YES recently shared "The Ice Bridge," the first track from their upcoming album, and an accompanying video. "The Ice Bridge" is the first new song by the rock band in seven years. The Quest, the new studio album from YES, is scheduled to release on InsideOutMusic/Sony Music on October 1.

The album's producer, guitarist Steve Howe said that 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," he added.

The Quest was recorded across the globe. The sessions took place in the U.K. with Howe, keyboardist Geoff Downes and singer Jon Davison, while drummer Alan White and bassist Billy Sherwood got together in the studio in the US.

Credits: By RTTNews Staff Writer

A Blues Guitar Legend, A Lifetime of Music On New Box Set - The Jimmie Vaughan Story

AUSTIN, Texas — Blues guitarists have been the foundation of American music for more than a hundred years, back to early acoustic musicians performing in the Deep South. The evolution of the blues has been one of the truly captivating legacies of popular music in America, from early jazz to even country and, to everlasting success, rock ’n’ roll.

The guitarists in the pantheon of blues players reads like a Who’s Who of the world’s finest musicians, and for the past 50-plus years one of those people has been Jimmie Vaughan. The guitarist fell in love with that most moving of styles when he was still a young teenager in early 1960s Dallas, Texas, and while it took him a few years to find a true home for what he heard in his head and felt in his heart, once he got to Austin in 1969 and found some fellow blues lovers, he set off on a journey that still continues, playing the blues whenever and however he hears it. The man has spent countless years treating the blues with full respect.

The Last Music Co.’s guiding light Malcolm Mills took on the mission a few years ago to create The Jimmie Vaughan Story a five-CD box set that captures Vaughan’s blues journey, starting with some of his earliest recordings from the mid-1960s and continuing all the way to his most recent in the 2020s. The result is a stunning collection of not only music, but really Vaughan’s history, on the record and in person.

From early bands Storm through the Fabulous Thunderbirds, including previously unreleased recordings with producers Joel Dorn and Doc Pomus; Jimmie’s collaboration with brother Stevie Ray Vaughan on 1990’s award-winning Family Style album; and into the past 30 years of duets, shared albums and solo releases featuring a divergence of styles, the box showcases Jimmie’s take on the blues. Jimmie Vaughan built a world of blues from the only sound that completely captured him as a very young Texan. He is often seen as being in a party of one in this pursuit, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Along with all the powerful music and newly discovered recordings on The Jimmie Vaughan Story, there is a treasure trove of never-before-seen photos and writings in the gorgeous book included in the set. There are images of the Vaughan family, including childhood photos of Jimmie, Stevie and their parents, and a bonanza of photos that illustrate, tour-guide-like, Jimmie’s entire career, from childhood onward to today.

Among the writings is an interview from the 1978 Austin Sun, considered to be the first Jimmie Vaughan ever did, along with an essay by journalist and record producer Bill Bentley, and Jimmie’s life story in his own words: a lifetime of memories, historical occurrences, and family insights, all shared now for the first time.

The Jimmie Vaughan Story is a unique collection of music, words, and images, the kind of release that can only come based on a life of belief in the blues. It has given Vaughan an ability to take the music he loves so much on a worldwide journey of discovery, and one he is devoted to sharing with others. Listen, see, and read how he’s lived it, and where it might be going.

Credits: By Martine Ehrenclou /Rock & Blues Muse -

A previously unreleased 1968 live performance by Joni Mitchell, recorded by Jimi Hendrix heralds a new collection from the singer-songwriting legend. Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971), a follow-up to her recently released The Reprise Albums (1968-1971), is coming October 29, 2021, as a 5-CD set and 10-LP collection. Listen to that performance of “The Downtreader” below.

From the July 28 press announcement: On March 19, 1968, the 24-year-old Mitchell was in the midst of a two-week residency at Le Hibou Coffee House in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, playing to rave reviews in anticipation of her debut album, Song To a Seagull, which was set for release just a few days later on Reprise.

