5

At the time of writing this album has yet to be released on CD. This album starts off with Beethoven played by Rick on church organ, and it ends with Beethoven on church organ. In between we are in for a very diverse musical treat, where the famous Ekseption formula of mixing classical with rock and jazz is mingled with original compositions from the leader of the band, Rick van der Linden, as well as one arrangement of Keith Emerson's For Example. Just for the record, Rick's mixes of various styles with an original theme of a classical composer is far more than just an arrangement, he does it very effortlessly, as opposed to many other albums out there which have so called 'popular reworkings of the classics', Rick's own way of melting it all together is anything but dull. He definitely has created his own signature by means of his style of writing as well as his instrumentation, which makes him very recognizable. One composition of Mozart (A la Turka) and three of Bach are also featured on this album in addition to Beethoven. The longest piece on the album (a little over 10 minutes) is the composition 'Midbar Session', an original from Rick. It's a great piece of music, and suddenly in the middle where Rick improvises a solo on the Hammond he plays the first measure of the Dutch nursery song 'Alle eendjes zwemmen in het water' ('All ducks swim in the water'), very funny. It probably has to do with the fact that he had become father, and a recording of his newborn son crying can be heard on the intro to the song 'My Son'. Again a very enjoyable album from Ekseption.