JIM GILMOUR

Jim Gilmour is a skilfull and gifted keyborad player for 35 years or even more, his name is almost equal (for many fans with the band where he begun to be recognizable as a true talent of his instrument,) with the canadian band Saga. He joined this band in 1980 with Silent night album and was and is the keyboard player and back vocalist , ocasinaly even lead vocalist of Saga to the present day. To me his style offered with Saga is instantly recognizable, catchy and full of inventive passages. He release under his name so far 2 albums , one in 1996 and second in 2005 named Great escape. Well, this second offer showing that Gilmour is still in bussines. The album is dedicated and inspired by canadian wilderness, it contains 11 track some instrumental some with vocals provided by Gilmour himself and by female singer Tofani. I like what I've heared here, is his typical trade mark keyboard arrangements who make then famous with Saga with some hints towards fusion, but in the end is not a fusion album overall. His skills are evident on each piece, he really handle the instrument very well with excellent moments, the perfect example is the opening track No Sign, the rest are also strong. Also, I like a lot, and I mean a lot his tone of voice both here as on Saga albums . All in all a very competent album where his keyboards skills melted with his great voice worth some spins, to me is one of the better keybordists of last 3-4 decades. Good album in places towards great.3.5 stars.

Jim Gilmour may be familiar to some as long serving keyboard player in canadian band Saga.

Great Escape is his second release, and is somewhat a departure from what he usually do.

It is obvious from the start that Gilmour has a fascination for jazz and fusion, as most songs here are to a smaller or larger degree spiced with influences from those genres - in style, composition or performance.

Apart from that, this is a release that showcases Gilmour's capabilities as a keyboard player - as would be expected.

Somewhat varied in quality, but there's enough good tracks here to make this one worthwhile checking out.