Not long before Mitchell was scheduled to take the stage, Jimi Hendrix was just finishing his second sold-out show of the night at the Capitol Theater a few blocks away. Earlier in the day, Hendrix had spoken to Mitchell and noted his plans to record her in his diary entry for that day:

“talked with Joni Mitchell on the phone. I think I’ll record her tonight with my excellent tape recorder (knock on wood) . . . hmmm . . . can’t find any wood . . . everything’s plastic”

Following his two performances on that night, Hendrix rolled in to Le Hibou with his reel-to-reel recorder as promised and kneeled in front of the stage, unnoticed by most, and recorded Mitchell’s two sets that evening.

As he also noted in his diary, Hendrix, like many others at the time, was mesmerized by Mitchell: “fantastic girl with heaven words.”

Hendrix’s tape from that night was stolen a few days later, with the recording thought to be lost forever. The recording was recently discovered in a private collection that was donated to the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and returned to Mitchell.

Mitchell reflects back on that night in her conversation with Cameron Crowe from the Archives Vol. 2 liner notes: “They came and told me, ‘Jimi Hendrix is here, and he’s at the front door.’ I went to meet him. He had a large box. He said to me, ‘My name is Jimi Hendrix. I’m on the same label as you. Reprise Records.’ We were both signed about the same time. He said, ‘I’d like to record your show. Do you mind?’ I said, ‘no, not at all.’ There was a large reel-to-reel tape recorder in the box.

“The stage was only about a foot off the ground. He knelt at edge of the stage, with a microphone, at my feet. All during the show, he kept twisting knobs. He was engineering it, I don’t know what he was controlling, volume? He was watching the needles or something, messing with knobs. He beautifully recorded this tape. Of course, I played part of the show to him. He was right below me.”

The 10-LP set on 180-gram vinyl collection will be available exclusively at JoniMitchell.com limited to 4,000 copies. All orders on the official Joni Mitchell store come with an exclusive 7” x 7” art print featuring a never-before-seen illustration by Mitchell from the era.

The tracks on Archives Vol. 2 have been sequenced chronologically to follow Mitchell in real time through one of the most creative periods of her career. The collection uncovers several unreleased Mitchell originals, including “Jesus” recorded in 1969 at her friend Jane Lurie’s New York apartment in Chelsea, which also served as the setting for the song “Chelsea Morning.”

Other highlights include five Blue outtakes that were released digitally last month including early demos of “A Case Of You” and California,” a version of “River” that adds French horns, an alternate take of “Urge For Going,” and the unreleased song “Hunter.” Also featured is a concert at the Paris Theatre in London on October 29, 1970, that was broadcast on the BBC, in which James Taylor joins Mitchell for the second half of the show.

CREDITS: by Best Classic Bands Staff

Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash will release a new album with his solo backing band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators on Gibson Records, a new label launched by the guitar manufacturer.

“It's an honor to be the first release on the new Gibson Records,” Slash said in a press release announcing the album, which has no title or release date yet. “It's a zenith in our partnership for sure and having worked so closely with Gibson for so long, I know they will be a label that genuinely supports their artists creatively. Not just me, but all the artists they choose to work with. It's perfect.”

Gibson Records is a departure from the guitar company's usual focus on instrument craftsmanship. The new label will be launched in association with BMG, the fourth-largest music company in the world.

“Launching a record label that is in service to our artists is the natural evolution of our 127 years of history," noted Cesar Gueikian, president of Gibson Brands. "Gibson Records will work with Gibson artists to capture, record and promote their music under an artist friendly partnership. Gibson Records will keep all of us at Gibson focused on our artist first culture that is engaged and connected to music."

This will be Slash's third album with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators — their most recent LP, Living the Dream, arrived in 2018. Earlier this year, Kennedy, who released his second solo album in May, spoke of the ease of his collaborations with Slash.

"He's very easy to work with," Kennedy said. "There's no intimidating whatsoever, actually, as far as writing with him, because of the fact that he's not precious with his ideas. That's one of the downfalls with a lot of creative people, is you tend to get kind of protective and territorial, and you let your ego come into the fold. And with him, what I learned early on in the process was that he was open to whatever."

CREDITS: Allison Rapp / https://ultimateclassicrock.com/