A QUAIL'S HOUSE

The second of the three albums which have recently been released is in some ways the sibling album to 'Burnt Peas/The Tolling of St. John's Bells' in that it also contains music which was conceived, recorded and worked in between 1978 and 2000. Although broken into multiple songs and titles, this is in essence designed as one piece of music to be played from start to finish. Again, the artist which one would most associate with this style of music would be Mike Oldfield, but this time as well as Steve Hillage there are also touches of Rick Wakeman, particularly when the piano is being over-ridden by bombastic guitar. It is this combination of instruments which really makes this album what it is, as there is a real understanding of how to put everything together so we may feel we hear Anthony Phillips in one place, just for a few bars, as the guitar is treated in a different manner to before.

It is a very clean album, so very easy to listen to, with a wonderful use of space as an additional instrument, which comes through very clearly on linking pieces such as "The Wayfarer (Part 2)" which commences life just as a piano piece until the guitar takes over. There is again a singular lack of percussion, which gives the music a very distinct sound and feel, but when Tom lets loose on his hard rock solos there is enough structure and force behind it that drums just aren't needed. Choral keyboards work with piano, or rock guitar, or distortion, or mandolin or any combination thereof with the result being a complete piece of work which is a joy from start to end.

Musically this is very rooted in the Seventies in many ways, but there is an additional element of simplicity combined with the expected complexity which makes this such an inviting piece of work. It is strange to understand that for one reason or another this music wasn't shared more widely during Tom's lifetime, but thanks to his wife Nickie and bandmate David Hurst it is now available for all of us to enjoy.

US composer and musician Tom KELLY had been involved with bands, playing music and creating music since the 1960's, but without ever becoming a well known entity. As I understand it he hadn't been in an active band environment for quite some time when he sadly passed away in 2017. Nickie Harte Kelly and David Hurst then decided to cater for the material Tom had recorded for himself over the years, and subsequently released this on three CD's. "A Quail's House" is the second of those three albums, and was officially released in 2018.

The very nature of the recordings on this album is one that will limit the overall reach somewhat. This isn't a polished creation given a stellar shining in a top notch recording studio, but recordings by a passionate composer and musician presumably recording material at home or in a home studio. But those who can wrap their minds around this aspect of the album, as well as the material perhaps not always being perfected or completely developed, should find this album to be an interesting experience. And then in particular among those with a strong passion for classic era symphonic progressive rock that use a liberal amount of details from classical music as well as elements from jazz and, possibly, old world folk music.