Music without Lables XX
The glam ambiguity of Rod Stewart
Piano with textures by Ed Carlsen
Riverboy´s andalucian folk rock
Glam rock VI: Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart possesses a personal and untransferable voice, which is able to captivate all type of audiences. Being proud of his workman origins and lacking any kind of subtlety, he projects a studied bisexuality which encloses a high artistic quality.
In his records he alternates Rolling Stones style rock tracks with passionate ballads. He’s a beast of a live performer who, with no technicisms but with a lot of feeling, possesses an unusual capacity to breathe life in a song.
Rod Stewart – Maggie May (1971)
This is a track that was written by himself and the guitarist Martin Quittenton. It appeared in his third album, Every Picture Tells a Story, where he showed an evolution from the initial folk genre to rock-soul.
Roderick David Stewart was born in London, in 1945. Being a lover of football and Sam Cooke’s music, he debuted in 1964 with covers of African American’s blues masters. He studied with Long John Baldry and was the singer of The Jeff Beck Group. In 1969 he got signed to Mercury Records and started a solo career where he showed to have good taste in composing his own songs and select other’s. At the same time, he was part of The Faces until 1975, this was a boogie rock influenced by the Rolling Stones which allowed him to master the secrets of the stage.
International: Ed Carlsen
Ed Carlsen is an Italian born composer and producer who lives in Copenhagen. He combines elements of modern classical music, like piano and strings, with electric rhythms and ambience soundscapes.
He was trained professionally as a guitarist. In 2015 he took on piano and started to compose his own works. This gave him an unconventional touch on the piano, since he preserves guitar musicality.
Ed Carlsen – Close (2016)
This is a track that was composed and produced by Carlsen that was included in his album The Journey Tapes. It shows how his technique enriches the neoclassic piano with other types of textures.
Looking to Marry his musical knowledge with producing techniques, Ed graduated in Music Technology at the London College of Music, where he gained an interest in sound design and music composition for film and visual media. This orientation was captured in his debut album, The Journey Tapes, to which followed a second LP, Elusive Frames (2017), and other singles. He also collaborated with other artists such as the North American Heather Woods Broderick, who composed the music for some of Gregory Euclide’s artwork.
National: Riverboy
Riverboy is a super band with which Charley Riverboy started his long-awaited solo career. He was previously known for being the leader, singer and guitarist of the Seville blues rock and American music band The Milkyway Express.
With the aid of old companions and members of Derby Motoreta’s Burrito Kachimba, Quentin Gas & Los Zíngaros and Groal, he edited the album Riverboy, a psychedelic rock work with folk brushstrokes.
Riverboy - Lightning Horse (2018)
This is a song composed by Charly Riverboy included in his debut album with the same title. His style has been described as being a mix between Kris Kristofferson and the early Pink Floyd.
The band Riverboy was born on April 2017, as a personal project of Carlos Yáñez, a restless musician who also played in bands such as La Mula Jam Band. With Riverboy he let out a new song repertoire of songs which were crafted in a long period of creative outpouring. In these songs he explored other sound possibilities, more intimate and daring, which had not been previously explored. He’s accompanied by Sleepy James at the drums, Tera Bada at the lead guitar, Alejandro García at the bass and chorus, and José Vaquerizo at the keys and chorus.