LIVE ARCHIVE 05

So ... you may have some or all of the other Live Archives and are now (quite understandably) wondering how to justify yet *another* purchase ... well, let me put aside any concerns you may have. I own ALL of his previous Live Archive Series and this ranks among the finest I have heard to date. However, be aware that it is purely an ACOUSTIC set ... not an electric guitar or set of drums in sight!!

Disc One is Steve doing what he jokingly refers to as his *own warm up act* . We are treated to some beautiful solo showcasing of his most recent Metamorpheus material as well as older favourites. On Disc Two he is joined by brother John on Flute and Steve's long-time colleague, Roger King on Keyboards. The result is a tranquil, tasteful and highly skilled performance with no edits. You are treated to a front row seat with all of the in- between banter ... and that is worth the price of admission alone! The sound quality (as we have grown to expect from Camino) is crystal clear; all the instruments shine and are given room to breathe - but it still has the immediacy & energy of what we would want from a *live* recording. Steve jokes modestly that most of the audience are probably his family & friends ... well, it certainly seems to have been an intimate and enthusiastic gathering ... and as I listened last night I could have closed my eyes and been right there ... ahhh ... BLISS!!!! Support this wonderful musician ... go buy ...

Highly Recommended ... especially if you enjoyed Hungarian Horizons.

Classical Jazz

Part of the Live Archive series, the present release features an acoustic performance recorded in 2005. The first disc of this two disc set features the solo part of the show with Steve alone on stage with his acoustic guitars. The second disc contains the second set of the evening when Steve is joined on stage by his brother John on flutes and Roger King on keyboards. While both sets are pleasant I much prefer the second trio set over the opening solo set as the latter is much more diverse and varied both instrumentally and in terms of tempos and styles. The focus is on Classical music, but they inject a bit of Jazz and Folk here and there as well as Classical adaptations of a some Genesis songs and a few similarly adapted numbers from Steve's Rock albums.

There is overall a significant overlap with the set list featured on the Hungarian Horizons DVD released a couple of years earlier. Though I prefer that DVD which doesn't split the show into a solo part and a trio part, there are a few nice surprises here not featured on that DVD. The most notable is After The Ordeal originally from the Selling England By The Pound album which is the highlight of the show for me. Other nice numbers include Andante In C (aka Tales From the Riverbank) Jacuzzi, Bacchus (including the flute solo from Firth Of Fifth), Hands Of The Priestess, Hairless Heart, Second Chance, Kim and Walking Away From Rainbows.

Good, but not essential