatian coastline. Sirocco is altogether more atmospheric, inspired by the winds playing through the imposing structures of Egypt.

The lively Joie de Vivre expresses the unique sense of joy the French have through their wine, food and folk music, with paintings reflecting family gatherings, spectacular vistas and the vibrant colours of their cities. The art of dreaming is embodied in their sensual love of life.

“At first hand, I’ve marvelled at the mystical whirling Dervishes,” says Hackett. Along with otherworldly beings such as the Djin (Genie) they sprang from Persia’s dreaming past. The Dervish And The Djin captures the extraordinary atmosphere of this most exotic of civilisations with the help of Hackett’s touring band regular – Rob Townsend’s soprano sax, the tar of Malik Mansurov (from Azerbaijan) and Armenian Arsen Petrosyan’s duduk. “Of course, those countries are virtually at war with each other,” Hackett adds, “and there has been something like a thousand casualties (at the time of writing) on both sides. Again, it’s a case of music being able to do things that politicians fail to do – something constructive.”

The Memory of Myth embodies the deep and rich history of Greece and features the violin of Christine Townsend (no relation) while Lorato – ‘love’ in the language of the African Tswana tribe – is a pretty folk tune. Love is the force that heals and links all disparate peoples of the Mediterranean.

Hackett and his wife Jo were enchanted by the little Faun statue in the House of the Faun, Pompeii. “The villas there seemed to come back to life as we walked through those wonderful atriums and gardens,” inspiring Casa del Fauno and featuring the light and airy flute of Hackett’s brother John and Rob Townsend on flute.

The only non-original piece is Domenico Scarlatti’s Sonata. This embodies the Baroque music of Italy, a sensitive interpretation embellished with cross-string trills, a technique introduced to Hackett by the fine classical guitarist, the late Theo Cheng.

Hackett also expresses his admiration for the flamenco guitarists of Andalucía who are celebrated on Andalusian Heart. “One of the flamenco guitarists was showing me the extraordinary things they are able to do,” Hackett explains. “Seeing the gypsies playing and dancing in caves there, you get the feeling that these people are dancing for their lives.”

Our journey comes to an end with The Call Of The Sea, a gentle and peaceful reflection of the vast body of water that unites the many civilisations both ancient and modern.

Under A Mediterranean Sky features Steve Hackett playing nylon, steel string and twelve string guitars, charango and Iraqi oud. Keyboards, programming and orchestral arrangements are by Roger King. Featured musicians are John Hackett and Rob Townsend, flute (Casa del Fauno); Malik Mansurov, tar and Arsen Petrosyan, duduk & Rob Townsend, Sax (The Dervish And The Djin); Christine Townsend, violin (The Memory of Myth and The Call Of The Sea). All tracks were produced by Steve Hackett and Roger King with all tracks recorded and mixed by Roger King at Siren.

“I had a great time doing this album, seeing it take shape, and I’m very pleased with the outcome. I’m very proud of it,” says Hackett. “The nylon guitar has a very individual sound but, within the compass of what the nylon-strung guitar can do, there are a lot of different tones. You can do the full-on attack, the kind of salvo that you expect from the flamenco players but, at the same time, it can also be very gentle, gentle as a harp. It’s shades of black and white. It’s also exciting to play alongside instruments from around the world, as well as a wide range of orchestral sounds.”