Tag Archives: Steve Howe

YES – 50th Anniversary Celebration of Close To The Edge UK Tour Dedicated to the late Alan White

Leave a comment

 [press release]

Following the sad news of the passing of drummer Alan White, YES will go ahead with their forthcoming The Album Series Tour 2022 in June celebrating the 50th anniversary of their iconic album Close to the Edge, dedicating the tour to Alan.

Alan White joined YES in June 1972, just days before their Close To The Edge Tour began. Over the following 50 years Alan would appear on every YES album including 2021’s The Quest. Following the global pandemic, Alan had been looking forward to this tour and re-joining his bandmates on stage, something he lived for, in the run up to his 50th anniversary of joining Yes.

Sadly that was not be, but Alan’s towering presence will be omnipresent on the tour. Alan’s good friend, Jay Schellen, will join Yes for the forthcoming tour, alongside Steve Howe (guitars), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (vocals) and Billy Sherwood (bass guitar and backing vocals).

Steve Howe: It is with great sadness that I join with the other members of Yes to acknowledge the passing of our dearest friend and drummer, Alan White.

He gave so many of his best years to the band and was a true believer and determined professional til the very end.

Being a kind and loving human being just came naturally to him, with his mellow, non-confrontational personality and abundant generosity, which made him so popular with his friends and everyone he met.

Geoff Downes: It is with the utmost sadness I have received the news of the passing of my dearest friend and bandmate Alan White. He was truly one of the greatest men I have ever met. Honest, loyal, passionate, caring, kind, generous, considerate, charitable, funny – so many superlatives, too many to mention – simply, an all-round top guy and one of the best. And despite living for many years in his adopted hometown of Seattle, he never lost that Geordie wit, irony and charm.

As a musician he was unique in every way, and his powerhouse technique influenced whole generations of drummers and percussionists – an absolute legend in the true sense of the word. He was a joy to share the same stage with, often glancing over at the keyboard riser with a wink and a smile, but still laying down that solid, yet intricate groove as only he could. This was Alan – a genius who never took himself too seriously.

We had some great laughs together, became very close, and always looked after each other to the point where they started referring to us as ‘The Odd Couple’!

The Close to the Edge show will comprise full production and a high-definition video wall featuring the work of Roger Dean who will also be joining the tour with an exhibition of YES related art.

Following the release of The Yes Album and Fragile, in 1971, YES released what is widely considered one of the most defining albums, not only for YES but for the whole progressive movement. Close to the Edge became an inspiration for their contemporaries and for successive generations of musicians.

YES 2022 UK Tour Dates Are:

15th June Wednesday Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

17th June Friday Manchester Bridgewater Hall

18th June Saturday Nottingham Royal Concert Hall

20th June Monday Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

21st June Tuesday London Royal Albert Hall

22nd June Thursday York Barbican

24th June Friday Birmingham Symphony Hall

26th June Sunday Newcastle O2 City Hall

28th June Tuesday Dublin Vicar Street, Eire

29th June Wednesday Cork Opera House, Eire

For full details and to book tickets for all shows go to venue website or http://yesworld.com/live where you can also book Meet and Greets with the band.

UK http://www.yesworld.com

http://www.facebook.com/yestheband

http://www.twitter.com/yesofficial

http://www.youtube.com/user/yesofficial

http://www.instagram.com/yesofficial

soundcloud.com/yesofficial

https://www.loudersound.com/features/alan-white-best-drum-performances?fbclid=IwAR2rpJ5WaWNyoN-GpJdZsRLzP8XlqpsBYfBS_vJWaM4hb_b8rBzUbSGSX7c

YES to celebrate 50th Anniversary of Close To The Edge.

Leave a comment
Progressive pioneers YES have announced a change to their forthcoming The Album Series Tour 2022 as they will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their iconic album Close to the Edge. This tour, twice rescheduled due to the Covid pandemic was intended to showcase YES’s 1974 classic Relayer album but will now feature Close to the Edge, performed in full, along with other classic tracks from YES’s extensive catalogue.  An announcement regarding the European dates will be made shortly.
The tour line-up features Steve Howe (guitars), Alan White (drums), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (vocals), Billy Sherwood (bass guitar and backing vocals) with additional drums and percussion by Jay Schellen. All tour dates are as previously announced and all tickets remain valid. A full performance of the Relayer album will now be featured in a future tour in The Album Series.The show will comprise full production and a high-definition video wall directed by Roger Dean who will also be joining the tour with an exhibition of YES related art.
Following the release of The Yes Album and Fragile, in 1971, YES released what is widely considered one of the most defining albums, not only for YES but for the whole progressive movement. Close to the Edge became an inspiration for their contemporaries and for successive generations of musicians.
“We reached a real high, doing ‘Close to the Edge’,” said Steve Howe. “We valued the musicianship, the artistic ideas and the vocalising that people bring and that’s why we’re still doing it, because it’s exciting to do! ‘Close to the Edge’ was voted the most-proggy album possibly ever made. It was very experimental. We had already done 10-minute epics but with ‘Close to the Edge’ we just took it a stage further and I’m very pleased we were brave enough to do that.”

