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\u2019s first acoustic solo album since Tribute in 2008 and takes inspiration from Steve\u2019s extensive travels around the Mediterranean with his wife Jo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working closely with long-time musical partner Roger King, Hackett has used his time during 2020\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of acoustic ideas had been forming over the years, and it felt like the perfect time to create this album,\u201d notes Hackett, \u201ca time to contemplate the places we\u2019ve visited around the Mediterranean with the kind of music which evolved from the world of imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause we can\u2019t 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\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Track Listing:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mdina \u2013 The Walled City (Steve Hackett \/ Roger King) Our journey around the Med begins on the island of Malta, in Mdina \u2013 The Walled City. It\u2019s imposing strength is portrayed by Roger King\u2019s dramatic orchestration while Hackett\u2019s guitar weaves through the atmospheric streets describing the creativity, love and strength that held Malta together between all the waves of conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With Hackett\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt first hand, I\u2019ve marvelled at the mystical whirling Dervishes,\u201d says Hackett. Along with otherworldly beings such as the Djin (Genie) they sprang from Persia\u2019s dreaming past. The Dervish And The Djin captures the extraordinary atmosphere of this most exotic of civilisations with the help of Hackett\u2019s touring band regular – Rob Townsend\u2019s soprano sax, the tar of Malik Mansurov (from Azerbaijan) and Armenian Arsen Petrosyan\u2019s duduk. \u201cOf course, those countries are virtually at war with each other,\u201d Hackett adds, \u201cand there has been something like a thousand casualties (at the time of writing) on both sides. Again, it\u2019s a case of music being able to do things that politicians fail to do – something constructive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Memory of Myth embodies the deep and rich history of Greece and features the violin of Christine Townsend (no relation) while Lorato – \u2018love\u2019 in the language of the African Tswana tribe \u2013 is a pretty folk tune. Love is the force that heals and links all disparate peoples of the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hackett and his wife Jo were enchanted by the little Faun statue in the House of the Faun, Pompeii. \u201cThe villas there seemed to come back to life as we walked through those wonderful atriums and gardens,\u201d inspiring Casa del Fauno and featuring the light and airy flute of Hackett\u2019s brother John and Rob Townsend on flute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only non-original piece is Domenico Scarlatti\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hackett also expresses his admiration for the flamenco guitarists of Andaluc\u00eda who are celebrated on Andalusian Heart. \u201cOne of the flamenco guitarists was showing me the extraordinary things they are able to do,\u201d Hackett explains. \u201cSeeing the gypsies playing and dancing in caves there, you get the feeling that these people are dancing for their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had a great time doing this album, seeing it take shape, and I\u2019m very pleased with the outcome. I\u2019m very proud of it,\u201d says Hackett. \u201cThe 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\u2019s shades of black and white. It\u2019s also exciting to play alongside instruments from around the world, as well as a wide range of orchestral sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n About Steve Hackett<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve Hackett joined Genesis at the beginning of 1971 and gained an international reputation as the guitarist in the band\u2019s classic line-up alongside Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins. Steve\u2019s intricate guitar work was a key element of Genesis\u2019 albums from Nursery Cryme (1971) to Wind And Wuthering (1977) including the classic Selling England By The Pound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After leaving Genesis at the end of 1977, Steve\u2019s solo career, which now spans more than 30 albums, has demonstrated his extraordinary versatility with both electric and acoustic guitar. Steve is renowned as both an immensely talented and innovative rock musician and a virtuoso classical guitarist and composer and this was recognized in 2010 when he was inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame. He has also worked alongside Steve Howe of YES in the supergroup GTR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve\u2019s compositions take influences from many genres, including jazz, classical and blues. For his later studio works The Night Siren (2017) and At The Edge Of Light (2019) Steve has explored the influences of world music. Recent tours have seen Steve celebrate his time with Genesis including a spectacular 2018 tour in which Steve realised a long-held ambition to perform the works of Genesis live with his band and an orchestra. He recently released Selling England by the Pound & Spectral Mornings: Live at Hammersmith, a live recording of his hugely successful 2019 tour that saw him celebrating that Genesis classic, as well as the 40th anniversary of one of his most-loved solo albums. Iconic guitarist Steve Hackett, releases his new acoustic album Under A Mediterranean Sky on 22nd January 2021 as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,2],"tags":[189,125,51,188],"class_list":["post-14202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-news","tag-genesis","tag-prog","tag-progressive-rock","tag-steve-hackett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14204,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14202\/revisions\/14204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STEVE HACKETT Online:<\/strong>
www.hackettsongs.com
www.facebook.com\/pages\/Steve-Hackett\/123101228589
www.twitter.com\/HackettOfficial
http:\/\/hackettsongs.com\/tour.html <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"