(Progressive Blues !) Francis Monkman - 21st Century Blues - 1998, APE (image+.cue), lossless

What happens when the most gifted keyboard player in rock music (or classical, for that matter) decides to pick up his Fender Strat and Gibson SG? The progressive faithful receive over 80 minutes of pure adrenalin rush, that's what. Monkman, you may recall, was composer, keyboard player and guitarist with the legendary Curved Air in the seventies as well as with the classical progressive band Sky. The sheer volume of his studio work is astounding, with contributions to albums by Darryl Way, Camel, Kate Bush, Renaissance, Phil Manzanera and 801, the Alan Parsons Project, and literally dozens of others. His only solo projects include "Energism," "Dweller on the Threshold," "Virtual Classics," and several music library albums recorded in the seventies and eighties for private labels.

Those of us fortunate enough to find this gem of a CD on his web site have been basking in it's brilliance for several months. Lovingly produced by George Chkiantz and the man himself, "21stCentury Blues" is a thoroughly modern and original take on progressive rock and the blues - often in the same track - often in the same breath. The production is thick, rich, crisp, and begs for high volume.

Although credited to the Virtuous-Realiti Band, I suspect it's primarliy a one-man show - although Mr. Monkman won't confirm or deny. According to the liner notes, Curved Air's original drummer, the ultra-talented Florian Pilkington-Miksa, donated some cymbals for the sessions, but other than a thank you to guitarist Michael Gore other musicians are not mentioned. Vocals on the album are supplied by Monkman's close friend Julia "Jools" Rathbone, and by Francis himself. His vocals are growled, whispered and distorted in the traditional "21st Century Schizoid Man" way (perhaps very appropriate to this project), and buried in the mix. Repeated listenings bring forth more snippets of lyrics, but I would be hard-pressed to provide a full libretto.

Obvious highlights for this reviewer are the opener "Poisonality," "Train dun gone crazy," "Harvest Time," "Found in Space," and "iftruth." Not to slight the remaining ten tracks on the album, by any means. "Poisonality," is a raucous, guitar-riffing stunner. The extended instrumental break crawls around inside you, eats you alive, and spits you back out completely exhausted. "Train..." follows immediately, briefly bringing to mind Eric Clapton circa Cream and Blind Faith, one of the very few directly recognizable influences, other than pure blues, on the album. "Harvest Time" is simply gorgeous - a tumbling, cascading, looping swirl of guitars and synths. "Found in Space" is a moody, flowing piece. The final track, "iftruth," is pure blues deposited in a progressive environment with extraordinary results. This track also contains the immortal line, "If truth came home to roost, where would it lay it's head?" Francis Monkman - 21st Century Blues

Francis pays tribute to The band, who, I'm sure you'll agree, jammed up such a storm in his sleeve notes to "21st Century Blues" and he's right but who are the band? This is one of the frustrating and quirky things about this long (Near 80 minute) album. The other is the muddy vocals buried so deep in the mix as to be incomprehensible most of the time.

This is a shame because it undermines an otherwise brilliant album. A blues musician friend of mine once said that 3 or 4 minutes is the ideal length for a number because it's not how long it is but what you put into it that's important. I don't agree with that of course although there are occasions on this CD where a little pruning might have increased the listening pleasure!

Not on the opener the 10 minute 'Poisonality' though! This to my mind disproves my friend's point as the band do what King Crimson did on 'Prozac Blues' on 'The Construkction of Light', take the blues to a different level, albeit in half the time! The instrumental work and splenetic atmosphere work perfectly. 'Train Dun Gone Crazy' (Great title!) starts with a reference to Skip James 'I'm So Glad' immortalised by Cream. The first departure from progressive blues is on track 4 nearly 20 minutes into the album. This is psychedelia meets Bowie, the cleverest track in an album full of ingenuity perhaps with its 'Don't judge a book by its cover' girl with a history/attitude theme.

The only other criticism I could possibly make of this splendid album is that the guitar solo doesn't quite get off the ground on '21-Bar Blues' (another great title)!

As we progress deeper into the album some jangly Byrds like guitars start to appear, synth lines and lo-fi keyboard sounds come into play and the vocals descend to a growl.

On the satirical 'Rinky Dink Public School' the 'Batman' theme even gets a quote-great stuff!

As you would expect the lyrics I can hear range from 'I woke up this morning' to the legendary train driver Casey Jones, immortalised by Mississippi John Hurt among others.

The low down Delta blues can get a bit messy, a veritable 'gut bucket' in fact but, despite its flaws, I love it!

Incidentally, my friend's band once supported Canned Heat- don't I remember them doing 20 minute long blues numbers?

A final thought. Surely the best progressive blues album ever is Led Zeppelin's first. Other contenders on a post card please!

(Voiceprint VP244CD)

(Phil JACKSON)

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Francis Monkman / 21st Century Blues

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