YES 2022 UK Tour Dates Are:
June 2022 
15th June       Wednesday   Glasgow        Royal Concert Hall17th June       Friday             Manchester   Bridgewater Hall18th June       Saturday        Nottingham   Royal Concert Hall20th June       Monday          Liverpool        Philharmonic Hall21st June        Tuesday         London           Royal Albert Hall22nd June       Thursday       York                Barbican
24th June       Friday             Birmingham   Symphony Hall
26th June       Sunday          Newcastle      O2 City Hall
28th June       Tuesday         Dublin Eire    Vicar Street
29th June       Wednesday   Cork Eire       Opera House
Tickets remain valid for the rescheduled shows. For full details and to book tickets for all shows go to venue website or http://yesworld.com/live where you can also book Meet and Greets with the band. 

About YES
Steve Howe: guitars, backing vocals (1970 –1981, 1990–1992, 1995–present)
Alan White: drums, percussion (1972 – present)
Geoff Downes: keyboards (1980–1981, 2011–present)
Jon Davison: lead vocals, acoustic guitar (2012–present)
Billy Sherwood: guitar, backing vocals ((1994, 1997–2000), bass guitar, backing vocals (2015–present)

Formed in 1968 by Jon Anderson and the late, and much-missed, Chris Squire, YES have been one of the most innovative, influential and best-loved bands in rock music history. Their 1970s albums The Yes Album, Fragile, Close to the Edge, Yessongs (a triple live album set), Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Going For The One were ground-breaking in musical style and content. Their music also became synonymous with artist Roger Dean whose distinctive YES logo design and artwork adorned the lavish gatefold presentation sleeves of many YES albums.With sales of over 50 million records, the Grammy-award winning YES were inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017 where they performed Roundabout from the album Fragile and the FM radio-friendly Owner Of A Lonely Heart from the 1985 album 90125.  In 2021 YES released their 22nd Studio album, The Quest, produced by Steve Howe, which went to No.1 in the UK rock chart and entered the Official UK Album Chart at No.20. 
http://www.yesworld.com http://www.facebook.com/yestheband http://www.twitter.com/yesofficial http://www.youtube.com/user/yesofficial http://www.instagram.com/yesofficial
soundcloud.com/yesofficial

YES – The Quest

Leave a comment

The 2nd YES album to featured Jon Davison on vocals. I never did give it’s predecessor much of a chance [but have picked it up while enjoying this new one]. The 2nd video released “Future Memories” I really liked right away, and that got my interest. It is still the stand out song here, for me, a classic Yes ballad, and if the band ends tomorrow Jon Davison will have left an amazing mark with this one. Lead off track / video “The Ice Bridge” is a strong track as well, love Geoff Downes bright keyboards throughout this number, with the intro briefly reminiscent of ELP, and elsewhere this song reminds me a bit of Saga, and love Steve Howe’s riff and solo. Davison and Billy Sherwood co-write and share vocals on the upbeat “The Western Edge”. Though much of this album is near ballads or acoustic numbers, it is a pretty uplifting set of songs, as The Quest according to guitarist and producer Steve Howe – “The Quest is a strong album with a common theme: posing the great questions of life and finding that we have our destiny within our own hands.” The band also pays tribute to The Beatles in the track “Mystery Tour”. YES also pays homage to their won past according to Geoff Downes – “There’s a lot of retro sounds, reminiscent of some of the early Yes recordings. I was really a big fan of Tony Kaye, his style of Hammond playing, and even going back to the Drama album, the basic keyboard instruments – like the Hammond organ and acoustic piano – have really come out on this album..” The album also includes orchestra on a couple of tracks – Howe’s “Dare To Know” – “I wanted to augment what Yes does – To have something as beautiful as an orchestra was really appealing, and that was done remotely in Macedonia. Paul K. Joyce did the arranging for me.” The orchestra was also used on the Davison / Sherwood track “Minus The Man”. Howe’s “Leave Well Alone” is an epic Yes tune with a classy mix of vocals, and plenty of changes, and I’m pretty sure I hear a nod to “Starship Trooper” later on in.

As I’ve said previously, I never was a huge Yes fan, and post 90125 albums were hit and miss with me, but I did like The Ladder, and going back recently [upon hearing this] really liked Fly From Here, so I will put The Quest up there as my next favorite Yes album, despite being fairly laid-back, overall. There are a few songs that have jumped out at me, and there is lots to still get in to here. For all that’s been said of the line-up being without a few founding members, I am quite happy with this and look forward to more.

The Quest comes in various formats, colored vinyl, a box set… Beautifully packaged in Roger Dean artwork again.

https://yes-band.lnk.to/TheQuest?fbclid=IwAR0n1ojd5KpLGNPU-vwkJx1GlMlGeDF3jkxyr8LiGCpSs5Ob_0sAB9vyhyw

https://www.facebook.com/yestheband

http://www.yesworld.com

insideoutmusic.com

KJ, 11/’21

YES – Release New Video from The Quest

Leave a comment

YES launch video for ‘Future Memories’

I’ve picked up almost every Yes album over the years, and since the ’80s I often wondered if I was picking up Yes albums more so for the Roger Dean artwork than the music, which (for me) didn’t always grab me from album to album. The first 2 singles from The Quest I enjoyed, and the new video/single for the ballad “Future Memories” is the most likeable and memorable Yes song in decades. Jon Davison, who joined the band in 2012, penned the song and delivers a fantastic vocal, with such a great melody. The video itself appears to be a tribute to the band’s collaboration with Roger Dean over the past 50 years, as it features images of the album covers he’s done for the band, flowing along with band member pics, colors, and ongoing paint strokes.

15th October 2021: YES, who are Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood, recently released their new studio album The Quest on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music The album was produced by Steve Howe. “Much of the music was written in late 2019 with the rest in 2020. We commissioned several orchestrations to augment and enhance the overall sound of these fresh new recordings, hoping that our emphasis on melody, coupled with some expansive instrumental solo breaks, keeps up the momentum for our listeners,” said Steve.


Today the band are please to reveal a video for the track ‘Future Memories’, watch it now here: 


‘The Quest’ also sees its physical release in North America, as of today. Pick up your copy here: https://yes-band.lnk.to/TheQuest
The album has also been hitting charts worldwide, find a selection of them below:
#7 German Album Charts, #20 UK Album Charts, #1 UK Rock Album Charts, #5 Swiss Album Charts, #8 Japanese International Weekly Charts, #23 French Physical Album Charts, #37 Belgian National Album Charts, #54 Dutch Album Charts, #60 Italian Album Charts.

Previous video singles from The Quest include “Dare To Know” and “The Ice Bridge”

https://youtu.be/hhzKdB6ftsc
https://youtu.be/PbGEa7ju8bg

The Quest was recorded across the globe, The sessions took place in the UK with Steve Howe, Geoff Downes & Jon Davison, while Alan White & Billy Sherwood got together in the studio in the US. “Billy Sherwood and myself did all the rhythm sections, bass and drum, in America,” says Alan White, “down in Los Angeles at Uncle Studios, where he works a lot. It helps when you’ve got a good place to work,” Alan laughs, “and Billy’s really good on the recording desk, so we got things down relatively quickly. I spent quite a while studying the music before I went down to LA so I was prepared.”

from http://www.yesworld.com

The Quest is also now available for pre-order on various formats, including a Limited Deluxe Box-Set that features a Gatefold 180g 2LP on exclusive colored vinyl, 2CD+Blu-ray Digipak (featuring 5.1 mix & backing tracks), 36-page perfect bound booklet, enamel pin badge, 60x90cm poster, slipmat & hand-numbered certificate of authenticity, all housed in a rigid lift-off box.

Containing 11 songs, 8 on the main CD with 3 extra tracks on a bonus CD, The Quest will also be available as Limited 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook, 2CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP+2CD & as Digital Album. Order now here: https://yes-band.lnk.to/TheQuest

CD1: 01. The Ice Bridge 7.01, 02. Dare To Know 6.00, 03. Minus The Man 5.35, 04. Leave Well Alone 8.06, 05. The Western Edge 4.26, 06. Future Memories 5.08, 07. Music To My Ears 4.41, 08. A Living Island 6.52
CD2: 01. Sister Sleeping Soul 4.51, 02. Mystery Tour 3.33, 03. Damaged World 5.20

Formats are: Limited Edition Deluxe 2LP & 2CD plus Blu-ray Box-set, Limited Edition 2CD & Blu-ray Artbook, Gatefold 2LP & 2CD plus LP-booklet, 2CD DigipakDigital Album.

The current line-up of YES was completed in 2015 when Billy Sherwood replaced founder member Chris Squire, at Squire’s insistence, as he bravely fought a losing battle with leukemia. Since then, YES have concentrated on touring with their Album Series tours, each featuring a classic YES album in its entirety. During this period YES have released three live albums Topographic Drama – Live Across America (2017), Yes Live 50 (2019) and The Royal Affair Tour: Live in Las Vegas (2020)

YES Online: http://yesworld.com/https://www.facebook.com/yestheband/https://twitter.com/yesofficialhttps://www.instagram.com/yesofficial/https://www.youtube.com/user/yesofficial

INSIDEOUTMUSIC Online: http://www.insideoutmusic.com http://www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV  http://www.facebook.com/InsideOutMusic, http://www.twitter.com/insideouteu 

Yes Announce New Album ‘The Quest’

10/’21